1. Bent CA, Barbaro J, Dissanayake C. {{Change in Autism Diagnoses Prior to and Following the Introduction of DSM-5}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2016 (Nov 11)
Change over time in the age and number of children registered for autism-specific funding was examined, prior to and following introduction of the revised diagnostic criteria (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fifth edition; DSM-5). De-identified data for 32,199 children aged under 7 years between 2010 and 2015 was utilised. Fluctuations were evident in the frequency and age of diagnoses, with slight increases in age of diagnosis corresponding with increases in frequency of diagnoses. The incidence of autism increased from 2010 to 2013, and then plateaued to 2015. A significant trend-relative reduction in the number of children registered to receive autism-specific funding was evident post 2013, suggesting the more stringent DSM-5 criteria may have curbed the trend of increasing diagnoses over time.
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2. Berkovits L, Eisenhower A, Blacher J. {{Emotion Regulation in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2016 (Nov 12)
There has been little research connecting underlying emotion processes (e.g., emotion regulation) to frequent behavior problems in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined the stability of emotion regulation and its relationship with other aspects of child functioning. Participants included 108 children with ASD, ages 4-7, and their primary caregivers. ASD symptoms and cognitive/language abilities were assessed upon study entry. Parents reported on children’s emotion regulation, social skills and behavior problems at two time points, 10 months apart. Emotion dysregulation was stable and related strongly to social and behavioral functioning but was largely independent of IQ. Further analyses suggested that emotion dysregulation predicts increases in social and behavioral difficulties across time. Implications for intervention are discussed.
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3. Bu B, Zhang L. {{A New Link Between Insulin Signaling and Fragile X Syndrome}}. {Neurosci Bull};2016 (Nov 12)
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4. Hellriegel J, Barber C, Wikramanayake M, Fineberg NA, Mandy W. {{Is « not just right experience » (NJRE) in obsessive-compulsive disorder part of an autistic phenotype?}}. {CNS Spectr};2016 (Nov 11):1-10.
OBJECTIVE: Harm avoidance (HA) and « not just right experience » (NJRE) have been proposed to be 2 core motivational processes underlying obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The objective of this study was to explore whether NJRE demarcates a neurodevelopmental OCD subgroup distinct from HA related to autistic traits and/or to a broader phenotype of cognitive rigidity and sensory processing difficulties associated with an earlier age of OCD onset. METHODS: A correlational design investigated whether NJRE and HA are distinct entities in OCD and explored their relationship to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits measured by the Autism Quotient (AQ), sensory processing, set-shifting, and age of OCD onset in an OCD sample (N=25). RESULTS: NJRE was only moderately (r=.34) correlated to HA and not significant in this study. Consistent with predictions, NJRE was associated with sensory processing difficulties and an earlier age of OCD onset. No significant relationships were found between NJRE and ASD traits as measured by the AQ or set-shifting difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings suggest a lack of evidence demonstrating NJRE as a manifestation of core autistic traits as measured by the AQ. However, NJRE was associated with sensory abnormalities and an earlier age of OCD onset. The role of NJRE as a developmental, and possibly neurodevelopmental, risk factor for OCD possibly warrants further investigation.
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5. Hildebrandt MK, Koch SC, Fuchs T. {{« We Dance and Find Each Other »1: Effects of Dance/Movement Therapy on Negative Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Behav Sci (Basel)};2016 (Nov 10);6(4)
The treatment of deficits in social interaction, a shared symptom cluster in persons with schizophrenia (negative symptoms) and autism spectrum disorder (DSM-5 A-criterion), has so far remained widely unsuccessful in common approaches of psychotherapy. The alternative approach of embodiment brings to focus body-oriented intervention methods based on a theoretic framework that explains the disorders on a more basic level than common theory of mind approaches. The randomized controlled trial at hand investigated the effects of a 10-week manualized dance and movement therapy intervention on negative symptoms in participants with autism spectrum disorder. Although the observed effects failed to reach significance at the conventional 0.05 threshold, possibly due to an undersized sample, an encouraging trend towards stronger symptom reduction in the treatment group for overall negative symptoms and for almost all subtypes was found at the 0.10-level. Effect sizes were small but clinically meaningful, and the resulting patterns were in accordance with theoretical expectations. The study at hand contributes to finding an effective treatment approach for autism spectrum disorder in accordance with the notion of embodiment.
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6. Joseph RM, Korzeniewski SJ, Allred EN, O’Shea TM, Heeren T, Frazier JA, Ware J, Hirtz D, Leviton A, Kuban K. {{Extremely low gestational age and very low birth weight for gestational age are risk factors for ASD in a large cohort study of 10-year-old children born at 23-27 weeks gestation}}. {Am J Obstet Gynecol};2016 (Nov 12)
BACKGROUND: No prospective cohort study of high-risk children has used rigorous exposure assessment and optimal diagnostic procedures to examine the perinatal antecedents of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), separately among those with and without cognitive impairment. OBJECTIVE: To identify perinatal factors associated with increased risk for ASD with and without intellectual disability (ID: IQ < 70) in children born extremely preterm. STUDY DESIGN: This prospective multi-center (14 institutions in 5 states) birth cohort study included children born at 23-27 weeks gestation in 2002-2004 who were evaluated for ASD and ID at age 10 years. Pregnancy information was obtained from medical records and by structured maternal interview. Cervical-vaginal 'infection' refers to maternal report of bacterial infection (n = 4), bacterial vaginosis (n = 30), yeast infection (n = 62), mixed infection (n = 4) or other/unspecified infection (n=43; e.g., chlamydia, trichomonas or herpes, etc.). We do not know the extent to which 'infection' per se was confirmed by microbial colonization. We use the terms 'fetal growth restriction' and 'small for gestational age' interchangeably in light of the ongoing challenge to discern pathologically from constitutionally small newborns. Severe fetal growth-restriction was defined as a birth weight Z-score for gestational age at delivery < - 2 (i.e., 2 standard deviations or more below the median birth weight in a referent sample that excluded pregnancies delivered for preeclampsia or fetal indications). Participants were classified into four groups based on whether or not they met rigorous diagnostic criteria for ASD and ID (ASD+/ID-, ASD+/ID+, ASD-/ID+ and ASD-/ID-). Temporally-ordered multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine the information conveyed by perinatal factors about increased risk for ASD and/or ID (ASD+/ID-, ASD+/ID+ and ASD-/ID+). RESULTS: 889 of 966 (92%) children recruited were assessed at age 10 years, of whom 857 (96%) were assessed for ASD; of these, 840 (98%) children were assessed for ID. ASD+/ID- was diagnosed in 3.2% (27/840), ASD+/ID+ in 3.8% (32/840), and ASD-/ID+ in 8.5% (71/840). Maternal report of presumed cervical-vaginal 'infection' during pregnancy was associated with increased risk of ASD+/ID+ (odd ratio [OR], 2.7; 95% CI, 1.2-6.4). The lowest gestational age category (23-24 weeks) was associated with increased risk of ASD+/ID+ (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.3-6.6) and ASD+/ID- (OR, 4.4; 95% CI, 1.7-11). Severe fetal growth restriction was strongly associated with increased risk for ASD+/ID- (OR, 9.9; 95% CI, 3.3-30), whereas peripartum maternal fever was uniquely associated with increased risk of ASD-/ID+ (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.2-6.7). CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that low gestational age is associated with increased risk for ASD irrespective of intellectual ability, whereas severe fetal growth restriction is strongly associated with ASD without ID. Maternal report of cervical-vaginal infection is associated with increased risk of ASD with ID, and peripartum maternal fever is associated with increased risk for ID without ASD. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
7. Rahbar MH, Samms-Vaughan M, Pitcher MR, Bressler J, Hessabi M, Loveland KA, Christian MA, Grove ML, Shakespeare-Pellington S, Beecher C, McLaughlin W, Boerwinkle E. {{Role of Metabolic Genes in Blood Aluminum Concentrations of Jamaican Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Int J Environ Res Public Health};2016 (Nov 08);13(11)
Aluminum is a neurotoxic metal with known health effects in animals and humans. Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) genes and enzymes play a major role in detoxification of several heavy metals. Besides a direct relationship with oxidative stress; aluminum decreases GST enzyme activities. Using data from 116 Jamaican children; age 2-8 years; with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and 116 sex- and age-matched typically developing (TD) children; we investigated the association of polymorphisms in three GST genes (GSTP1; GSTM1; and GSTT1) with mean blood aluminum concentrations in children with and without ASD. Using log-transformed blood aluminum concentration as the dependent variable in a linear regression model; we assessed the additive and interactive effects of ASD status and polymorphisms in the three aforementioned GST genes in relation to blood aluminum concentrations. Although none of the additive effects were statistically significant (all p > 0.16); we observed a marginally significant interaction between GSTP1 Ile105Val (rs1695) and ASD status (p = 0.07); even after controlling for parental education level and consumption of avocado; root vegetables; and tuna (canned fish). Our findings indicate a significantly lower (p < 0.03) adjusted geometric mean blood aluminum concentration for TD children who had the Val/Val genotype (14.57 microg/L); compared with those with Ile/Ile or Ile/Val genotypes who had an adjusted geometric mean of 23.75 microg/L. However; this difference was not statistically significant among the ASD cases (p = 0.76). Our findings indicate that ASD status may be a potential effect modifier when assessing the association between GSTP1 rs1695 and blood aluminum concentrations among Jamaican children. These findings require replication in other populations. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
8. Raymaker DM. {{Intersections of Critical Systems Thinking and Community Based Participatory Research: A Learning Organization Example with the Autistic Community}}. {Syst Pract Action Res};2016 (Oct);29(5):405-423.
Critical systems thinking (CST) and community based participatory research (CBPR) are distinct approaches to inquiry which share a primary commitment to holism and human emancipation, as well as common grounding in critical theory and emancipatory and pragmatic philosophy. This paper explores their intersections and complements on a historical, philosophical, and theoretical level, and then proposes a hybrid approach achieved by applying CBPR’s principles and considerations for operationalizing emancipatory practice to traditional systems thinking frameworks and practices. This hybrid approach is illustrated in practice with examples drawn from of the implementation of the learning organization model in an action research setting with the Autistic community. Our experience of being able to actively attend to, and continuously equalize, power relations within an organizational framework that otherwise has great potential for reinforcing power inequity suggests CBPR’s principles and considerations for operationalizing emancipatory practice could be useful in CST settings, and CST’s vocabulary, methods, and clarity around systems thinking concepts could be valuable to CBPR practioners.
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9. Ruskin DN, Fortin JA, Bisnauth SN, Masino SA. {{Ketogenic diets improve behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder in a sex-specific manner in the EL mouse}}. {Physiol Behav};2016 (Nov 8)
The core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder are poorly treated with current medications. Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder are frequently comorbid with a diagnosis of epilepsy and vice versa. Medically-supervised ketogenic diets are remarkably effective nonpharmacological treatments for epilepsy, even in drug-refractory cases. There is accumulating evidence for beneficial effects of ketogenic diets against core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders in animal models and limited reports of benefits in patients. This study tests the behavioral effects of ketogenic diet feeding in the EL mouse, a model with behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorder and comorbid epilepsy. Male and female EL mice were fed control diet or one of two ketogenic diet formulas ad libitum starting at 5weeks of age. Beginning at 8weeks of age, diet protocols continued and performance of each group on tests of sociability and repetitive behavior was assessed. A ketogenic diet improved behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, and results depended on sex and type of test; ketogenic diet never worsened relevant behaviors. Ketogenic diet feeding improved multiple measures of sociability and reduced repetitive behavior in female mice; effects in males were more limited. Additional experiments in female mice showed that a less strict, more clinically-relevant diet formula was equally effective in improving sociability and reducing repetitive behavior. Taken together these results add to the growing number of studies suggesting that ketogenic and related diets may provide significant relief from the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, and suggest that in some cases there may be increased efficacy in females.
