1. Abu-Akel AM, Apperly IA, Wood SJ, Hansen PC. {{Autism and psychosis expressions diametrically modulate the right temporo-parietal junction}}. {Soc Neurosci};2016 (May 17)
The mentalizing network is atypically activated in autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. While these disorders are considered diagnostically independent, expressions of both can co-occur in the same individual. We examined the concurrent effect of autism traits and psychosis proneness on the activity of the mentalizing network in 24 neurotypical adults while performing a social competitive game. Activations were observed in the paracingulate cortex and the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ). Autism traits and psychosis proneness did not modulate activity within the paracingulate or the dorsal component of the rTPJ. However, diametric modulations of autism traits and psychosis proneness were observed in the posterior (rvpTPJ) and anterior (rvaTPJ) subdivisions of the ventral rTPJ, which respectively constitute core regions within the mentalizing and attention-reorienting networks. Within the rvpTPJ, increasing autism tendencies decreased activity, and increasing psychosis proneness increased activity. This effect was reversed within the rvaTPJ. We suggest that this results from an interaction between regions responsible for higher level social cognitive processing (rvpTPJ) and regions responsible for domain-general attentional mechanism (rvaTPJ). The observed diametric modulation of autism tendencies and psychosis proneness of neuronal activity within the mentalizing network highlights the importance of assessing both autism and psychosis expressions within the individual.
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2. Billeci L, Narzisi A, Campatelli G, Crifaci G, Calderoni S, Gagliano A, Calzone C, Colombi C, Pioggia G, Muratori F. {{Disentangling the initiation from the response in joint attention: an eye-tracking study in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders}}. {Transl Psychiatry};2016;6:e808.
Joint attention (JA), whose deficit is an early risk marker for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), has two dimensions: (1) responding to JA and (2) initiating JA. Eye-tracking technology has largely been used to investigate responding JA, but rarely to study initiating JA especially in young children with ASD. The aim of this study was to describe the differences in the visual patterns of toddlers with ASD and those with typical development (TD) during both responding JA and initiating JA tasks. Eye-tracking technology was used to monitor the gaze of 17 children with ASD and 15 age-matched children with TD during the presentation of short video sequences involving one responding JA and two initiating JA tasks (initiating JA-1 and initiating JA-2). Gaze accuracy, transitions and fixations were analyzed. No differences were found in the responding JA task between children with ASD and those with TD, whereas, in the initiating JA tasks, different patterns of fixation and transitions were shown between the groups. These results suggest that children with ASD and those with TD show different visual patterns when they are expected to initiate joint attention but not when they respond to joint attention. We hypothesized that differences in transitions and fixations are linked to ASD impairments in visual disengagement from face, in global scanning of the scene and in the ability to anticipate object’s action.
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3. Di Rezze B, Rosenbaum P, Zwaigenbaum L, Hidecker MJ, Stratford P, Cousins M, Camden C, Law M. {{Developing a classification system of social communication functioning of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder}}. {Dev Med Child Neurol};2016 (May 17)
AIM: Impairments in social communication are the hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Operationalizing ‘severity’ in ASD has been challenging; thus, stratifying by functioning has not been possible. The purpose of this study is to describe the development of the Autism Classification System of Functioning: Social Communication (ACSF:SC) and to evaluate its consistency within and between parent and professional ratings. METHOD: (1) ACSF:SC development based on focus groups and surveys involving parents, educators, and clinicians familiar with preschoolers with ASD; and (2) evaluation of the intra- and interrater agreement of the ACSF:SC using weighted kappa (small ka, Cyrillicw ). RESULTS: Seventy-six participants were involved in the development process. Core characteristics of social communication were ascertained: communicative intent; communicative skills and reciprocity; and impact of environment. Five ACSF:SC levels were created and content-validated across participants. Best capacity and typical performance agreement ratings varied as follows: intrarater agreement on 41 children was small ka, Cyrillicw =0.61 to 0.69 for parents, and small ka, Cyrillicw =0.71 to 0.95 for professionals; interrater agreement between professionals was small ka, Cyrillicw =0.47 to 0.61, and between parents and professionals was small ka, Cyrillicw =0.33 to 0.53. INTERPRETATION: Perspectives from parents and professionals informed ACSF:SC development, providing common descriptions of the levels of everyday communicative abilities of children with ASD to complement the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Rater agreement demonstrates that the ACSF:SC can be used with acceptable consistency compared with other functional classification systems.
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4. Frye RE, Slattery J. {{The potential role of nitrous oxide in the etiology of autism spectrum disorder}}. {Transl Psychiatry};2016;6:e812.
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5. Hoglund Carlsson L, Saltvedt S, Anderlid BM, Westerlund J, Gillberg C, Westgren M, Fernell E. {{Ultrasound in the first and second trimester and autism; a prospective randomized study}}. {Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol};2016 (May 17)
OBJECTIVES: To analyze whether the frequency of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) differs in Swedish cohorts of children exposed to ultrasound either in the 12th or 18th week of gestation. METHODS: The study cohort consisted of approximately 30 000 children with birth-years 1999-2003, born to mothers, who, within the framework of a study of nuchal translucency (NT) screening, had been randomized to prenatal ultrasound in either gestational week 12 or 18. The outcome measure in the present study was the rate of ASD diagnoses in the children. Information on ASD diagnoses was based on data from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency concerning granted childcare allowance because of ASD. RESULTS: No difference in ASD frequency between the early and later subgroup could be detected. A total of 14 726 children were born after early and 14 596 children after later ultrasound in 1999-2003 and of these, 181 (1.2%) and 176 (1.2%) children, respectively, had been diagnosed with ASD. CONCLUSIONS: Women, subjected to at least one prenatal ultrasound in either gestational week 12 or 18, had children with similar rates of ASD. However, the result reflects the routine used 10 to 15 years ago in Sweden. Today, many and early, higher intensity ultrasound scans are performed during pregnancy and also for non-medical purposes, implying longer exposure time for the fetus. This changing use of ultrasound necessitates further follow-up studies of the possible effects on the developing brain of high exposure to ultrasound during the gestational period.
