1. Bell L, Wittkowski A, Hare DJ. {{Movement Disorders and Syndromic Autism: A Systematic Review}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2018.
Movement disorders are reported in idiopathic autism but the extent to which comparable movement disorders are found in syndromic/co-morbid autism is unknown. A systematic search of Medline, Embase, PsychINFO and CINAHL on the prevalence of specific movement disorder in syndromic autism associated with specific genetic syndromes identified 16 papers, all relating to Angelman syndrome or Rett syndrome. Prevalence rates of 72.7-100% and 25.0-27.3% were reported for ataxia and tremor, respectively, in Angelman syndrome. In Rett syndrome, prevalence rates of 43.6-50% were reported for ataxia and 27.3-48.3% for tremor with additional reports of dystonia, rigidity and pyramidal signs. However, reliable assessment measures were rarely used and recruitment was often not described in sufficient detail.
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2. Bradley V, Hiersteiner D, Rotholz D, Maloney J, Li H, Bonardi A, Bershadsky J. {{Personal characteristics and outcomes of individuals with developmental disabilities who need support for self-injurious behaviour}}. {J Intellect Disabil Res}. 2018.
BACKGROUND: For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, self-injurious behaviour (SIB) can have serious negative effects on both health and quality of life. This descriptive analysis will provide information on the characteristics and outcomes of a subsample of individuals who are identified as needing some or extensive support for SIB in the National Core Indicators Adult Consumer Survey sample. METHODS: The data for this analysis come from states that participated in the 2015-2016 data collection cycle of National Core Indicators Adult Consumer Survey which is a face-to-face survey of adults receiving services through state developmental disability agencies. RESULTS: The characteristics and outcomes of individuals who need at least some support for SIB differ from those of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who do not need support for SIB. Individuals with SIB support needs, for example, tend to live in more structured settings, have fewer relationships, less inclusion in their communities and poorer employment outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The exploratory descriptive analysis concludes with suggested recommendations for more standardised definitions of SIB in public systems, enhanced behaviour plan protocols and the need for additional research.
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3. Derguy C, Roux S, Portex M, M’Bailara K. {{An ecological exploration of individual, family, and environmental contributions to parental quality of life in autism}}. {Psychiatry Res}. 2018; 268: 87-93.
The aim of this study was to assess the respective weight of individual and environmental factors on quality of life (Qol) of parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Few studies have investigated both individual and environmental predictors of Qol but to our knowledge, none of them has considered the child’s and parents’ characteristics, family context and services available in the same design. Participants were 115 parents (73 mothers and 42 fathers) of children with ASD aged from 3 to 10 years. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to investigate predictors of parental Qol among child-related, parent-related and environmental factors. Findings indicate that a higher Qol is associated with a good quality of interaction in marital and parent-grandparents dyads, no family medical history and access to psycho-educational interventions for the child, regardless of child’s developmental quotient, comorbidity, parent sex and working time. This final model best fits the data and explains 31.5% of the variance of parents’ Qol. This study highlights that it is crucial to consider both individual and environmental variables as potential protective factors of parental adjustment. An ecological approach seems to be relevant to understand which parenting resources should be targeted in support programs.
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4. Dwyer P, Xu B, Tanaka JW. {{Investigating the perception of face identity in adults on the autism spectrum using behavioural and electrophysiological measures}}. {Vision research}. 2018.
In the present study, we investigated face processing in individuals with self-reported Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, n=16) and typically developing control participants (n=16) using behavioural and electrophysiological measures. As a measure of their face memory, we admistered the Cambridge Face Memory Test to participants in the ASD group. The results showed that the scores of the ASD participants were reliably below the age- and gender-matched norms of neurotypical individuals. To measure brain responses to faces, we used the fast periodic visual stimulation method, presenting photographs of a same-identity face (i.e., base face) at a constant frequency of 6 Hz (F) interleaved with different-identity faces (i.e., the oddball faces) presented at 1.2 Hz. The 6 Hz presentation of the base face and 1.2 Hz presentation of the oddball face elicited periodic brain responses corresponding to face detection and face individuation processes, respectively. Participants viewed four blocks of upright faces and four blocks of inverted faces. The results showed an enhanced EEG response to upright base faces at 6 Hz frequency and its harmonics compared to inverted faces, and the response was most focal over medial occipital channels. An enhanced response was found to upright oddball faces at 1.2 Hz and its harmonics compared to the inverted faces, and the response was centred over occipito-temporal channels in the right hemisphere. Critically, no differences or interactions were found between the ASD and typically developing groups in the responses to either the 6 Hz base faces or the 1.2 oddball faces. These results suggest that in individuals with ASD, the earlier stage of face perception, as measured by the fast periodic visual stimulation paradigm, can be dissociated from the later memory stage of face processing, as assessed by the Cambridge Face Memory Test .
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5. Fujino J, Tei S, Itahashi T, Aoki Y, Ohta H, Kanai C, Kubota M, Hashimoto RI, Nakamura M, Kato N, Takahashi H. {{Sunk Cost Effect in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2018.
The sunk cost effect, an interesting and well-known decision bias, is pervasive in real life and has been studied in various disciplines. In this study, we modified a task exemplifying the sunk cost effect and used it to evaluate this behavior in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The control group exhibited a typical sunk cost effect in our task. We found that the sunk cost effect was lower in the ASD group than in the control group. The results agree with previous evidence of reduced sensitivity to context stimuli in individuals with ASD and extend this finding to the context of the sunk cost effect. Our findings are useful in addressing the practical implications on their socioeconomic behavior.
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6. Grossman RB, Mertens J, Zane E. {{Perceptions of self and other: Social judgments and gaze patterns to videos of adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder}}. {Autism}. 2018: 1362361318788071.
Neurotypical adults often form negative first impressions of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and are less interested in engaging with them socially. In contrast, individuals with autism spectrum disorder actively seek out the company of others who share their diagnosis. It is not clear, however, whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder form more positive first impressions of autistic peers when diagnosis is not explicitly shared. We asked adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder to watch brief video clips of adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder and answer questions about their impressions of the individuals in the videos. Questions were related to participants’ perceptions of the social skills of the individuals in the video, as well as their own willingness to interact with that person. We also measured gaze patterns to the faces, eyes, and mouths of adolescents in the video stimuli. Both participant groups spent less time gazing at videos of autistic adolescents. Regardless of diagnostic group, all participants provided more negative judgments of autistic than neurotypical adolescents in the videos. These data indicate that, without being explicitly informed of a shared diagnosis, adolescents with autism spectrum disorder form negative first impressions of autistic adolescents that are similar to, or lower than, those formed by neurotypical peers.
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7. Gupta N, Sachdev A, Gupta D, Gupta S, Gupta D, Nanavati J. {{Autism and Allergy – Are They Linked?}}. {Indian journal of pediatrics}. 2018.
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8. Keehn B, Westerfield M, Townsend J. {{Brief Report: Cross-Modal Capture: Preliminary Evidence of Inefficient Filtering in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2018.
This study investigates how task-irrelevant auditory information is processed in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Eighteen children with ASD and 19 age- and IQ-matched typically developing (TD) children were presented with semantically-congruent and incongruent picture-sound pairs, and in separate tasks were instructed to attend to only visual or both audio-visual sensory channels. Preliminary results showed that when required to attend to both modalities, both groups were equally slowed for semantically-incongruent compared to congruent pairs. However, when asked to attend to only visual information, children with ASD were disproportionally slowed by incongruent auditory information, suggesting that they may have more difficulty filtering task-irrelevant cross-modal information. Correlational analyses showed that this inefficient cross-modal attentional filtering was related to greater sociocommunicative impairment.
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9. Laver K, Wilkes-Gillan S. {{Video modelling interventions improve social communication skills for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Australian occupational therapy journal}. 2018.
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10. Oien RA, Cicchetti DV, Nordahl-Hansen A. {{Gender Dysphoria, Sexuality and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Map Review}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2018.
In this systematic map review, we aimed (1) at identifying studies including the co-occurrence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and gender dysphoria (GD) between 1946 and 2018, and (2) to present the papers included in this systematic map review to provide authors in the field of GD, sexuality and ASD with an important database of studies focusing on this very complex topic. The field is of emerging interest, as observed by the large increase of studies over the past decades, especially since 2015. However, future challenges are to be addressed in future studies.
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11. Oliveira B, Mitjans M, Nitsche MA, Kuo MF, Ehrenreich H. {{Excitation-inhibition dysbalance as predictor of autistic phenotypes}}. {Journal of psychiatric research}. 2018; 104: 96-9.
Autistic traits are normally distributed across health and disease, with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at the extreme end. As we learned from mutations of synaptic or synapse regulating genes, leading to monogenetic forms of autism, the heterogeneous etiologies of ASD converge at the synapse. They result in a mild synaptic dysfunction as the final common pathway, also addressed as synaptopathy. Based on genetic rodent models and EEG/MEG findings in autists, a neuronal excitation-inhibition dysbalance is considered autism-pathognomonic. We hypothesized that this objectively measurable consequence is not restricted to the diagnosis of ASD but transcends disease borders and is of quantitative rather than qualitative nature. For proof-of-principle, we conducted a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study, monitoring corticospinal excitability and intracortical inhibition of the motor cortex. Employing the GRAS data collection of N>1200 deep-phenotyped schizophrenic subjects, we had the chance to select for this study N=20 perfectly matched men. They differed highly significantly by autistic trait severity, as assessed using PANSS autism severity score (PAUSS), capturing the continuum of autistic behaviors. Applying TMS to these men, we provide first intriguing hints of a positive correlation of autistic phenotype severity with functional cortical correlates, mainly alterations in GABAergic system and ion channels. This ‘dose-response relationship’ between severity of autistic traits and excitation-inhibition ratio in non-ASD subjects underlines the biological basis of this continuous trait. Based on these data, TMS may evolve as new add-on biomarker of autistic traits across disease groups. Finally, common treatment strategies targeting the excitation-inhibition dysbalance in humans may develop. To ultimately achieve this goal, however, replication studies with larger numbers of individuals would be desirable.
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12. Schelinski S, von Kriegstein K. {{The Relation Between Vocal Pitch and Vocal Emotion Recognition Abilities in People with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2018.
We tested the relation between vocal emotion and vocal pitch perception abilities in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and pairwise matched adults with typical development. The ASD group had impaired vocal but typical non-vocal pitch and vocal timbre perception abilities. The ASD group showed less accurate vocal emotion perception than the comparison group and vocal emotion perception abilities were correlated with traits and symptoms associated with ASD. Vocal pitch and vocal emotion perception abilities were significantly correlated in the comparison group only. Our results suggest that vocal emotion recognition difficulties in ASD might not only be based on difficulties with complex social tasks, but also on difficulties with processing of basic sensory features, such as vocal pitch.
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13. Supekar K, Kochalka J, Schaer M, Wakeman H, Qin S, Padmanabhan A, Menon V. {{Deficits in mesolimbic reward pathway underlie social interaction impairments in children with autism}}. {Brain}. 2018.
Lack of interest in social interaction is a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder. Animal studies have implicated the mesolimbic reward pathway in driving and reinforcing social behaviour, but little is known about the integrity of this pathway and its behavioural consequences in children with autism spectrum disorder. Here we test the hypothesis that the structural and functional integrity of the mesolimbic reward pathway is aberrant in children with autism spectrum disorder, and these aberrancies contribute to the social interaction impairments. We examine structural and functional connectivity of the mesolimbic reward pathway in two independent cohorts totalling 82 children aged 7-13 years with autism spectrum disorder and age-, gender-, and intelligence quotient-matched typically developing children (primary cohort: children with autism spectrum disorder n = 24, typically developing children n = 24; replication cohort: children with autism spectrum disorder n = 17, typically developing children n = 17), using high angular resolution diffusion-weighted imaging and functional MRI data. We reliably identify white matter tracts linking-the nucleus accumbens and the ventral tegmental area-key subcortical nodes of the mesolimbic reward pathway, and provide reproducible evidence for structural aberrations in these tracts in children with autism spectrum disorder. Further, we show that structural aberrations are accompanied by aberrant functional interactions between nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area in response to social stimuli. Crucially, we demonstrate that both structural and functional circuit aberrations in the mesolimbic reward pathway are related to parent-report measures of social interaction impairments in affected children. Our findings, replicated across two independent cohorts, reveal that deficits in the mesolimbic reward pathway contribute to impaired social skills in childhood autism, and provide fundamental insights into neurobiological mechanisms underlying reduced social interest in humans.
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14. Tipton-Fisler LA, Rodriguez G, Zeedyk SM, Blacher J. {{Stability of bullying and internalizing problems among adolescents with ASD, ID, or typical development}}. {Res Dev Disabil}. 2018; 80: 131-41.
BACKGROUND: It is known that children with disabilities, especially adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are at increased risk for victimization. However, little is known about the impact of victimization over time. AIMS: Primary aims included identifying to what extent risk factors (i.e., internalizing behavior problems and conflict in friendship) related to bullying victimization over time. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: In-depth interviews conducted separately with 15-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), or typical development (TD) and their mothers investigated the experiences of victimization in a two-year follow up to an earlier study at adolescent age 13. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Findings at age 15 demonstrated that the highest rates of bullying continued to be endorsed by youth with ASD. However, youth with ID were found to experience and report the most severe bullying. Longitudinal examination revealed that internalizing behaviors at age 13 predicted victimization experiences at age 15. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: During middle adolescence, youth with ASD continue to experience more frequent victimization. Thus, shifting the focus of interventions that not only target the salient social deficits of ASD, but also address comorbid conditions such as internalizing symptoms, may further contribute to reduction of social isolation and peer difficulties.
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15. Yan W, Rangaprakash D, Deshpande G. {{Aberrant hemodynamic responses in autism: Implications for resting state fMRI functional connectivity studies}}. {Neuroimage Clin}. 2018; 19: 320-30.
Functional MRI (fMRI) is modeled as a convolution of the hemodynamic response function (HRF) and an unmeasured latent neural signal. However, HRF itself is variable across brain regions and subjects. This variability is induced by both neural and non-neural factors. Aberrations in underlying neurochemical mechanisms, which control HRF shape, have been reported in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Therefore, we hypothesized that this will lead to voxel-specific, yet systematic differences in HRF shape between ASD and healthy controls. As a corollary, we also hypothesized that such alterations will lead to differences in estimated functional connectivity in fMRI space compared to latent neural space. To test these hypotheses, we performed blind deconvolution of resting-state fMRI time series acquired from large number of ASD and control subjects obtained from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) database (N=1102). Many brain regions previously implicated in autism showed systematic differences in HRF shape in ASD. Specifically, we found that precuneus had aberrations in all HRF parameters. Consequently, we obtained precuneus-seed-based functional connectivity differences between ASD and controls using fMRI as well as using latent neural signals. We found that non-deconvolved fMRI data failed to detect group differences in connectivity between precuneus and certain brain regions that were instead observed in deconvolved data. Our results are relevant for the understanding of hemodynamic and neurochemical aberrations in ASD, as well as have methodological implications for resting-state functional connectivity studies in Autism, and more generally in disorders that are accompanied by neurochemical alterations that may impact HRF shape.
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16. Yorke I, White P, Weston A, Rafla M, Charman T, Simonoff E. {{Correction to: The Association Between Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Psychological Distress in Their Parents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2018.
The original version of this article contains additional supplementary material which was omitted during the initial submission and it was not published. These are graphical representations of the studies and effect sizes in each meta-analysis. Please note that there is no change to the main body of the article, data entered, or conclusions drawn from the meta-analyses.
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17. Zhou H, Li C, Luo X, Wu L, Huang Y, Zhang L, Zou X, Xu X, Jiang YH, Yan W, Wang Y. {{Cross-Cultural Revision and Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (2-5 Years)}}. {Frontiers in neurology}. 2018; 9: 460.
Background: No sufficient biomarkers are available for early identification of autism in the general population. Currently, the diagnosis of ASD depends on behavioral assessments. A useful screening tool can help to detect early autistic symptoms and provide children an early opportunity for ASD-related interventions. This research aimed to assess cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the autism spectrum rating scale (ASRS) under the Chinese cultural environment. Methods: Participants were recruited from 17 kindergartens and 5 special education schools across five cities (Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changsha, Chengdu, and Harbin) in China. A total of 2,181 kindergarten children and 207 ASD cases participated in this study. Mplus 7.03 was utilized to conduct exploratory factor analysis, followed by adaptive modifications to construct the revised Chinese version of the ASRS (RC_ASRS). Results: The result showed that 62 items comprised a two-factor structure; Factor 1 (social communication, SC) included 21 items, and Factor 2 (unusual behavior, UB) included 41 items. Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.87 to 0.91 within the RC_ASRS. The total score and the SC and UB scores were significantly higher in ASD cases than in kindergarten samples (Cohen’s d ranged from 0.82 to 2.72). The total RC_ASRS score showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93-0.97). With a total score cut-off >/= 60, the RC_ASRS is an excellent tool to identify ASD cases from Chinese kindergarten children (sensitivity = 88.6%, specificity = 84.5%). Conclusions: The RC_ASRS has excellent psychometric properties and is a reliable, useful tool for early ASD screening among Chinese children.
