1. Dager SR, Corrigan NM, Estes A, Shaw DW. {{Further Commentary on Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Assessment and Treatment Considerations}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2011 Aug 19.
The authors respond to a recent letter (Rossignol and Frye 2011) critical of their paper, « Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and MRI reveal no evidence for brain mitochondrial dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorder » (Corrigan et al. 2011). Further considerations regarding the assessment of mitochondrial dysfunction in autism spectrum disorder, and related treatment considerations, are discussed.
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2. Golnik A, Scal P, Wey A, Gaillard P. {{Autism-Specific Primary Care Medical Home Intervention}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2011 Aug 19.
Forty-six subjects received primary medical care within an autism-specific medical home intervention ( www.autismmedicalhome.com ) and 157 controls received standard primary medical care. Subjects and controls had autism spectrum disorder diagnoses. Thirty-four subjects (74%) and 62 controls (40%) completed pre and post surveys. Controlling for pre-survey medical home status, subjects had 250% greater odds of receipt of a medical home at the study end compared to controls (p = 0.021). Compared to controls, subjects receiving the intervention reported significantly more satisfaction (p = 0.0004), greater shared decision making (p = 0.0005) and fewer unmet needs (p = 0.067). However, subjects reported no change in family stress (p = 0.204).
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3. Hines M, Balandin S, Togher L. {{Buried by Autism: Older Parents’ Perceptions of Autism}}. {Autism}. 2011 Aug 16.
In this study, we explored older parents’ perceptions of their adult sons and daughters with autism inorder to gain insights into how parents’ beliefs about autism may influence their coping. Narrative analysis of in-depth interviews held with 16 parents aged 60 years and older of adults with autism revealed that these parents perceived that their son’s or daughter’s intelligence, sense of humour and social personality are blocked by autism. Adherence to these beliefs appeared to comprise important coping strategies that supported these parents in their caregiving roles by assisting them to maintain positive perceptions of their son or daughter with autism. Yet such beliefs also held costs for the parents, including reinforcing the belief that they need to regulate their own behaviour in order to realize the true son or daughter buried by autism.
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4. Jones CR, Swettenham J, Charman T, Marsden AJ, Tregay J, Baird G, et al. {{No evidence for a fundamental visual motion processing deficit in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders}}. {Autism Res}. 2011 Aug 17.
It has been suggested that atypicalities in low-level visual processing contribute to the expression and development of the unusual cognitive and behavioral profile seen in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, previous investigations have yielded mixed results. In the largest study of its kind (ASD n = 89; non-ASD = 52; mean age 15 years 6 months) and testing across the spectrum of IQ (range 52-133), we investigated performance on three measures of basic visual processing: motion coherence, form-from-motion and biological motion (BM). At the group level, we found no evidence of differences between the two groups on any of the tasks, suggesting that there is no fundamental visual motion processing deficit in individuals with an ASD, at least by adolescence. However, we identified a tail of individuals with ASD (18% of the sample) who had exceptionally poor BM processing abilities compared to the non-ASD group, and who were characterized by low IQ. For the entire sample of those both with and without ASD, performance on the BM task uniquely correlated with performance on the Frith-Happe animations, a higher-level task that demands the interpretation of moving, interacting agents in order to understand mental states. We hypothesize that this association reflects the shared social-cognitive characteristics of the two tasks, which have a common neural underpinning in the superior temporal sulcus. Autism Res 2011,4:xxx-xxx. (c) 2011 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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5. Kramer JM, Coster WJ, Kao YC, Snow A, Orsmond GI. {{A New Approach to the Measurement of Adaptive Behavior: Development of the PEDI-CAT for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Phys Occup Ther Pediatr}. 2011 Aug 17.
ABSTRACT. The use of current adaptive behavior measures in practice and research is limited by their length and need for a professional interviewer. There is a need for alternative measures that more efficiently assess adaptive behavior in children and youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory-Computer Adaptive Test (PEDI-CAT) is a computer-based assessment of a child’s ability to perform activities required for personal self-sufficiency and engagement in the community. This study evaluated the applicability, representativeness, and comprehensiveness of the Daily Activity, Social/Cognitive, and Responsibility domains for children and youth with an ASD. Twenty professionals and 18 parents provided feedback via in-person or virtual focus groups and cognitive interviews. Items were perceived to represent relevant functional activities within each domain. Child factors and assessment characteristics influenced parents’ ratings. In response to feedback, 15 items and additional directions were added to ensure the PEDI-CAT is a meaningful measure when used with this population.
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6. Luke L, Clare IC, Ring H, Redley M, Watson P. {{Decision-Making Difficulties Experienced by Adults With Autism Spectrum Conditions}}. {Autism}. 2011 Aug 16.
Autobiographical and clinical accounts, as well as a limited neuropsychological research literature, suggest that, in some situations, men and women with autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) may have difficulty making decisions. Little is known, however, about how people with ASCs experience decision-making or how they might best be supported to make decisions for themselves. In this study, we compared the decision-making experiences of adults with and without ASCs (n=38 and n=40, respectively) using a novel questionnaire and the General Decision Making Style inventory (GDMS, Scott & Bruce, 1995). The participants with ASCs reported experiencing several problems in decision-making more frequently than the comparison group, and were more likely to report avoidance of decision-making, as measured using the GDMS. The findings highlight areas of potential future research and inform suggestions for supporting adults with ASCs during decision-making.
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7. Mandell DS, Lawer LJ, Branch K, Brodkin ES, Healey K, Witalec R, et al. {{Prevalence and Correlates of Autism in a State Psychiatric Hospital}}. {Autism}. 2011 Aug 16.
This study estimated the ASD prevalence in a psychiatric hospital and evaluated the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) combined with other information for differential diagnosis. Chart review, SRS and clinical interviews were collected for 141 patients at one hospital. Diagnosis was determined at case conference. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the SRS as a screening instrument. Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) analysis estimated the role of other variables, in combination with the SRS, in separating cases and non-cases. Ten percent of the sample had ASD. More than other patients, their onset was prior to 12 years of age, they had gait problems and intellectual disability, and were less likely to have a history of criminal involvement or substance abuse. Sensitivity (0.86) and specificity (0.60) of the SRS were maximized at a score of 84. Adding age of onset <12 years and cigarette use among those with SRS <80 increased sensitivity to 1.00 without lowering specificity. Adding a history substance abuse among those with SRS >80 increased specificity to 0.90 but dropped sensitivity to 0.79. Undiagnosed ASD may be common in psychiatric hospitals. The SRS, combined with other information, may discriminate well between ASD and other disorders.
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8. Testa-Silva G, Loebel A, Giugliano M, de Kock CP, Mansvelder HD, Meredith RM. {{Hyperconnectivity and Slow Synapses during Early Development of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in a Mouse Model for Mental Retardation and Autism}}. {Cereb Cortex}. 2011 Aug 19.
Neuronal theories of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) of autism and mental retardation propose that abnormal connectivity underlies deficits in attentional processing. We tested this theory by studying unitary synaptic connections between layer 5 pyramidal neurons within medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) networks in the Fmr1-KO mouse model for mental retardation and autism. In line with predictions from neurocognitive theory, we found that neighboring pyramidal neurons were hyperconnected during a critical period in early mPFC development. Surprisingly, excitatory synaptic connections between Fmr1-KO pyramidal neurons were significantly slower and failed to recover from short-term depression as quickly as wild type (WT) synapses. By 4-5 weeks of mPFC development, connectivity rates were identical for both KO and WT pyramidal neurons and synapse dynamics changed from depressing to facilitating responses with similar properties in both groups. We propose that the early alteration in connectivity and synaptic recovery are tightly linked: using a network model, we show that slower synapses are essential to counterbalance hyperconnectivity in order to maintain a dynamic range of excitatory activity. However, the slow synaptic time constants induce decreased responsiveness to low-frequency stimulation, which may explain deficits in integration and early information processing in attentional neuronal networks in NDDs.
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9. Timimi S. {{Autism is not a scientifically valid or clinically useful diagnosis}}. {BMJ}. 2011;343:d5105.
10. Venker CE, McDuffie AS, Ellis Weismer S, Abbeduto L. {{Increasing Verbal Responsiveness in Parents of Children With Autism: a Pilot Study}}. {Autism}. 2011 Aug 16.
Correlational studies have revealed a positive relationship between parent verbal responsiveness and language outcomes in children with autism. We investigated whether parents of young children on the autism spectrum could learn and implement the specific categories of verbal responsiveness that have been suggested to facilitate language development. Parents were taught to increase their verbal responsiveness in the context of a short-term language intervention that included group parent education sessions, as well as individual and small-group coaching sessions of parent-child play interactions. Parents in the treatment group increased their use of comments that: described their child’s focus of attention; interpreted or expanded child communication acts; and prompted child communication. Preliminary treatment effects were also noted in children’s prompted and spontaneous communication. These results support the use of parent-mediated interventions targeting verbal responsiveness to facilitate language development and communication in young children with autism.
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11. Voelker R. {{Autism screening strikes emotional chord}}. {JAMA}. 2011 Aug 17;306(7):691-2.
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12. Yang K, Sheikh AM, Malik M, Wen G, Zou H, Brown WT, et al. {{Up-regulation of Ras/Raf/ERK1/2 signaling and ERK5 in the brain of autistic subjects}}. {Genes Brain Behav}. 2011 Aug 17.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction, verbal communication and repetitive behaviors. A number of studies have shown that the Ras/Raf/ERK1/2 signaling pathway plays important roles in the genesis of neural progenitors, learning, and memory. Ras/Raf/ERK1/2 and ERK5 have also been shown to have death-promoting apoptotic roles in neural cells. Recent studies have demonstrated a possible association between neural cell death and autism. In addition, two recent studies reported that a deletion of a locus on chromosome 16, which included the MAPK3 gene that encodes ERK1, is associated with autism. Most recently, our laboratory detected that Ras/Raf/ERK1/2 signaling activities were significantly enhanced in the brain of BTBR mice that model autism, since they exhibit many autism-like behaviors. We thus hypothesized that Ras/Raf/ERK1/2 signaling and ERK5 could be abnormally regulated in the brain of autistic subjects. In this study, we show that expression of Ras protein was significantly elevated in the frontal cortex of autistic subjects. C-Raf phosphorylation was increased in the frontal cortex, while both C-Raf and A-Raf activities were enhanced in the cerebellum of autistic subjects. We also detected that both the protein expression and activities of ERK1/2 were significantly up-regulated in the frontal cortex of autistic subjects, but not in the cerebellum. Furthermore, we demonstrated that ERK5 protein expression is up-regulated in both frontal cortex and cerebellum of autistic subjects. These results suggest that the up-regulation of Ras/Raf/ERK1/2 signaling and ERK5 activities mainly found in the frontal cortex of autistic subjects may be critically involved in the pathogenesis of autism.
