1. Cervantes PE, Matson JL. {{Comorbid Symptomology in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2015.
Evidence-based treatment must begin with the systematic and comprehensive identification of an individual’s complete clinical picture. Therefore, screening individuals with intellectual disability (ID) for comorbid disorders is imperative. Because of the frequent overlap between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ID, the current study explored the effects of co-occurring ASD on the comorbid symptoms exhibited by adults with ID. The study included 307 adults with severe or profound ID separated into two groups: ASD+ID and ID only. The ASD+ID group exhibited significantly more symptomology on eight of the 12 subscales examined including anxiety, mania, schizophrenia, stereotypies/tics, self-injurious behavior, eating disorders, sexual disorders, and impulse control. Further, comparisons of specific symptom endorsements yielded distinct results.
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2. Du L, Shan L, Wang B, Li H, Xu Z, Staal WG, Jia F. {{A Pilot Study on the Combination of Applied Behavior Analysis and Bumetanide Treatment for Children with Autism}}. {J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol}. 2015.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effects of combined bumetanide and applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment in children with autism. METHODS: Sixty children diagnosed with autism according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) criteria (mean age of 4.5 years) were randomly divided into two groups: A single treatment group (n=28) and a combined treatment group (n=32). The combined treatment group received ABA training combined with oral bumetanide (0.5 mg twice a day). The single treatment group received ABA training only. Autism symptoms were evaluated with the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), whereas severity of disease (SI) and global improvement (GI) were measured with the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI). Assessment of ABC, CARS, and CGI was performed immediately before and 3 months after initiation of the treatment(s). RESULTS: Prior to intervention(s) no statistically significant differences in scores on the ABC, CARS, SI, or GI were found between the two groups. Total scores of the ABC, CARS, and SI were decreased in both groups after 3 months (p<0.05) compared with the scores prior to treatment. The total scores of the ABC and the CGI were significantly (p<0.05) lower in the combined treatment group than in the single treatment group. Although the total and item scores of the CARS in the combined treatment group were lower than in the single treatment group after a 3 month intervention, they did not reach statistical significance. No adverse effects of bumetanide were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with bumetanide combined with ABA training may result in a better outcome in children with autism than ABA training alone.
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3. Ellul P, Rotge JY, Choucha W. {{Resistant Catatonia in a High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder Patient Successfully Treated with Amantadine}}. {J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol}. 2015.
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4. Helt MS, Fein DA. {{Facial Feedback and Social Input: Effects on Laughter and Enjoyment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2015.
Both social input and facial feedback appear to be processed differently by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We tested the effects of both of these types of input on laughter in children with ASD. Sensitivity to facial feedback was tested in 43 children with ASD, aged 8-14 years, and 43 typically developing children matched for mental age (6-14), in order to examine whether children with ASD use bodily feedback as an implicit source of information. Specifically, children were asked to view cartoons as they normally would (control condition), and while holding a pencil in their mouth forcing their smiling muscles into activation (feedback condition) while rating their enjoyment of the cartoons. The authors also explored the effects of social input in children with ASD by investigating whether the presence of a caregiver or friend (companion condition), or the presence of a laugh track superimposed upon the cartoon (laugh track condition) increased the children’s self-rated enjoyment of cartoons or the amount of positive affect they displayed. Results showed that the group with ASD was less affected by all three experimental conditions, but also that group differences seemed to have been driven by one specific symptom of ASD: restricted range of affect. The strong relationship between restricted affect and insensitivity to facial feedback found in this study sheds light on the implications of restricted affect for social development in ASD.
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5. Kikuchi M, Yoshimura Y, Mutou K, Minabe Y. {{Magnetoencephalography in the study of children with autism spectrum disorder}}. {Psychiatry Clin Neurosci}. 2015.
AIMS: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a noninvasive neuroimaging technique that provides a measure of cortical neural activity on a millisecond time scale with high spatial resolution. MEG has been clinically applied to various neurological diseases, including epilepsy and cognitive dysfunction. In the past decade, MEG has also emerged as an important investigatory tool in neurodevelopmental studies. It is therefore an opportune time to review how MEG is able to contribute to the study of atypical brain development. METHOD: We limit this review to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The relevant literature for children was accessed using PubMed on January 5, 2015. Case reports, case series, and papers on epilepsy were excluded. RESULTS: Owing to their accurate separation of brain activity in the right and left hemispheres and the higher accuracy of source localization, MEG studies have added new information related to auditory evoked brain responses to findings from previous EEG studies of children with ASD. In addition, evidence of atypical brain connectivity in children with ASD has accumulated over the past decade. CONCLUSIONS: MEG is well suited for the study of neural activity with high time resolution even in young children. Although further studies are still necessary, the detailed findings provided by neuroimaging methods may aid clinical diagnosis and even contribute to the refinement of diagnostic categories for neurodevelopmental disorders in the future.
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6. Levy F. {{Commentary on Autism Spectrum Disorder: Presentation and prevalence in a nationally representative Australian sample – Service implications}}. {Aust N Z J Psychiatry}. 2015.
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7. Li YM, Ou JJ, Liu L, Zhang D, Zhao JP, Tang SY. {{Association Between Maternal Obesity and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Offspring: A Meta-analysis}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2015.
As the link between maternal obesity and risk of autism among offspring is unclear, the present study assessed this association. A systematic search of an electronic database was performed to identify observational studies that examined the association between maternal obesity and autism. The outcome measures were odds ratios comparing offspring autism risk between obese and normal-weight mothers. Five observational studies were included in the meta-analysis. A fixed-effects model was used since low heterogeneity was observed between studies. The pooled adjusted odds ratio was 1.47 (95 % CI 1.24-1.74). The meta-analysis results support an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder in children of women who were obese during pregnancy. However, further study is warranted to confirm these results.
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8. Reichow B, George-Puskar A, Lutz T, Smith IC, Volkmar FR. {{Brief Report: Systematic Review of Rett Syndrome in Males}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2015.
Rett syndrome (RTT) is a neurogenetic disorder in which a period of typical development is followed by loss of previously acquired skills. Once thought to occur exclusively in females, increasing numbers of male cases of RTT have been reported. This systematic review included 36 articles describing 57 cases of RTT in males. Mutations of the MECP2 gene were present in 56 % of cases, and 68 % of cases reported other genetic abnormalities. This is the first review of published reports of RTT in male patients.
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9. Segal-Gavish H, Karvat G, Barak N, Barzilay R, Ganz J, Edry L, Aharony I, Offen D, Kimchi T. {{Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation Promotes Neurogenesis and Ameliorates Autism Related Behaviors in BTBR Mice}}. {Autism Res}. 2015.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by social communication deficits, cognitive rigidity, and repetitive stereotyped behaviors. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have a paracrine regenerative effect, and were speculated to be a potential therapy for ASD. The BTBR inbred mouse strain is a commonly used model of ASD as it demonstrates robust behavioral deficits consistent with the diagnostic criteria for ASD. BTBR mice also exhibit decreased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling and reduced hippocampal neurogenesis. In the current study, we evaluated the behavioral and molecular effects of intracerebroventricular MSC transplantation in BTBR mice. Transplantation of MSC resulted in a reduction of stereotypical behaviors, a decrease in cognitive rigidity and an improvement in social behavior. Tissue analysis revealed elevated BDNF protein levels in the hippocampus accompanied by increased hippocampal neurogenesis in the MSC-transplanted mice compared with sham treated mice. This might indicate a possible mechanism underpinning the behavioral improvement. Our study suggests a novel therapeutic approach which may be translatable to ASD patients in the future. Autism Res 2015. (c) 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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10. Stroganova TA, Butorina AV, Sysoeva OV, Prokofyev AO, Nikolaeva AY, Tsetlin MM, Orekhova EV. {{Altered modulation of gamma oscillation frequency by speed of visual motion in children with autism spectrum disorders}}. {J Neurodev Disord}. 2015; 7(1): 21.
BACKGROUND: Recent studies link autism spectrum disorders (ASD) with an altered balance between excitation and inhibition (E/I balance) in cortical networks. The brain oscillations in high gamma-band (50-120 Hz) are sensitive to the E/I balance and may appear useful biomarkers of certain ASD subtypes. The frequency of gamma oscillations is mediated by level of excitation of the fast-spiking inhibitory basket cells recruited by increasing strength of excitatory input. Therefore, the experimental manipulations affecting gamma frequency may throw light on inhibitory networks dysfunction in ASD. METHODS: Here, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate modulation of visual gamma oscillation frequency by speed of drifting annular gratings (1.2, 3.6, 6.0 degrees /s) in 21 boys with ASD and 26 typically developing boys aged 7-15 years. Multitaper method was used for analysis of spectra of gamma power change upon stimulus presentation and permutation test was applied for statistical comparisons. We also assessed in our participants visual orientation discrimination thresholds, which are thought to depend on excitability of inhibitory networks in the visual cortex. RESULTS: Although frequency of the oscillatory gamma response increased with increasing velocity of visual motion in both groups of participants, the velocity effect was reduced in a substantial proportion of children with ASD. The range of velocity-related gamma frequency modulation correlated inversely with the ability to discriminate oblique line orientation in the ASD group, while no such correlation has been observed in the group of typically developing participants. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that abnormal velocity-related gamma frequency modulation in ASD may constitute a potential biomarker for reduced excitability of fast-spiking inhibitory neurons in a subset of children with ASD.
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11. Uljarevic M, Carrington S, Leekam S. {{Brief Report: Effects of Sensory Sensitivity and Intolerance of Uncertainty on Anxiety in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2015.
This study examined the relations between anxiety and individual characteristics of sensory sensitivity (SS) and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) in mothers of children with ASD. The mothers of 50 children completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Highly Sensitive Person Scale and the IU Scale. Anxiety was associated with both SS and IU and IU was also associated with SS. Mediation analyses showed direct effects between anxiety and both IU and SS but a significant indirect effect was found only in the model in which IU mediated between SS. This is the first study to characterize the nature of the IU and SS interrelation in predicting levels of anxiety.
