1. Cassidy S, Hannant P, Tavassoli T, Allison C, Smith P, Baron-Cohen S. {{Dyspraxia and autistic traits in adults with and without autism spectrum conditions}}. {Mol Autism};2016;7:48.
BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) are frequently associated with motor coordination difficulties. However, no studies have explored the prevalence of dyspraxia in a large sample of individuals with and without ASC or associations between dyspraxia and autistic traits in these individuals. METHODS: Two thousand eight hundred seventy-one adults (with ASC) and 10,706 controls (without ASC) self-reported whether they have been diagnosed with dyspraxia. A subsample of participants then completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ; 1237 ASC and 6765 controls) and the Empathy Quotient (EQ; 1147 ASC and 6129 controls) online through the Autism Research Centre website. The prevalence of dyspraxia was compared between those with and without ASC. AQ and EQ scores were compared across the four groups: (1) adults with ASC with dyspraxia, (2) adults with ASC without dyspraxia, (3) controls with dyspraxia, and (4) controls without dyspraxia. RESULTS: Adults with ASC were significantly more likely to report a diagnosis of dyspraxia (6.9%) than those without ASC (0.8%). In the ASC group, those with co-morbid diagnosis of dyspraxia did not have significantly different AQ or EQ scores than those without co-morbid dyspraxia. However, in the control group (without ASC), those with dyspraxia had significantly higher AQ and lower EQ scores than those without dyspraxia. CONCLUSIONS: Dyspraxia is significantly more prevalent in adults with ASC compared to controls, confirming reports that motor coordination difficulties are significantly more common in this group. Interestingly, in the general population, dyspraxia was associated with significantly higher autistic traits and lower empathy. These results suggest that motor coordination skills are important for effective social skills and empathy.
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2. Cooper RA, Plaisted-Grant KC, Baron-Cohen S, Simons JS. {{Eye movements reveal a dissociation between memory encoding and retrieval in adults with autism}}. {Cognition};2016 (Dec 08);159:127-138.
People with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit subtle deficits in recollection, which have been proposed to arise from encoding impairments, though a direct link has yet to be demonstrated. In the current study, we used eye-tracking to obtain trial-specific measures of encoding (eye movement patterns) during incidental (natural viewing) and intentional (strategic) encoding conditions in adults with ASD and typical controls. Using this approach, we tested the degree to which differences in encoding might contribute to recollection impairments, or whether group differences in memory primarily emerge at retrieval. Following encoding of scenes, participants were asked to distinguish between old and similar lure scenes and provide ‘remember’/’familiar’ responses. Intentional encoding increased eye movements and subsequent recollection in both groups to a similar degree, but the ASD group were impaired overall at the memory task and used recollection less frequently. In controls, eye movements at encoding predicted subsequent correct responses and subsequent recollection on a trial-by-trial basis, as expected. In contrast, despite a similar pattern of eye movements during encoding in the two groups, eye movements did not predict trial-by-trial subsequent memory in ASD. Furthermore, recollection was associated with lower similarity between encoding- and retrieval-related eye movements in the ASD group compared to the control group. The eye-tracking results therefore provide novel evidence for a dissociation between encoding and recollection-based retrieval in ASD.
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3. Ferraro FR, Hansen R, Deling L. {{Executive Function Index (EFI) performance in nonclinical individuals with high levels of autistic traits}}. {Appl Neuropsychol Adult};2016 (Dec 08):1-6.
This study examined the ability of the Executive Function Index (EFI) to detect differences in executive functioning amongst participants with varying levels of subclinical autistic symptoms as quantified by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (ASQ). Participants were a nonclinical college subject sample classified as displaying either Low (0-15 ASQ score, n = 182) ASQ traits or High (16 or higher ASQ score, n = 91) ASQ traits. Participants were given the ASQ (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001) and the EFI (Spinella, 2005 ). High ASQ subjects were significantly impaired (p’s < .04) on the Motivation/Drive (EFI-1) and Organization (EFI-4) subscales of the EFI, as compared to the Low ASQ subjects. However, no High/Low ASQ group differences were observed for EFI-2 (Impulse Control), EFI-3 (Empathy), EFI-5 (Planning) subscales or the EFI-Total Score (p's > .12), although these differences were in the predicted direction (High ASQ < Low ASQ). Use of the EFI as a measure of executive function performance in nonclinical ASQ trait individuals requires further study and may not be sensitive enough of an instrument to assess EF in nonclinical populations with autistic traits. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
4. Kerns CM, Renno P, Kendall PC, Wood JJ, Storch EA. {{Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Autism Addendum: Reliability and Validity in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol};2016 (Dec 07):1-13.
Assessing anxiety in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is inherently challenging due to overlapping (e.g., social avoidance) and ambiguous symptoms (e.g., fears of change). An ASD addendum to the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Child/Parent, Parent Version (ADIS/ASA) was developed to provide a systematic approach for differentiating traditional anxiety disorders from symptoms of ASD and more ambiguous, ASD-related anxiety symptoms. Interrater reliability and convergent and discriminant validity were examined in a sample of 69 youth with ASD (8-13 years, 75% male, IQ = 68-143) seeking treatment for anxiety. The parents of participants completed the ADIS/ASA and a battery of behavioral measures. A second rater independently observed and scored recordings of the original interviews. Findings suggest reliable measurement of comorbid (intraclass correlation = 0.85-0.98, kappa = 0.67-0.91) as well as ambiguous anxiety-like symptoms (intraclass correlation = 0.87-95, kappa = 0.77-0.90) in children with ASD. Convergent and discriminant validity were supported for the traditional anxiety symptoms on the ADIS/ASA, whereas convergent and discriminant validity were partially supported for the ambiguous anxiety-like symptoms. Results provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the ADIS/ASA as a measure of traditional anxiety categories in youth with ASD, with partial support for the validity of the ambiguous anxiety-like categories. Unlike other measures, the ADIS/ASA differentiates comorbid anxiety disorders from overlapping and ambiguous anxiety-like symptoms in ASD, allowing for more precise measurement and clinical conceptualization. Ambiguous anxiety-like symptoms appear phenomenologically distinct from comorbid anxiety disorders and may reflect either symptoms of ASD or a novel variant of anxiety in ASD.
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5. Pycha A. {{An Auditory Component to Autism}}. {Sci Am};2016 (Aug 16);315(3):16.
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6. Sterling A, Warren SF. {{Parenting of children with Down syndrome compared to fragile X syndrome}}. {Dev Neurorehabil};2016 (Dec 07):1-4.
Children with Down syndrome (DS) and fragile X syndrome (FXS) struggle with language development. Parenting variables, such as responsiveness to children’s communication attempts (Maternal Responsivity), and techniques used to support and teach appropriate behavior (Behavior Management) are known to have a significant impact on early child development. We examined these two aspects of parenting style via coded, videotaped parent-child interactions in two groups of participants matched on child age (2-5 years) and child expressive language level: mothers of children with DS and mothers of children with FXS. The mothers differed in their use of gestures and redirecting the child’s attention. Overall, mothers in both groups of children appeared to adapt appropriately to their children’s developmental needs.
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7. Zhu Z, Lu X, Yuan D, Huang S. {{Close genetic relationships between a spousal pair with autism-affected children and high minor allele content in cases in autism-associated SNPs}}. {Genomics};2016 (Dec 08)
Parents of children affected with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often have mild forms of autistic-like characteristics. Past studies have focused on searching for individual genetic risk loci of ASD. Here we studied the overall properties of the genomes of ASD trios by using previously published genome-wide data for common SNPs. The pairwise genetic distance (PGD) between a spousal pair with ASD-affected children was found smaller than that of a random pair selected among the spouses in the ASD trios, and spousal relatedness correlated with severe forms of ASD. Furthermore, for a set of 970 ASD associated SNPs, cases showed higher homozygous minor allele content than parents. These results indicate new genetic elements in the broad phenotypes of parents with ASD-affected offspring and in ASD pathogenesis.
