1. Bradstreet LE, Juechter JI, Kamphaus RW, Kerns CM, Robins DL. {{Using the BASC-2 Parent Rating Scales to Screen for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Toddlers and Preschool-Aged Children}}. {J Abnorm Child Psychol};2016 (May 14)
Early identification of toddlers and preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is important for ensuring that these youth receive targeted early intervention services. Identifying young children with ASD is complicated by overlap among symptoms of ASD and other developmental delays. Additionally, youth with ASD have a higher risk of experiencing co-occurring challenging behaviors that are beyond the diagnostic criteria for ASD (e.g., attention difficulties, anxiety). Given this, broadband behavioral assessments that measure symptoms of ASD as well as other behavioral and emotional challenges offer a cost-effective method for screening young children. The present study evaluated the utility of one such assessment, the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition, Parent Rating Scale-Preschool (BASC-2 PRS-P), for identifying young children with ASD from those with other diagnoses (including other developmental delays) and those without diagnoses. The sample included 224 toddlers and preschoolers (age range: 24-63 months, males n = 153 [68 % total sample]) who screened positive on an ASD-specific screening tool. Results demonstrated that the Developmental Social Disorders (DSD) scale on the BASC-2 PRS-P had adequate sensitivity and specificity values when distinguishing youth with ASD from those without any diagnoses, but not when differentiating between youth with ASD and those with other diagnoses. Similar to other multidimensional behavior rating scales, the BASC-2 PRS-P may be most useful for identifying young children who require comprehensive diagnostic evaluations.
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2. Brignell A, Williams K, Prior M, Donath S, Reilly S, Bavin EL, Eadie P, Morgan AT. {{Parent-reported patterns of loss and gain in communication in 1- to 2-year-old children are not unique to autism spectrum disorder}}. {Autism};2016 (May 12)
We compared loss and gain in communication from 1 to 2 years in children later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (n = 41), language impairment (n = 110) and in children with typical language development at 7 years (n = 831). Participants were selected from a prospective population cohort study of child language (the Early Language in Victoria Study). Parent-completed communication tools were used. As a group, children with autism spectrum disorder demonstrated slower median skill gain, with an increasing gap between trajectories compared to children with typical development and language impairment. A proportion from all groups lost skills in at least one domain (autism spectrum disorder (41%), language impairment (30%), typical development (26%)), with more children with autism spectrum disorder losing skills in more than one domain (autism spectrum disorder (47%), language impairment (15%, p = 0.0003), typical development (16%, p < 0.001)). Loss was most common for all groups in the domain of 'emotion and eye gaze' but with a higher proportion for children with autism spectrum disorder (27%; language impairment (12%, p = 0.03), typical development (14%, p = 0.03)). A higher proportion of children with autism spectrum disorder also lost skills in gesture (p = 0.01), sounds (p = 0.009) and understanding (p = 0.004) compared to children with typical development but not with language impairment. These findings add to our understanding of early communication development and highlight that loss is not unique to autism spectrum disorder. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
3. Call NA, Alvarez JP, Simmons CA, Lomas Mevers JE, Scheithauer MC. {{Clinical outcomes of behavioral treatments for elopement in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities}}. {Autism};2016 (May 12)
The external validity of behavioral treatments for elopement (i.e. leaving supervision without permission) remains unclear because studies to date include only small samples (n = 1-3). This study quantified the overall effectiveness of behavioral treatments for elopement by retrospectively examining treatment data from all patients seen for the treatment of elopement at an intensive day treatment clinic (n = 11), irrespective of treatment success. Reductions in elopement from baseline to the final treatment for each participant demonstrate that behavioral intervention is a highly effective treatment for elopement, as determined by the large effect size (Cohen’s d = 1.18).
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4. 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.
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5. 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.
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6. Faja S, Dawson G, Aylward E, Wijsman EM, Webb SJ. {{Early event-related potentials to emotional faces differ for adults with autism spectrum disorder and by serotonin transporter genotype}}. {Clin Neurophysiol};2016 (Jun);127(6):2436-2447.
OBJECTIVE: To test differences in neural sensitivity to facial expressions, including expressions with open versus closed mouths, exhibited by (1) adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to neurotypical adults, and by (2) short versus long serotonin transporter allele (SLC6A4) carriers. METHODS: Event related potentials (ERPs) to happy, fearful, and neutral expressions were collected from neurotypical adults (n=25) and adults with ASD (n=27)-of whom 32 had short and 13 had homozygous long SLC6A4 alleles. RESULTS: In the neurotypical group, we confirmed that the N170, VPP and EPN, but not the P1, were influenced by emotional expressions, and determined the EPN was the earliest component modulated by open mouth. Compared to the neurotypical group, individuals with ASD exhibited differences in EPN amplitude in response to open versus closed mouths and in hemispheric distribution. Across groups, short serotonin transporter allele carriers had reduced P1 amplitude compared to long allele carriers. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with ASD exhibited a different pattern of neural response when encoding and recognizing facial expressions at the EPN component. Across groups, SLC6A4 allele type modulated early sensory attention at the P1. SIGNIFICANCE: These results provide insight into the nature of early responses to emotional information according to genetic variation and clinical condition.
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7. Green AE, Kenworthy L, Gallagher NM, Antezana L, Mosner MG, Krieg S, Dudley K, Ratto A, Yerys BE. {{Social analogical reasoning in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing peers}}. {Autism};2016 (May 12)
Analogical reasoning is an important mechanism for social cognition in typically developing children, and recent evidence suggests that some forms of analogical reasoning may be preserved in autism spectrum disorder. An unanswered question is whether children with autism spectrum disorder can apply analogical reasoning to social information. In all, 92 children with autism spectrum disorder completed a social content analogical reasoning task presented via photographs of real-world social interactions. Autism spectrum disorder participants exhibited performance that was well above chance and was not significantly worse than age- and intelligence quotient-matched typically developing children. Investigating the relationship of social content analogical reasoning performance to age in this cross-sectional dataset indicated similar developmental trajectories in the autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children groups. These findings provide new support for intact analogical reasoning in autism spectrum disorder and have theoretical implications for analogy as a metacognitive skill that may be at least partially dissociable from general deficits in processing social content. As an initial study of social analogical reasoning in children with autism spectrum disorder, this study focused on a basic research question with limited ecological validity. Evidence that children with autism spectrum disorder can apply analogical reasoning ability to social content may have long-range applied implications for exploring how this capacity might be channeled to improve social cognition in daily life.
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8. Hagerman R. {{Psychopathology Increases With Age in Fragile X Carrier Mothers}}. {Biol Psychiatry};2016 (May 15);79(10):790-791.
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9. 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.
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10. 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.
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11. 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)
12. Maddox BB, Trubanova A, White SW. {{Untended wounds: Non-suicidal self-injury in adults with autism spectrum disorder}}. {Autism};2016 (May 12)
Recent studies have examined non-suicidal self-injury in community and clinical samples, but there is no published research on non-suicidal self-injury in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. This lack of research is surprising, since individuals with autism spectrum disorder have high rates of risk factors for non-suicidal self-injury, including depression and poor emotion regulation skills. Using an online survey, we examined non-suicidal self-injury methods, frequency, severity, functions, and initial motivations in adults with autism spectrum disorder (n = 42). We also compared their non-suicidal self-injury characteristics to those of a gender-matched group of adults without autism spectrum disorder (n = 42). Of the participants with autism spectrum disorder, 50% reported a history of non-suicidal self-injury. This proportion is higher than non-suicidal self-injury rates previously reported for college students, adult community samples, and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, which suggests that adults with autism spectrum disorder have increased risk for engaging in non-suicidal self-injury. Women with autism spectrum disorder were significantly more likely to endorse non-suicidal self-injury, relative to men with autism spectrum disorder. A history of non-suicidal self-injury was not related to current depression or emotion dysregulation for the participants with autism spectrum disorder. Non-suicidal self-injury characteristics among the adults with autism spectrum disorder were similar to non-suicidal self-injury in adults without autism spectrum disorder. These preliminary findings highlight the need for increased awareness and further research about non-suicidal self-injury within autism spectrum disorder.
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13. 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)
14. Spaulding CJ, Lerner MD, Gadow KD. {{Trajectories and correlates of special education supports for youth with autism spectrum disorder and psychiatric comparisons}}. {Autism};2016 (May 12)
Relatively little is known about patterns of school-based supportive services for youth with autism spectrum disorder. This study describes these supportive services and their correlates, both cross-sectionally and retrospectively, in a large sample (N = 283) of 6- to 18- year-old youth. To assess whether special education designation and classroom placement patterns were peculiar to autism spectrum disorder, we also conducted analyses comparing youth with autism spectrum disorder to those with other psychiatric diagnoses (N = 1088). In higher grades, the relative quantity of three common supportive services received by youth with autism spectrum disorder decreased, while total supportive service quantity remained stable over time. Youth with autism spectrum disorder were more likely to receive a special education designation and were placed in less inclusive classroom settings than youth with other psychiatric diagnoses. These findings suggest that as youth with autism spectrum disorder reach higher grades, changes in service provision occur in terms of both time and quantity.
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15. Turner AH, Greenspan KS, van Erp TG. {{Pallidum and lateral ventricle volume enlargement in autism spectrum disorder}}. {Psychiatry Res};2016 (May 3);252:40-45.
Studies on structural brain abnormalities in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been of limited size and many findings have not been replicated. In the largest ASD brain morphology study to date, we compared subcortical, total brain (TBV), and intracranial (ICV) volumes between 472 subjects with DSM-IV ASD diagnoses and 538 healthy volunteers (age range: 6-64 years), obtained from high-resolution structural brain scans provided by the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE). Compared to healthy volunteers, we found significantly larger pallidum (Cohen’s d=0.15) and lateral ventricle volumes (Cohen’s d=0.18) in ASD. These enlargements were independent of total brain volume and IQ, passed FDR correction for multiple comparisons, and were observed in overall, male-only, and medication-free subjects. In addition, intracranial, hippocampal, and caudate volumes were enlarged in ASD at a nominal statistical threshold of p<0.05. This study provides the first robust evidence for pallidum enlargement in ASD independent from TBV and encourages further study of the functional role of the pallidum in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
16. Vijayakumar NT, Judy MV. {{Autism spectrum disorders: Integration of the genome, transcriptome and the environment}}. {J Neurol Sci};2016 (May 15);364:167-176.
Autism spectrum disorders denote a series of lifelong neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by an impaired social communication profile and often repetitive, stereotyped behavior. Recent years have seen the complex genetic architecture of the disease being progressively unraveled with advancements in gene finding technology and next generation sequencing methods. However, a complete elucidation of the molecular mechanisms behind autism is necessary for potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications. A multidisciplinary approach should be adopted where the focus is not only on the ‘genetics’ of autism but also on the combinational roles of epigenetics, transcriptomics, immune system disruption and environmental factors that could all influence the etiopathogenesis of the disease. ASD is a clinically heterogeneous disorder with great genetic complexity; only through an integrated multidimensional effort can modern autism research progress further.
