1. De Pauw SS, Mervielde I, Van Leeuwen KG, De Clercq BJ. {{How Temperament and Personality Contribute to the Maladjustment of Children With Autism}}. {J Autism Dev Disord} (Jun 5)
To test the spectrum hypothesis-postulating that clinical and non-clinical samples are primarily differentiated by mean-level differences-, this study evaluates differences in parent-rated temperament, personality and maladjustment among a low-symptom (N = 81), a high-symptom (N = 94) ASD-group, and a comparison group (N = 500). These classic spectrum hypothesis tests are extended by adding tests for similarity in variances, reliabilities and patterns of covariation between relevant variables. Children with ASD exhibit more extreme means, except for dominance. The low- and high-symptom ASD-groups are primarily differentiated by mean sociability and internal distress. Striking similarities in reliability and pattern of covariation of variables suggest that comparable processes link traits to maladaptation in low- and high-symptom children with ASD and in children with and without autism.
2. Fan YT, Decety J, Yang CY, Liu JL, Cheng Y. {{Unbroken mirror neurons in autism spectrum disorders}}. {J Child Psychol Psychiatry} (May 26)
Background: The ‘broken mirror’ theory of autism, which proposes that a dysfunction of the human mirror neuron system (MNS) is responsible for the core social and cognitive deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), has received considerable attention despite weak empirical evidence. Methods: In this electroencephalographic study, we examined mu suppression, as an indicator of sensorimotor resonance, concurrent with oculomotor performance while individuals (n = 20) with ASD and control participants (n = 20) either executed hand actions or observed hand actions or a moving dot. No difference in visual attention between groups was found as indicated by fixation duration and normalized fixation number on the presented stimuli. Results: The mu suppression over the sensorimotor cortex was significantly affected by experimental conditions, but not by group membership, nor by the interaction between groups and conditions. Individuals with ASD, similar to the controls, exhibited stronger mu suppression when watching hand actions relative to a moving dot. Notably, participants with ASD failed to imitate the observed actions while their mu suppression indicating the MNS activity was intact. In addition, the mu suppression during the observation of hand actions was positively associated with the communication competence of individuals with ASD. Conclusion: Our study clearly challenges the broken mirror theory of autism. The functioning of the mirror neuron system might be preserved in individuals with ASD to a certain degree. Less mu suppression to action observation coupled with more communicational severity can reflect the symptom heterogeneity of ASD. Additional research needs to be done, and more caution should be used when reaching out to the media.
3. Fuertes-Gonzalez MC, Silvestre FJ, Almerich-Silla JM. {{Oral findings in Rett syndrome: A systematic review of the dental literature}}. {Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal} (Jun 1)
Rett syndrome (RS) is a chromosome X-linked genetic neurological disorder characterized by de-velopmental regression, particularly in relation to expressive language and use of the hands, together with profound mental retardation, that almost exclusively affects females. The present review describes the 7 cases of RS published in the indexed literature (Medline) – the first corresponding to 1985 and the last to the year 2007. Certain oral manifestations of the disease are derived from the drug treatment prescribed to control the disease, while others are common to other clinical conditions characterized by convulsion activity, difficulties for correct oral hygiene, walking problems and/or an excess of oral / digital-manual habits. In any case, bruxism is the oral habit most frequently associated with RS-the treatment of which remains the subject of controversy.
4. Kaiser MD, Delmolino L, Tanaka JW, Shiffrar M. {{Comparison of visual sensitivity to human and object motion in autism spectrum disorder}}. {Autism Res} (Jun 8)
Successful social behavior requires the accurate detection of other people’s movements. Consistent with this, typical observers demonstrate enhanced visual sensitivity to human movement relative to equally complex, nonhuman movement [e.g., Pinto & Shiffrar, 2009]. A psychophysical study investigated visual sensitivity to human motion relative to object motion in observers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants viewed point-light depictions of a moving person and, for comparison, a moving tractor and discriminated between coherent and scrambled versions of these stimuli in unmasked and masked displays. There were three groups of participants: young adults with ASD, typically developing young adults, and typically developing children. Across masking conditions, typical observers showed enhanced visual sensitivity to human movement while observers in the ASD group did not. Because the human body is an inherently social stimulus, this result is consistent with social brain theories [e.g., Pelphrey & Carter, 2008; Schultz, 2005] and suggests that the visual systems of individuals with ASD may not be tuned for the detection of socially relevant information such as the presence of another person. Reduced visual sensitivity to human movements could compromise important social behaviors including, for example, gesture comprehension.
5. Woodard CR, Van Reet J. {{Object Identification and Imagination: An Alternative to the Meta-Representational Explanation of Autism}}. {J Autism Dev Disord} (Jun 8)
Past research has focused on pretend play in infants with autism because it is considered an early manifestation of symbolic or imaginative thinking. Contradictory research findings have challenged the meta-representational model. The intent of this paper is to propose that pretend play is the behavioral manifestation of developing imaginative ability, the complexity of which is determined by the degree of progression from part-object/inanimate object to whole-object/human object identification. We propose that autism is the result of non-completion of this process to varying degrees. This not only affects early pretend play behaviors, but also later social, language, and cognitive skills derived from the level of imagination-based sophistication achieved during foundational periods available for early identification.
