1. Amaral C, Straioto FG, Napimoga MH, Martinez EF. {{Caries experience and salivary aspects in individuals with fragile X syndrome}}. {Braz Oral Res}. 2017; 31: e79.
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common cause of hereditary mental retardation, but studies on the oral health condition of these patients are rare. The aim of this study was to determine the experience of dental caries in individuals with FXS, by examining the saliva profile, oral hygiene, socioeconomic characteristics and use of controlled drugs in these patients. Dental health was estimated using the decayed, missing and filled teeth index (DMF-T) and sialometry, and the pH value and buffering capacity of the saliva, colony forming units of S. mutans (CFU/mL), visible biofilm index, and socioeconomic status were all examined. The sample, comprising 23 individuals, had an average age of 17.3 +/- 5.6 years, a DMF-T index of 5.5, a diminished salivary flow (78.3%), and a low (73.9%) saliva buffering capacity. Most (52.2%) individuals presented with a high abundance (CFU/mL) of S. mutans. The experience of caries was correlated with salivary parameters, poor oral hygiene, lower socioeconomic status and an increased count of S. mutans in saliva.
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2. Ashwin C, Wheelwright S, Baron-Cohen S. {{Differences in change blindness to real-life scenes in adults with autism spectrum conditions}}. {PLoS One}. 2017; 12(10): e0185120.
People often fail to detect large changes to visual scenes following a brief interruption, an effect known as ‘change blindness’. People with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) have superior attention to detail and better discrimination of targets, and often notice small details that are missed by others. Together these predict people with autism should show enhanced perception of changes in simple change detection paradigms, including reduced change blindness. However, change blindness studies to date have reported mixed results in ASC, which have sometimes included no differences to controls or even enhanced change blindness. Attenuated change blindness has only been reported to date in ASC in children and adolescents, with no study reporting reduced change blindness in adults with ASC. The present study used a change blindness flicker task to investigate the detection of changes in images of everyday life in adults with ASC (n = 22) and controls (n = 22) using a simple change detection task design and full range of original scenes as stimuli. Results showed the adults with ASC had reduced change blindness compared to adult controls for changes to items of marginal interest in scenes, with no group difference for changes to items of central interest. There were no group differences in overall response latencies to correctly detect changes nor in the overall number of missed detections in the experiment. However, the ASC group showed greater missed changes for marginal interest changes of location, showing some evidence of greater change blindness as well. These findings show both reduced change blindness to marginal interest changes in ASC, based on response latencies, as well as greater change blindness to changes of location of marginal interest items, based on detection rates. The findings of reduced change blindness are consistent with clinical reports that people with ASC often notice small changes to less salient items within their environment, and are in-line with theories of enhanced local processing and greater attention to detail in ASC. The findings of lower detection rates for one of the marginal interest conditions may be related to problems in shifting attention or an overly focused attention spotlight.
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3. Bedford R, Gliga T, Shephard E, Elsabbagh M, Pickles A, Charman T, Johnson MH. {{Neurocognitive and observational markers: prediction of autism spectrum disorder from infancy to mid-childhood}}. {Mol Autism}. 2017; 8: 49.
BACKGROUND: Prospective studies of infants at high familial risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have identified a number of putative early markers that are associated with ASD outcome at 3 years of age. However, some diagnostic changes occur between toddlerhood and mid-childhood, which raises the question of whether infant markers remain associated with diagnosis into mid-childhood. METHODS: First, we tested whether infant neurocognitive markers (7-month neural response to eye gaze shifts and 14-month visual disengagement latencies) as well as an observational marker of emerging ASD behaviours (the Autism Observation Scale for Infants; AOSI) predicted ASD outcome in high-risk (HR) 7-year-olds with and without an ASD diagnosis (HR-ASD and HR-No ASD) and low risk (LR) controls. Second, we tested whether the neurocognitive markers offer predictive power over and above the AOSI. RESULTS: Both neurocognitive markers distinguished children with an ASD diagnosis at 7 years of age from those in the HR-No ASD and LR groups. Exploratory analysis suggested that neurocognitive markers may further differentiate stable versus lost/late diagnosis across the 3 to 7 year period, which will need to be tested in larger samples. At both 7 and 14 months, combining the neurocognitive marker with the AOSI offered a significantly improved model fit over the AOSI alone. CONCLUSIONS: Infant neurocognitive markers relate to ASD in mid-childhood, improving predictive power over and above an early observational marker. The findings have implications for understanding the neurodevelopmental mechanisms that lead from risk to disorder and for identification of potential targets of pre-emptive intervention.
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4. Grecucci A, Siugzdaite R, Job R. {{Editorial: Advanced Neuroimaging Methods for Studying Autism Disorder}}. {Front Neurosci}. 2017; 11: 533.
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5. Hatfield M, Falkmer M, Falkmer T, Ciccarelli M. {{Process Evaluation of the BOOST-A Transition Planning Program for Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum: A Strengths-Based Approach}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2017.
A process evaluation was conducted to determine the effectiveness, usability, and barriers and facilitators related to the Better OutcOmes & Successful Transitions for Autism (BOOST-A), an online transition planning program. Adolescents on the autism spectrum (n = 33) and their parents (n = 39) provided feedback via an online questionnaire. Of these, 13 participants were interviewed to gain in-depth information about their experiences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: (i) taking action to overcome inertia, (ii) new insights that led to clear plans for the future, (iii) adolescent empowerment through strengths focus, and (iv) having a champion to guide the way. The process evaluation revealed why BOOST-A was beneficial to some participants more than others. Trial registration #ACTRN12615000119594.
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6. Hoyland AL, Naerland T, Engstrom M, Lydersen S, Andreassen OA. {{The relation between face-emotion recognition and social function in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: A case control study}}. {PLoS One}. 2017; 12(10): e0186124.
An altered processing of emotions may contribute to a reduced ability for social interaction and communication in autism spectrum disorder, ASD. We investigated how face-emotion recognition in ASD is different from typically developing across adolescent age groups. Fifty adolescents diagnosed with ASD and 49 typically developing (age 12-21 years) were included. The ASD diagnosis was underpinned by parent-rated Social Communication Questionnaire. We used a cued GO/ NOGO task with pictures of facial expressions and recorded reaction time, intra-individual variability of reaction time and omissions/commissions. The Social Responsiveness Scale was used as a measure of social function. Analyses were conducted for the whole group and for young (< 16 years) and old (>/= 16 years) age groups. We found no significant differences in any task measures between the whole group of typically developing and ASD and no significant correlations with the Social Responsiveness Scale. However, there was a non-significant tendency for longer reaction time in the young group with ASD (p = 0.099). The Social Responsiveness Scale correlated positively with reaction time (r = 0.30, p = 0.032) and intra-individual variability in reaction time (r = 0.29, p = 0.037) in the young group and in contrast, negatively in the old group (r = -0.23, p = 0.13; r = -0.38, p = 0.011, respectively) giving significant age group interactions for both reaction time (p = 0.008) and intra-individual variability in reaction time (p = 0.001). Our findings suggest an age-dependent association between emotion recognition and severity of social problems indicating a delayed development of emotional understanding in ASD. It also points towards alterations in top-down attention control in the ASD group. This suggests novel disease-related features that should be investigated in more details in experimental settings.
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7. Lee SH, Song WJ. {{Chromosomal Microarray Testing in 42 Korean Patients with Unexplained Developmental Delay, Intellectual Disability, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Multiple Congenital Anomalies}}. {Genomics Inform}. 2017; 15(3): 82-6.
Chromosomal microarray (CMA) is a high-resolution, high-throughput method of identifying submicroscopic genomic copy number variations (CNVs). CMA has been established as the first-line diagnostic test for individuals with developmental delay (DD), intellectual disability (ID), autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and multiple congenital anomalies (MCAs). CMA analysis was performed in 42 Korean patients who had been diagnosed with unexplained DD, ID, ASDs, and MCAs. Clinically relevant CNVs were discovered in 28 patients. Variants of unknown significance were detected in 13 patients. The diagnostic yield was high (66.7%). CMA is a superior diagnostic tool compared with conventional karyotyping and fluorescent in situ hybridization.
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8. Masataka N. {{Neurodiversity, Giftedness, and Aesthetic Perceptual Judgment of Music in Children with Autism}}. {Front Psychol}. 2017; 8: 1595.
The author investigated the capability of aesthetic perceptual judgment of music in male children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) when compared to age-matched typically developing (TD) male children. Nineteen boys between 4 and 7 years of age with ASD were compared to 28 TD boys while listening to musical stimuli of different aesthetic levels. The results from two musical experiments using the above participants, are described here. In the first study, responses to a Mozart minuet and a dissonant altered version of the same Mozart minuet were compared. In this first study, the results indicated that both ASD and TD males preferred listening to the original consonant version of the minuet over the altered dissonant version. With the same participants, the second experiment included musical stimuli from four renowned composers: Mozart and Bach’s musical works, both considered consonant in their harmonic structure, were compared with music from Schoenberg and Albinoni, two composers who wrote musical works considered exceedingly harmonically dissonant. In the second study, when the stimuli included consonant or dissonant musical stimuli from different composers, the children with ASD showed greater preference for the aesthetic quality of the highly dissonant music compared to the TD children. While children in both of the groups listened to the consonant stimuli of Mozart and Bach music for the same amount of time, the children with ASD listened to the dissonant music of Schoenberg and Albinoni longer than the TD children. As preferring dissonant music is more aesthetically demanding perceptually, these results suggest that ASD male children demonstrate an enhanced capability of aesthetic judgment of music. Subsidiary data collected after the completion of the experiment revealed that absolute pitch ability was prevalent only in the children with ASD, some of whom also possessed extraordinary musical memory. The implications of these results are discussed with reference to the broader notion of neurodiversity, a term coined to capture potentially gifted qualities in individuals diagnosed with ASD.
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9. Mills C, Chapparo C. {{Listening to teachers: Views on delivery of a classroom based sensory intervention for students with autism}}. {Aust Occup Ther J}. 2017.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Occupational therapists consider the impact of autism spectrum disorder on occupational performance at school. Occupational therapists work with teachers to support student participation. Atypical sensory processing is common in children with autism. Therefore, collaborating with teachers to enable students with autism to appropriately process sensory information within classrooms may be necessary. This qualitative pilot study aimed to capture teachers’ perceptions of using a Sensory Activity Schedule, a sensory based intervention, in the classroom. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive approach was used to analyse semi-structured interview responses from 19 qualified teachers who taught children with autism from seven different autism specific special schools in NSW. Teachers were asked about their motivation to complete the intervention as well as helpful and difficult aspects of the intervention. FINDINGS: Three main categories and eight sub-categories were identified from the 19 respondents who reported that helping their students was an important motivation for using a Sensory Activity Schedule as well as the opportunity to evaluate whether sensory based intervention was beneficial. Teachers reported that learning new ideas, working with an occupational therapist and seeing an increase in concentration and a reduction in undesired behaviours were positive aspects of utilising the intervention. Timing, staffing and fidelity of the intervention were areas of concern. CONCLUSION: Collaboration with classroom teachers is an essential part of school-based occupational therapy. Insights from teachers who implemented a sensory based intervention in the classroom assist occupational therapists to better support students with autism spectrum disorder in schools.
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10. Musburger PK, Slavin L. {{Insights in Public Health: Project Laulima: Expanding Hawai’i’s System of Care to Better Serve Children and Youth with Co-occurring Mental Health Needs and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities and their Families}}. {Hawaii J Med Public Health}. 2017; 76(10): 290-3.
11. Ness SL, Manyakov NV, Bangerter A, Lewin D, Jagannatha S, Boice M, Skalkin A, Dawson G, Janvier YM, Goodwin MS, Hendren R, Leventhal B, Shic F, Cioccia W, Pandina G. {{JAKE(R) Multimodal Data Capture System: Insights from an Observational Study of Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Front Neurosci}. 2017; 11: 517.
Objective: To test usability and optimize the Janssen Autism Knowledge Engine (JAKE(R)) system’s components, biosensors, and procedures used for objective measurement of core and associated symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in clinical trials. Methods: A prospective, observational study of 29 children and adolescents with ASD using the JAKE system was conducted at three sites in the United States. This study was designed to establish the feasibility of the JAKE system and to learn practical aspects of its implementation. In addition to information collected by web and mobile components, wearable biosensor data were collected both continuously in natural settings and periodically during a battery of experimental tasks administered in laboratory settings. This study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02299700. Results: Feedback collected throughout the study allowed future refinements to be planned for all components of the system. The Autism Behavior Inventory (ABI), a parent-reported measure of ASD core and associated symptoms, performed well. Among biosensors studied, the eye-tracker, sleep monitor, and electrocardiogram were shown to capture high quality data, whereas wireless electroencephalography was difficult to use due to its form factor. On an exit survey, the majority of parents rated their overall reaction to JAKE as positive/very positive. No significant device-related events were reported in the study. Conclusion: The results of this study, with the described changes, demonstrate that the JAKE system is a viable, useful, and safe platform for use in clinical trials of ASD, justifying larger validation and deployment studies of the optimized system.
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12. Newschaffer CJ. {{Trends in Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Interaction of Time, Group-Level Socioeconomic Status, and Individual-Level Race/Ethnicity}}. {Am J Public Health}. 2017; 107(11): 1698-9.
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13. Niemczyk J, Wagner C, von Gontard A. {{Incontinence in autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review}}. {Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry}. 2017.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are defined by persistent deficits in reciprocal social interaction, communication, and language, as well as stereotyped and repetitive behavior. Functional incontinence, as well as ASD are common disorders in childhood. The aim of this systematic review was to give an overview of the co-occurrence of nocturnal enuresis (NE), daytime urinary incontinence (DUI), and fecal incontinence (FI) in ASD, and vice versa, of ASD in children with incontinence. A systematic literature search of the terms « incontinence », « enuresis », and « encopresis » in combination with « autism » or « Asperger » in four databases (Scopus, PubMed, PsycInfo and Web of science) was conducted. All studies that examined incontinence frequencies in samples with ASD, and studies that measured frequencies of ASD diagnoses or symptoms in samples with incontinence were included. Risk of bias and limitations of each study were described. After eligibility assessment, 33 publications were included in the review. The published literature implies a higher prevalence of incontinence in children with ASD compared to typically developing children. Limitations and biases as inappropriate diagnostic criteria for ASD and incontinence, selected samples, or lack of control groups are reported. Associations of incontinence in ASD with psychopathological symptoms were found. Vice versa, ASD symptoms are found in incontinent children, but no study included a non-ASD control sample. Incontinence symptoms are also reported as an adverse effect of medication in ASD. Due to methodological problems and definitional discrepancies in some publications, results have to be interpreted cautiously. Research in ASD and incontinence is scarce. More systematic research including state-of-the-art assessments is needed.
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14. Paula CAR, Reategui C, Costa BKS, da Fonseca CQ, da Silva L, Morya E, Brasil FL. {{High-Frequency EEG Variations in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder during Human Faces Visualization}}. {Biomed Res Int}. 2017; 2017: 3591914.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by the impairment in the social reciprocity, interaction/language, and behavior, with stereotypes and signs of sensory function deficits. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a well-established and noninvasive tool for neurophysiological characterization and monitoring of the brain electrical activity, able to identify abnormalities related to frequency range, connectivity, and lateralization of brain functions. This research aims to evidence quantitative differences in the frequency spectrum pattern between EEG signals of children with and without ASD during visualization of human faces in three different expressions: neutral, happy, and angry. Quantitative clinical evaluations, neuropsychological evaluation, and EEG of children with and without ASD were analyzed paired by age and gender. The results showed stronger activation in higher frequencies (above 30 Hz) in frontal, central, parietal, and occipital regions in the ASD group. This pattern of activation may correlate with developmental characteristics in the children with ASD.
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15. Raz R, Levine H, Pinto O, Broday DM, Yuval, Weisskopf MG. {{Traffic Related Air Pollution and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Population Based Nested Case-Control Study in Israel}}. {Am J Epidemiol}. 2017.
Accumulating evidence suggests that perinatal air pollutant exposures are associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but evidence outside the US for traffic pollutants is inconclusive. We assessed the association between NO2, a traffic pollution tracer, and risk of ASD. We conducted a nested case-control study among the entire population of children born 2005-2009 in the central coastal area of Israel. Cases were identified through the National Insurance Institute of Israel (n = 2,098). Controls were a 20% random sample of the remaining children (n = 54,191). Exposure was based on an optimized dispersion model. We estimated adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using logistic regression and a distributed-lag model. The OR per 5.85 ppb NO2 exposure during pregnancy (median, 16.8 ppb; range, 7.5-31.2) was 0.77 (95% CI: 0.59, 1.00), and the OR for exposure in the 9 months after birth was 1.40 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.80) in models mutually adjusted for the two periods. A distributed lag model revealed reduced risk around week 13 of pregnancy, and elevated risk around week 26 after birth. These findings suggest that postnatal exposure to NO2 in Israel is associated with increased odds of ASD, and prenatal exposure with lower odds. The latter may relate to selection effects.
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16. Schelly D, Jimenez Gonzalez P, Solis PJ. {{Parental Action and Referral Patterns in Spatial Clusters of Childhood Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2017.
Sociodemographic factors have long been associated with disparities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Studies that identified spatial clustering of cases have suggested the importance of information about ASD moving through social networks of parents. Yet there is no direct evidence of this mechanism. This study explores the help-seeking behaviors and referral pathways of parents of diagnosed children in Costa Rica, one of two countries in which spatial clusters of cases have been identified. We interviewed the parents of 54 diagnosed children and focused on social network connections that influenced parents’ help seeking and referral pathways that led to assessment. Spatial clusters of cases appear to be a result of seeking private rather than public care, and private clinics are more likely to refer cases to the diagnosing hospital. The referring clinic rather than information spread appears to explain the disparities.
