1. Boggess A, Faber S, Kern J, Kingston HM. {{Mean serum-level of common organic pollutants is predictive of behavioral severity in children with autism spectrum disorders}}. {Sci Rep};2016;6:26185.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and their pathogenesis, are growing public health concerns. This study evaluated common organic pollutant serum-concentrations in children, as it related to behavioral severity determined by rating scales and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Thirty children, ages 2-9, with ASD and thirty controls matched by age, sex, and socioeconomic status were evaluated using direct blood serum sampling and ADOS. Pooling concentrations of all studied pollutants into a single variable yielded cohort-specific neurobehavioral relationships. Pooled serum-concentration correlated significantly with increasing behavioral severity on the ADOS in the ASD cohort (p = 0.011, r = 0.54), but not controls (p = 0.60, r = 0.11). Logistic regression significantly correlated mean pollutant serum-concentration with the probability of diagnosis of behaviorally severe autism, defined as ADOS >14, across all participants (odds ratio = 3.43 [95% confidence: 1.14-10.4], p = 0.0287). No specific analyte correlated with ADOS in either cohort. The ASD cohort displayed greater quantitative variance of analyte concentrations than controls (p = 0.006), suggesting a wide range of detoxification functioning in the ASD cohort. This study supports the hypothesis that environmental exposure to organic pollutants may play a significant role in the behavioral presentation of autism.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
2. Cao F, Yin A, Wen G, Sheikh AM, Tauqeer Z, Malik M, Nagori A, Schirripa M, Schirripa F, Merz G, Feng S, Brown WT, Li X. {{Retraction Note: Alteration of astrocytes and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in the frontal cortex of autistic subjects}}. {J Neuroinflammation};2016;13(1):106.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
3. DiCriscio AS, Miller SJ, Hanna EK, Kovac M, Turner-Brown L, Sasson NJ, Sapyta J, Troiani V, Dichter GS. {{Brief Report: Cognitive Control of Social and Nonsocial Visual Attention in Autism}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2016 (May 13)
Prosaccade and antisaccade errors in the context of social and nonsocial stimuli were investigated in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 19) a matched control sample (n = 19), and a small sample of youth with obsessive compulsive disorder (n = 9). Groups did not differ in error rates in the prosaccade condition for any stimulus category. In the antisaccade condition, the ASD group demonstrated more errors than the control group for nonsocial stimuli related to circumscribed interests, but not for other nonsocial stimuli or for social stimuli. Additionally, antisaccade error rates were predictive of core ASD symptom severity. Results indicate that the cognitive control of visual attention in ASD is impaired specifically in the context of nonsocial stimuli related to circumscribed interests.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
4. Jarczok TA, Fritsch M, Kroger A, Schneider AL, Althen H, Siniatchkin M, Freitag CM, Bender S. {{Maturation of interhemispheric signal propagation in autism spectrum disorder and typically developing controls: a TMS-EEG study}}. {J Neural Transm (Vienna)};2016 (May 13)
Brain maturation from childhood to adulthood is associated with changes in structural and functional connectivity between remote brain regions. Altered connectivity plays an important role in the pathology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a severe neurodevelopmental disorder. ASD is associated with abnormal brain development and structurally altered interhemispheric connections. Cortico-cortical connectivity can be studied by a combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with concurrent EEG (TMS-EEG). TMS-evoked Interhemispheric Signal Propagation (ISP) is a correlate of interhemispheric connectivity related to the microstructure of the corpus callosum (CC). We used TMS-EEG to measure ISP in 22 ASD subjects (10-21 years) and 22 typically developing control subjects (9-19 years). We expected (1) maturational changes of ISP from childhood to young adulthood and also (2) reduced interhemispheric signal transfer in ASD. ISP was positively correlated with age in both ASD and typically developing control subjects. No difference in ISP between ASD and typically developing controls was found. Our findings demonstrate maturation of effective interhemispheric connectivity during adolescence. As ISP is related to the microstructure of the CC, the developmental change of ISP likely reflects maturation of the CC during the second life decade. The results support ISP as a valid parameter reflecting functional interhemispheric connectivity. Our results do not support a global deficit of interhemispheric connectivity in ASD.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
5. Koolschijn PC, Geurts HM. {{Gray Matter Characteristics in Mid and Old Aged Adults with ASD}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2016 (May 13)
It is widely acknowledged that the brain anatomy of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shows a different developmental pattern then typical age-matched peers. There is however, a paucity of studies examining gray matter in mid and late adulthood in ASD. In this cross-sectional neuroimaging study, we, performed vertex-wise whole-brain and region-of-interest analyses of cortical volume, thickness, surface area, and gyrification index in 51 adults with and 49 without ASD, between 30 and 75 years. There was significant age-related volume loss and cortical thinning, but there were no group differences. The lack of significant anatomical differences between intellectual able individuals with and without ASD, suggests that ASD is not (strongly) related to gray matter morphology in mid and late adulthood.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
6. Liu Y, Li J, Zheng Q, Zaroff CM, Hall BJ, Li X, Hao Y. {{Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of autism spectrum disorder in a stratified sampling of preschool teachers in China}}. {BMC Psychiatry};2016;16(1):142.
BACKGROUND: In China, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can potentially benefit from universal education policies and recent initiatives designed to address the needs of children with developmental disorders. However, adequate schooling is often unavailable for children with ASD, in part because teachers lack the knowledge and skills needed to work with this population. To better understand the current state of knowledge of ASD in China, we surveyed knowledge and attitudes regarding the disorder in preschool teachers. METHODS: A total of 471 preschool teachers in the cities of Guangzhou and Foshan, China completed questionnaires assessing participant demographics, knowledge of typical child development and knowledge of ASD, attitudes towards ASD, practices and self-perceptions of efficacy in the education of children with ASD, and awareness of organizations and intervention approaches devoted to the care of individuals with ASD. The correlation between individual- and school-level variables with current knowledge of typical child development and ASD was examined using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The majority (84 %) of participants answered correctly more than half of the questionnaire items assessing understanding of typical child development. In contrast, 83 % provided inaccurate responses to more than half of the questionnaire items assessing knowledge of ASD. Knowledge of typical child development and knowledge of ASD were both associated with geographic region (teachers in Guangzhou had greater knowledge than those in Foshan, p < 0.0001). Knowledge of ASD was also associated with a higher education level (p < 0.05) and school type (p = 0.023). In general, participants believed fairly strongly in the need for greater service provision for children with ASD, and were receptive towards receiving additional specialized training. Most participants were unaware of ASD-specific organizations and empirically validated intervention approaches. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of ASD is lacking in preschool teachers in China, and greater teacher training and instruction is needed. Nonetheless, teachers report a willingness and motivation to gain the skills needed to maximize the educational experiences of children with ASD. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
7. Russet F, Pernon E, Fiard D, Baghdadli A. {{[The French speaking teams must be provided with instruments to help in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in adults with no intellectual disability]}}. {Encephale};2016 (May 13)
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
8. Shoffner J, Trommer B, Thurm A, Farmer C, Langley WA, 3rd, Soskey L, Rodriguez AN, D’Souza P, Spence SJ, Hyland K, Swedo SE. {{CSF concentrations of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate in a cohort of young children with autism}}. {Neurology};2016 (May 13)
OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between cerebral folate deficiency and autism, this study examined CSF 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) concentrations in a group of young children with autism, investigated the natural variation in CSF 5-MTHF over time, and assessed the relationship between CSF 5-MTHF and symptoms. METHODS: CSF was collected from 67 children with a diagnosis of DSM-IV-TR autistic disorder (age, mean +/- SD 43 +/- 11 months), with a second CSF sample obtained 1-3 years later on 31 of these subjects (time to follow-up, 30 +/- 8 months). RESULTS: At time 1, 7% (5/67) of participants had 5-MTHF <40 nmol/L. At follow-up, 23% (7/31) of participants had 5-MTHF <40 nmol/L (only one of whom had been low at time 1). A moderate correlation with a very wide confidence interval (CI) was observed between time 1 and time 2 CSF 5-MTHF measurements (Pearson r[p] = 0.38 [0.04]; 95% CI 0.02-0.64). Neither the CSF 5-MTHF levels nor changes over time correlated with the clinical features of autism. CONCLUSIONS: CSF 5-MTHF levels vary significantly over time in an unpredictable fashion and do not show a significant relationship to typical clinical features of autism. Reduced CSF 5-MTHF levels are a nonspecific finding in autism. Our data do not support the use of lumbar puncture for assessment of CSF 5-MTHF in autism. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
9. Solomon M, McCauley JB, Iosif AM, Carter CS, Ragland JD. {{Cognitive control and episodic memory in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders}}. {Neuropsychologia};2016 (May 13)
INTRODUCTION: To further investigate manifestations of episodic memory impairments in adolescents, we examined the role of encoding on recognition of stimuli in conditions designed to emphasize their item-specific versus relational characteristics in a group of 12-18 year olds with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We also examined how strategic learning and memory processes, verbal abilities, attention, and age were associated with recognition in this group. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Twenty two high functioning adolescents with ASD (mean age = 15 years; SD = 1.8; range = 12.2-17.9), and 26 age, gender, and IQ-matched adolescents with typical development (TYP) (mean age = 14.7 years; SD = 1.9; range = 12.3-17.8) completed the Relational and Item-Specific Encoding task (RiSE), the California Verbal Learning Test-Children’s Version (CVLT-C), the Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence, and the Connors’ Parent Rating Scale-Revised. Univariate statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS: The ASD group showed poorer performance on strategic memory assessed by the CVLT-C. Surprisingly, on the RiSE, ASD showed poorer discriminability for objects encoded in item-specific versus relational encoding conditions and were more impaired in familiarity (after relational encoding) than in recollection. ASD also did not show the hypothesized association between item and associative recognition and CVLT-C performance found in TYP. Instead, in the ASD group recognition was associated with increased age. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the RiSE task demonstrated that adolescents with ASD do not always exhibit impaired memory for relational information as commonly believed. Instead memory was worse when cognitive control demands were high, when encoding focused on specific item features, and when familiarity was used to retrieve relational information. Recognition also was better in older participants. This suggests that learning and memory deficits in adolescents with ASD, may not be due primarily to failed relational binding processes in the hippocampus but, rather to disrupted strategic memory and familiarity processes associated with the prefrontal and perirhinal cortices. These findings demonstrate the importance and utility of using well-validated cognitive neuroscience tasks and of considering the ages of participants when comparing the neural underpinnings of different memory processes in both typical and atypical populations.
