1. Bhatara A, Babikian T, Laugeson E, Tachdjian R, Sininger YS. {{Impaired Timing and Frequency Discrimination in High-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2013 (Feb 6)
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) frequently demonstrate preserved or enhanced frequency perception but impaired timing perception. The present study investigated the processing of spectral and temporal information in 12 adolescents with ASD and 15 age-matched controls. Participants completed two psychoacoustic tasks: one determined frequency difference limens, and the other determined gap detection thresholds. Results showed impaired frequency discrimination at the highest standard frequency in the ASD group but no overall difference between groups. However, when groups were defined by auditory hyper-sensitivity, a group difference arose. For the gap detection task, the ASD group demonstrated elevated thresholds. This supports previous research demonstrating a deficit in ASD in temporal perception and suggests a connection between hyper-sensitivity and frequency discrimination abilities.
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2. Eack SM, Bahorik AL, Hogarty SS, Greenwald DP, Litschge MY, Mazefsky CA, Minshew NJ. {{Brief Report: Is Cognitive Rehabilitation Needed in Verbal Adults with Autism? Insights from Initial Enrollment in a Trial of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2013 (Feb 5)
Cognitive rehabilitation is an emerging set of potentially effective interventions for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder, yet the applicability of these approaches for « high functioning » adults who have normative levels of intelligence remains unexplored. This study examined the initial cognitive performance characteristics of 40 verbal adults with autism enrolled in a pilot trial of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy to investigate the need for cognitive rehabilitation in this population. Results revealed marked and broad deficits across neurocognitive and social-cognitive domains, despite above-average IQ. Areas of greatest impairment included processing speed, cognitive flexibility, and emotion perception and management. These findings indicate the need for comprehensive interventions designed to enhance cognition among verbal adults with autism who have intact intellectual functioning.
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3. Freeman S, Kasari C. {{Parent-child interactions in autism: Characteristics of play}}. {Autism};2013 (Feb 4)
Although the literature on parent-child interactions in young children with autism has examined dyadic style, synchrony, and sustained engagement, the examination of parental skill in sustaining and developing play skills themselves has not been targeted. This study examined the extent to which parents of young children with autism match and scaffold their child’s play. Sixteen dyads of parents and their children with autism participated in this study along with 16 matched dyads of typically developing children. Both groups were administered a structured play assessment and were observed during a 10-min free play situation. Strategies of play were examined and results revealed that parents of children with autism initiated more play schemes and suggested and commanded play acts more than parents of typical children. They also responded to their child’s play acts more often with a higher level play act, while parents of typical children matched/expanded their responses to their child. Parent imitation was also related to longer sequences of play. The findings can guide further research and play intervention for parents.
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4. Gonzalez C, Martin JM, Minshew NJ, Behrmann M. {{Practice Makes Improvement: How Adults with Autism Out-Perform Others in a Naturalistic Visual Search Task}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2013 (Feb 5)
People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit superior performance in visual search compared to others. However, most studies demonstrating this advantage have employed simple, uncluttered images with fully visible targets. We compare the performance of high-functioning adults with ASD and matched controls on a naturalistic luggage screening task. Although the two groups were equally accurate in detecting targets, the ASD adults improve in their correct elimination of target-absent bags faster than controls. This feature of their behavior is extremely important for many real-world monitoring tasks that require sustained attention for long time periods. Further analyses suggest that this improvement is attributable neither to the motor speed nor to the level of intelligence of the adults with ASD. These findings may have possible implications for employment opportunities of adult individuals with ASD.
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5. James WH. {{Potential Explanation of the Reported Association between Maternal Smoking and Autism}}. {Environ Health Perspect};2013 (Feb 1);121(2):a42.
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6. Lin HC, Gean PW, Wang CC, Chan YH, Chen PS. {{The amygdala excitatory/inhibitory balance in a valproate-induced rat autism model}}. {PLoS One};2013;8(1):e55248.
The amygdala is an important structure contributing to socio-emotional behavior. However, the role of the amygdala in autism remains inconclusive. In this study, we used the 28-35 days valproate (VPA)-induced rat model of autism to observe the autistic phenotypes and evaluate their synaptic characteristics in the lateral nucleus (LA) of the amygdala. The VPA-treated offspring demonstrated less social interaction, increased anxiety, enhanced fear learning and impaired fear memory extinction. Slice preparation and electrophysiological recordings of the amygdala showed significantly enhanced long-term potentiation (LTP) while stimulating the thalamic-amygdala pathway of the LA. In addition, the pair pulse facilitation (PPF) at 30- and 60-ms intervals decreased significantly. Whole-cell recordings of the LA pyramidal neurons showed an increased miniature excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) frequency and amplitude. The relative contributions of the AMPA receptor and NMDA receptor to the EPSCs did not differ significantly between groups. These results suggested that the enhancement of the presynaptic efficiency of excitatory synaptic transmission might be associated with hyperexcitibility and enhanced LTP in LA pyramidal neurons. Disruption of the synaptic excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) balance in the LA of VPA-treated rats might play certain roles in the development of behaviors in the rat that may be relevant to autism. Further experiments to demonstrate the direct link are warranted.
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7. Raz R, Lerner-Geva L, Leon O, Chodick G, Gabis LV. {{A Survey of Out-of-Pocket Expenditures for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Israel}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2013 (Feb 5)
We describe a survey of children with ASD aged 4-10 years. The main dependent variables were out-of-pocket expenditures for health services and hours of therapy. Multivariable logistic regression models were used in order to find independent predictors for service utilization. Parents of 178 of the children (87 %) agreed to participate. The average annual out-of-pocket cost was $8,288, with a median of $4,473 and a range of $0-89,754. Higher severity of ASD and a parent with an academic degree were associated with higher expenditure. Having at least one older sibling, siblings without developmental disorders, regular education setting, lower parent education and low income were associated with lower expenditure.
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8. Samyn V, Roeyers H, Bijttebier P, Wiersema JR. {{Attentional Networks in Boys With ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Relationship With Effortful Control}}. {J Atten Disord};2013 (Feb 4)
Objective: The present study investigated differences in attentional networks in typically developing (TD) boys and boys with ADHD or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In addition, we investigated the relationship between networks and the relationship with effortful control (EC). Method: An Attention Network Test was used to assess alerting, orienting, and executive attention in 25 TD boys, 25 boys with ADHD, and 25 boys with ASD. Results: In the absence of warning signals, boys with ADHD performed poorer than other children. In all groups, the orienting and executive control networks and the alerting and orienting networks interacted. Executive attention and EC were unrelated. Conclusion: Results provided evidence of impaired tonic alertness in ADHD and support the idea of functional integration of attentional networks. Finally, findings suggest that the link between EC reports and indices of neural systems involved in the effortful regulation of behavior may not be as unambiguous as previously thought. (J. of Att. Dis. 2013; XX(X) 1-XX).
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9. Scarpa A, Reyes NM, Patriquin MA, Lorenzi J, Hassenfeldt TA, Desai VJ, Kerkering KW. {{The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers: Reliability in a Diverse Rural American Sample}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2013 (Feb 6)
This study investigated the psychometric properties of the modified checklist for autism in toddlers (M-CHAT) in a diverse rural American low-socioeconomic status (SES) sample. Four hundred and forty-seven English (n = 335) and Spanish (n = 112) speaking caregivers completed the M-CHAT during their toddler’s 18- or 24-month well visit in a Southwest Virginia pediatric clinic. The M-CHAT did not show acceptable internal consistency in groups with low maternal education or minority status. Caregivers reporting low maternal education and minority status were more likely to endorse items suggestive of autism. These results indicate that the M-CHAT may require modifications to be more internally consistent and accurate across ethnic and educational groups in rural areas with low levels of SES. Recommendations to increase the utility of the M-CHAT are discussed.
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10. Yasuda H, Kobayashi M, Yasuda Y, Tsutsui T. {{Estimation of autistic children by metallomics analysis}}. {Sci Rep};2013;3:1199.
Clarification of the pathogenesis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders is one of the challenges today. In this study, we examine scalp hair concentrations of 26 trace elements for 1,967 children with autistic disorders (1,553 males and 414 females). Five-hundred and eighty-four (29.7%), 347 (17.6%) and 114 (5.8%) subjects was found deficient in zinc, magnesium and calcium, respectively, and 2.0% or less in the other essential metals. The incidence rate of mineral deficiency was highly observed in infants aged 0-3 year-old. In contrast, 339 (17.2%), 168 (8.5%) and 94 (4.8%) individuals was found suffering from high burden of aluminium, cadmium and lead, and 2.8% or less from mercury and arsenic burden. These findings suggest that infantile zinc- and magnesium-deficiency and/or toxic metal burdens may epigenetically play principal roles as environmental factors in autistic disorders and that metallomics approach may lead to early screening and prevention of the neurodevelopment disorders.
