1. Bent S, Bertoglio K, Hendren RL. {{Regarding omega-3 Fatty acids in severe autism}}. {Arch Med Res};2009 (Jan);40(1):64.
2. Brown T, Leo M, Austin DW. {{Discriminant Validity of the Sensory Profile in Australian Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Phys Occup Ther Pediatr};2008;28(3):253-266.
Objective. The discriminant validity of the Sensory Profile was evaluated by comparing the sensory processing scores of Australian children, 5 to 8 years of age, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to a control group of children with typical development matched for age and gender. Method. Twenty-six parents of children with ASD and 26 parents of typically developing children without ASD completed the Sensory Profile. Sensory Profile category, factor, and quadrant scores were compared using multivariate analysis to investigate if there were differences between the two groups. Results. The results indicated that the children with ASD had significantly lower sensory processing scores on all fourteen categories, eight out of nine factors, and all four quadrants of the Sensory Profile. Conclusion. The results also provide evidence of discriminant validity of Sensory Profile scores between children with ASD and children with typical development. In addition, the study findings indicate that the Sensory Profile can be used with confidence in cross-cultural contexts, such as Australia.
3. Elsabbagh M, Volein A, Csibra G, Holmboe K, Garwood H, Tucker L, Krljes S, Baron-Cohen S, Bolton P, Charman T, Baird G, Johnson MH. {{Neural correlates of eye gaze processing in the infant broader autism phenotype}}. {Biol Psychiatry};2009 (Jan 1);65(1):31-38.
BACKGROUND: Studies of infant siblings of children diagnosed with autism have allowed for a prospective approach to study the emergence of autism in infancy and revealed early behavioral characteristics of the broader autism phenotype. In view of previous findings of atypical eye gaze processing in children and adults with autism, the aim of this study was to examine the early autism phenotype in infant siblings of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (sib-ASD), focusing on the neural correlates of direct compared with averted gaze. METHODS: A group of 19 sib-ASD was compared with 17 control infants with no family history of ASD (mean age = 10 months) on their response to direct versus averted gaze in static stimuli. RESULTS: Relative to the control group, the sib-ASD group showed prolonged latency of the occipital P400 event-related potentials component in response to direct gaze, but they did not differ in earlier components. Similarly, time-frequency analysis of high-frequency oscillatory activity in the gamma band showed group differences in response to direct gaze, where induced gamma activity was late and less persistent over the right temporal region in the sib-ASD group. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that a broader autism phenotype, which includes an atypical response to direct gaze, is manifest early in infancy.
4. Grandin T. Visual abilities and sensory differences in a person with autism. Biol Psychiatry;2009 (Jan 1);65(1):15-16.
5. Pijnacker J, Geurts B, van Lambalgen M, Kan CC, Buitelaar JK, Hagoort P. {{Defeasible reasoning in high-functioning adults with autism: Evidence for impaired exception-handling}}. {Neuropsychologia};2008 (Nov 21)
While autism is one of the most intensively researched psychiatric disorders, little is known about reasoning skills of people with autism. The focus of this study was on defeasible inferences, that is inferences that can be revised in the light of new information. We used a behavioral task to investigate (a) conditional reasoning and (b) the suppression of conditional inferences in high-functioning adults with autism. In the suppression task a possible exception was made salient which could prevent a conclusion from being drawn. We predicted that the autism group would have difficulties dealing with such exceptions because they require mental flexibility to adjust to the context, which is often impaired in autism. The findings confirm our hypothesis that high-functioning adults with autism have a specific difficulty with exception-handling during reasoning. It is suggested that defeasible reasoning is also involved in other cognitive domains. Implications for neural underpinnings of reasoning and autism are discussed.
6. Politi P, Marrone G, Emanuele E. {{Regarding Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Severe Autism: Reply to Bent and Co-workers}}. {Arch Med Res};2009 (Jan);40(1):65.
