1. Adler N, Nadler B, Eviatar Z, Shamay-Tsoory SG. {{The relationship between theory of mind and autobiographical memory in high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome}}. {Psychiatry Res} (May 6)
The relationship between theory of mind (ToM) and autobiographical memory (AM) in high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger syndrome (AS) has never been investigated. Here, we show that ToM abilities could be predicted by levels of AM in HFA and AS as compared to controls, suggesting that difficulties in AM are closely related to ToM impairments in HFA and AS.
2. Charman T. {{Developmental Approaches to Understanding and Treating Autism}}. {Folia Phoniatr Logop} (May 11);62(4):166-177.
Over the past decade our understanding of early social communication development in young children with autism has undergone a remarkable change. We now know something about how young children with autism process the social world in a very different way from typical children. This has led to truly developmental models of autism. In turn, these have had profound impacts on research and practice. Several screening instruments to prospectively identify autism have been developed. In some cases autism can be diagnosed in children as young as 2 years of age. The study of ‘high-risk’ siblings has allowed prospective study of infants from as young as 6 months of age. There is increasing evidence that intervention approaches that focus on social and communication development can ameliorate symptoms and change the developmental course of the disorder. This article will highlight some of the key theoretical and clinical lessons learned from this decade of research.
3. Farber JM. {{Autism, cognition, and parent counseling}}. {J Dev Behav Pediatr} (May);31(4):341-342.
Parents often have an inaccurate understanding of outcomes in autism, and developmentalists contribute to this when they omit consideration of cognitive functioning in their discussions with parents. Developmentalists need to incorporate information about cognitive levels (including intellectual disability, when present), in order to properly educate parents about prognosis for their child with autism.
4. George M, Heeney MM, Woolf AD. {{Encephalopathy from lead poisoning masquerading as a flu-like syndrome in an autistic child}}. {Pediatr Emerg Care} (May);26(5):370-373.
Acute encephalopathy from childhood lead poisoning is fortunately rare. However, in pediatric patients with developmental disabilities and pica, there is a risk of lead exposure at a dose commensurate with encephalopathy, coupled with a risk of delayed diagnosis because of difficulty in distinguishing between baseline and altered behavior. We report here a 4-year old autistic boy who presented to the pediatrician’s office with gastrointestinal symptoms and behavioral changes and was at first thought to have a viral syndrome. He returned 2 days later with a worsening illness; increasing pallor, vomiting, abdominal colic, and changes in consciousness were recognized in the emergency department as lead-induced anemia and encephalopathy, associated with a positive abdominal film for paint chips and a blood lead level equal to 216 microg/dL (10.43 micromol/L) (reference, <10 microg/dL or 0.483 micromol/L). As this case illustrates, prompt recognition is dependent on the skills and suspicions of an astute clinician, especially in the busy emergency department.
5. Gupta VB. {{Communicating with parents of children with autism about vaccines and complementary and alternative approaches}}. {J Dev Behav Pediatr} (May);31(4):343-345.
Despite incontrovertible evidence that vaccines do not cause autism, some parents continue to refuse them and many parents of children with autism seek hope in unproven and potentially harmful complementary and alternative (CAM) approaches. This commentary explores the reasons for such behaviors and proposes that pediatricians may support parents in their pursuit of hope in unproven treatments as long as these are not potentially harmful to the child or prohibitively expensive. While respecting parental autonomy and hope the pediatricians should share with parents their concerns about lack of scientific evidence about CAM and potential for harm by some approaches.
6. Honaga E, Ishii R, Kurimoto R, Canuet L, Ikezawa K, Takahashi H, Nakahachi T, Iwase M, Mizuta I, Yoshimine T, Takeda M. {{Post-movement beta rebound abnormality as indicator of mirror neuron system dysfunction in autistic spectrum disorder: an MEG study}}. {Neurosci Lett} (May 6)
The mu rhythm is regarded as a physiological indicator of the human mirror neuron system (MNS). The dysfunctional MNS hypothesis in patients with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) has often been tested using EEG and MEG, targeting mu rhythm suppression during action observation/execution, although with controversial results. We explored neural activity related to the MNS in patients with ASD, focusing on power increase in the beta frequency band after observation and execution of movements, known as post-movement beta rebound (PMBR). Multiple source beamformer (MSBF) and BrainVoyager QX were used for MEG source imaging and statistical group analysis, respectively. Seven ASD patients and ten normal subjects participated in this study. During the MEG recordings, the subjects were asked to observe and later execute object-related hand actions performed by an experimenter. We found that both groups exhibited pronounced PMBR exceeding 20% when observing and executing actions with a similar topographic distribution of maximal activity. However, significantly reduced PMBR were found only during the observation condition in the patients relative to controls in cortical regions within the MNS, namely the sensorimotor area, premotor cortex and superior temporal gyrus. Reduced PMBR during the observation condition was also found in the medial prefrontal cortex. These results support the notion of a dysfunctional execution/observation matching system related to MNS impairment in patients with ASD, and the feasibility of using MEG to detect neural activity, in particular PMBR abnormalities, as an index of MNS dysfunction during performance of motor or cognitive tasks.
7. Lang R, Regester A, Rispoli M, Pimentel S, Camargo H. {{Rehabilitation issues in autism spectrum disorders}}. {Dev Neurorehabil};13(3):153-155.
8. Lotan M, Merrick J, Kandel I, Morad M. {{Aging in persons with Rett syndrome: an updated review}}. {ScientificWorldJournal};10:778-787.
Rett syndrome (RS) is a neurological disease affecting mainly females, characterized by an arrest of brain development caused by an X-linked mutation. Rett syndrome is the first human disease found to be caused by defects in a protein involved in regulating gene expression through its interaction with methylated DNA. The disease has been traced to a defective gene called MECP2. The case stories presented here and recent findings show that females with RS are able to live into old age. Due to the observed longevity of individuals with RS, and the fact that individuals with RS present the therapist/physician with specific clinical challenges, it is suggested that proper, long-term, and individually tailored, intensive care should be provided at all ages in the hope to prevent or at least reduce the age-related deterioration that is typical of this population.
9. Matson JL, Neal D, Fodstad JC, Hess JA. {{The relation of social behaviours and challenging behaviours in infants and toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Dev Neurorehabil};13(3):164-169.
PURPOSE: Challenging behaviours are a commonly co-occuring problem in children with ASD and are often present during the toddler years. The relationship that these challenging behaviours have with core features of ASD, specifically social behaviours, was examined in this study. METHOD: This study analysed the relationship between socialization and challenging behaviours among 153 toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. Social behaviour was evaluated using the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition and challenging behaviours were assessed using Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits, Part 3. RESULT: Lower levels of adult interaction and peer interaction were associated with higher levels of stereotypic behaviour, aggressive/destructive behaviour and to a lesser extent self-injury. CONCLUSIONS: The nature of the relationships between socialization and challenging behaviours likely interact in several ways. A better understanding of these relationships is essential to early identification and treatment of children with ASD.
10. Miniscalco C, Dahlgren Sandberg A. {{Basic reading skills in Swedish children with late developing language and with or without autism spectrum disorder or ADHD}}. {Res Dev Disabil} (May 5)
Reading skills at age 7-8 years were examined in a community-representative sample of 21 screened and clinically examined children with language delay (LD) followed prospectively from 2.5 years of age. The present study aimed to (1) determine whether these children with a history of LD had deficits in basic reading skills, i.e. decoding and comprehension, compared to the age norms of standardized tests, (2) analyze if there was a relationship between reading outcome and neuropsychiatric diagnosis by comparing three subgroups of children, LD pure, LD+ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and LD+ADHD, and, (3) determine what language measures at age 6 years were associated with the 7-8-year reading outcome. Both decoding and comprehension of single word reading were significantly below the norm for the whole LD group, where children with LD+ASD scored lowest, and children with LD highest. However, the differences between the three groups did not reach significance. Two reader groups were identified according to the results of word decoding and comprehension, respectively, resulting in the same 7 children. ANOVA revealed that the only differences on the 6-year language tests between the two groups were found on color naming and word memory. This study has shown that children with LD and subsequently identified neurodevelopmental problems such as ASD and ADHD experience continued deficits, demonstrated also in reading skills and that the picture of the reading problems seemed to resemble those of typically developing children.
11. Mostafa GA, Shehab AA. {{The link of C4B null allele to autism and to a family history of autoimmunity in Egyptian autistic children}}. {J Neuroimmunol} (May 8)
The reason behind the initiation of autoimmunity, which may have a role in autism, is not well understood. There is an association between some autoimmune disorders and complement (C) 4B null allele. We aimed to study the association between C4B null allele and autism. In addition, we are the first to investigate the association between this allele and a family history of autoimmune diseases in autistic children. Therefore, we examined the frequency of C4B null allele, by quantitative real-time PCR, in 80 autistic patients and 80 healthy matched-children. The frequency of C4B null allele was significantly higher in autistic patients (37.5%) than healthy controls (8.75%), P<0.001. The frequency of autoimmune diseases in families of autistic children (40%) was significantly higher than healthy children (10%), P<0.001. In addition, a family history of autoimmunity had a significant risk for association with autism (odds ratio=6, 95%, CI=2.5-14.1). C4B null allele had a significant risk for association with autism (odds ratio=6.26, 95% CI=2.55-15.36) and with a family history of autoimmunity (odds ratio=21, 95% CI=6.5-67.8). Conclusions: the link of C4B null allele to autism and to a family history of autoimmunity may indicate its possible contributing role to autoimmunity in autism.
12. Rayner CS. {{Video-modelling to improve task completion in a child with autism}}. {Dev Neurorehabil};13(3):225-230.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of video modelling as an intervention for increasing task completion for individuals with autism who have high support needs. METHODS: A 12-year-old-boy with autism received video modelling intervention on two routines (unpacking his bag and brushing his teeth). RESULTS: Use of the video modelling intervention led to rapid increases in the percentage of steps performed in the unpacking his bag sequence and these gains generalized to packing his bag prior to departure from school. There was limited success in the use of the video modelling intervention for teaching the participant to brush his teeth. CONCLUSION: Video modelling can be successfully applied to enhance daily functioning in a classroom environment for students with autism and high support needs.
13. Smith KR, Matson JL. {{Behavior problems: Differences among intellectually disabled adults with co-morbid autism spectrum disorders and epilepsy}}. {Res Dev Disabil} (May 7)
Behavior problems such as aggression, property destruction, stereotypy, self-injurious behavior, and other disruptive behavior are commonly observed among adults with intellectual disabilities (ID), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and epilepsy residing at state-run facilities. However, it is unknown how these populations differ on behavior problem indicies. Assessment of behavior problems were made with the ASD-behavior problems-adult version battery. One hundred participants with ID were matched and compared across four equal groups comprising 25 participants with ID, 25 participants with epilepsy, 25 participants with ASD, and 25 participants with combined ASD and epilepsy. When controlling for age, gender, race, level of ID, and hearing and visual impairments, significant differences were found among the four groups, Wilks’s Lambda=.79, F(12, 246)=1.93, p<.05. The multivariate eta(2) based on Wilks’s Lambda was .08. A one-way ANOVA was conducted for each of the four subscales of the ASD-BPA as follow-up tests to the MANOVA. Groups differed on the aggression/destruction subscale, F(3, 96)=.79, p>.05, eta(2)=.03, and stereotypy subscale, F(3, 96)=2.62, p>.05, eta(2)=.08. No significant differences were found on the self-injury subscale and disruptive behavior subscale. Trend analysis demonstrated that individuals with ID expressing combined co-morbid ASD and epilepsy were significantly more impaired than the control group (ID only) or groups containing only a single co-morbid factor with ID (ASD or epilepsy only) on these four subscales. Implications of these findings in the context of known issues in ID, epilepsy, and ASD, current assessment practices among these populations and associated challenges are discussed.
14. Stevens L, Tartaglia N, Hagerman R, Riley K. {{Clinical report: a male with Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, and autism}}. {J Dev Behav Pediatr} (May);31(4):333-337.
A case of a 14-year-old boy with both fragile X syndrome and Down syndrome is described. This is the third reported case of a patient with fragile X syndrome plus Down syndrome and the first reported case in a male. Facial features are generally consistent with Down syndrome; however, a prominent forehead and jaw and maccroorchidism were consistent with fragile X syndrome. Joint laxity is also present, which is consistent with both disorders. Cognitive impairment is more significant than in his siblings with fragile X syndrome, and he meets criteria for autistic disorder. Ongoing behavioral dysregulation has been significant, leading to disruption of home and school environments despite many attempted psychopharmacologic and behavioral strategies and a supportive family. Identification and treatment of underlying medical problems (esophagitis) led to improvements in sleep and behavior. We emphasize discussion of challenges in his behavioral management and present a collaborative approach to behavioral management.
15. Webb SJ, Jones E, Merkle K, Murias M, Greenson J, Richards T, Aylward E, Dawson G. {{Response to familiar faces, newly familiar faces, and novel faces as assessed by ERPs is intact in adults with autism spectrum disorders}}. {Int J Psychophysiol} (May 6)
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have pervasive impairments in social functioning, which may include problems with processing and remembering faces. In this study, we examined whether posterior ERP components associated with identity processing (P2, N250 and face-N400) and components associated with early-stage face processing (P1 and N170) are atypical in ASD. We collected ERP responses to a familiar repeated face (Familiar), an unfamiliar repeated face (Other) and novel faces (Novels) in 29 high functioning adults with ASD and matched controls. For both groups, the P2 and N250 were sensitive to repetition (Other vs. Novels) and personal familiarity (Familiar vs. Other), and the face-N400 was sensitive to repetition. Adults with ASD did not show significantly atypical processing of facial familiarity and repetition in an ERP paradigm, despite showing significantly poorer performance than controls on a behavioral test of face memory. This study found no evidence that early-stage facial identity processing is a primary contributor to the face recognition deficit in high functioning ASD.
16. Yang SY, Cho SC, Yoo HJ, Cho IH, Park M, Yoe J, Kim SA. {{Family-based association study of microsatellites in the 5′ flanking region of AVPR1A with autism spectrum disorder in the Korean population}}. {Psychiatry Res} (May 6)
This study evaluated the association between autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and microsatellites (RS3 and RS1) in the 5′ flanking region of AVPR1A in 148 Korean trios comprising children with ASDs. In the transmission equilibrium test and haplotype analysis, we found a statistically significant association between microsatellites and Korean ASDs.
