1. {{« Children with autism spectrum disorder show pronoun reversals in interpretation »: Correction to Overweg, Hartman, and Hendriks (2018)}}. {Journal of abnormal psychology}. 2018; 127(7): 649.
Reports an error in « Children with autism spectrum disorder show pronoun reversals in interpretation » by Jessica Overweg, Catharina A. Hartman and Petra Hendriks (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2018[Feb], Vol 127[2], 228-238). In the article there is an error in Figure 2. The Dutch sentence « Varken zei dat hij de auto krijgt » should be « Varken zei dat ik de auto krijg » (with the first-person pronoun « ik » instead of the third-person pronoun « hij » and the first-person inflected verb « krijg » instead of the third-person inflected verb « krijgt »). (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2018-09964-009.) Pronoun reversals, saying you when meaning I, in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are generally viewed as manifesting in early development and speech production only. This study investigates pronoun reversals in later development (age 6-12) in interpretation in 48 Dutch-speaking children with ASD and 43 typically developing (TD) peers. We contrasted children’s interpretation of I and you in indirect and direct speech reports, with the latter type requiring an additional perspective shift. To examine which cognitive processes are involved in pronoun interpretation, additional tasks were administered to measure Theory of Mind (ToM) understanding, cognitive inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. We found that children with ASD showed more problems than TD children interpreting pronouns in direct speech, resulting in pronoun reversals in interpretation. Children with ASD hardly improved with age. Older children with ASD thus showed more pronoun reversals than did their TD peers. ToM understanding, working memory, IQ, and verbal ability, but not inhibition and flexibility, were associated with pronoun interpretation. ToM understanding in particular was associated with correct pronoun interpretation in older TD children relative to younger TD children, but this improvement was not found in children with ASD. These findings indicate that pronoun reversals most likely result from perspective-shifting difficulties. We conclude that pronoun reversals are more pronounced in individuals with ASD, occur beyond early development, and require sufficient cognitive resources. The relation with ToM understanding, but not inhibition and flexibility, suggests that pronoun reversals are best classified as a social communication problem in the diagnosis of ASD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
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2. Baykal S, Karakurt MN, Cakir M, Karabekiroglu K. {{An Examination of the Relations Between Symptom Distributions in Children Diagnosed with Autism and Caregiver Burden, Anxiety and Depression Levels}}. {Community mental health journal}. 2018.
High stress levels and impairment of physical/mental health in parents can delay early and effective intervention in autism. The purpose of this study was to examine relations between the clinical characteristics of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and caregiver burden, and anxiety and depression levels. Seventy cases under monitoring at the Namik Kemal University Medical Faculty Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Polyclinic with a diagnosis of ASD, and their principal caregivers, were included in the study. The Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale were completed. At multiple regression analysis, autism symptom severity and caregiver depressive symptom levels emerged as significant predictors of total caregiver burden scores. Only the ABC language subscale score had a determining effect on caregiver burden (r = 0.51, r(2) = 0.26, p = 0.04). ABC body and object use subscale scores were identified as the symptom cluster affecting depression and anxiety scores (r = 0.25, r(2) = 0.06, p = 0.03 and r = 0.28, r(2) = 0.08, p = 0.01). Our findings show that ASD symptom severity and depressive symptoms in the caregiver are the most important factors giving rise to the caregiver burden, and that the main ASD symptom cluster affecting the caregiver burden was problems associated with language development. Better understanding of variables impacting on the caregiver burden will increase the quality of psychosocial services for caregivers.
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3. Bricout VA, Pace M, Dumortier L, Baillieul F, Favre-Juvin A, Guinot M. {{Reduced Cardiorespiratory Capacity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Journal of clinical medicine}. 2018; 7(10).
Background-Children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) are frequently hampered by motor impairment. It limits them from regularly practicing physical activities and results in a lower physical fitness even though low cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the most important predictors of all-cause mortality. This study aimed to investigate the cardiorespiratory fitness of boys with ASD compared to typically developed children. Methods-forty male children participated. Twenty were control children (CONT-10.0 +/- 1.6 years) and 20 were ASD children (ASD-10.7 +/- 1.2 years; intellectual quotient > 70). All participants completed an incremental exercise test on a treadmill. An evaluation of motor characteristics by three tests was conducted (muscular strength; explosive power; flexibility). Assessments of daily physical activity were obtained by questionnaires (PAQ-C) and by actigraphy. Results-in the ASD group, aerobic capacity values (VO2peak), effort duration and maximal speed were significantly lower compared to CONT (p < 0.05). Flexibility, explosive power and muscular strength were significantly lower in ASD compared to CONT (p < 0.05). Similarities between all children were observed for physical activity evaluation by actigraphy and with the PAQ-C. Conclusions-children with ASD had lower cardiorespiratory fitness than CONT despite similar physical activity levels. Our results suggested that the difference may be due to motor discrepancies. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
4. Carruthers S, Kent R, Hollocks MJ, Simonoff E. {{Brief Report: Testing the Psychometric Properties of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) in Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Journal of autism and developmental disorders}. 2018.
Anxiety is a prevalent and impairing co-morbidity among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet assessment measures, including screening tools, are seldom validated with autism samples. We explored the psychometric properties of the child and parent reports of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and the Screen for Anxiety Related Disorder-71 (SCARED-71) with 49 males with ASD (10-16 years, 63% co-occurring anxiety). Both measures had excellent internal consistency and fair-good parent-child agreement. The SCAS has a higher proportion of items evaluating observable behaviors. Predictive power of the measures did not differ. Higher cut-points in the parent reports (SCARED only) and lower cut-points in the child reports may enhance prediction in this sample. Choice of measure and cut-points should be considered alongside intended purpose.
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5. Cartocci V, Tonini C, Di Pippo T, Vuono F, Schiavi S, Marino M, Trezza V, Pallottini V. {{Prenatal exposure to valproate induces sex-, age-, and tissue-dependent alterations of cholesterol metabolism: Potential implications on autism}}. {Journal of cellular physiology}. 2018.
Here, we investigated the protein network regulating cholesterol metabolism in the liver and brain of adolescent and adult male and female rats prenatally exposed to valproate (VPA), a well validated experimental model of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We were aimed at studying whether prenatal VPA exposure affected the proteins involved in cholesterol homeostasis in a sex-dependent manner. To this aim the protein network of cholesterol metabolism, in term of synthesis and plasma membrane trafficking, was analyzed by western blot in the liver and different brain areas (amygdala, cerebellum, cortex, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, and dorsal striatum) of adolescent and adult male and female rats prenatally exposed to VPA. Our results show that physiological sex-dependent differences are present both in the liver and in brain of rats. Interestingly, VPA affects specifically the brain in an age- and region-specific manner; indeed, cerebellum, cortex, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens are affected in a sex-dependent way, while this does not occur in amygdala and dorsal striatum. Overall, we demonstrate that each brain area responds differently to the same external stimulus and males and females respond in a different way, suggesting that this could be related to the diverse incidences, between the sexes, of some neurodevelopmental pathologies such as autism, which displays a 3:1 male to female ratio.
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6. Costa L, Sardone LM, Bonaccorso CM, D’Antoni S, Spatuzza M, Gulisano W, Tropea MR, Puzzo D, Leopoldo M, Lacivita E, Catania MV, Ciranna L. {{Activation of Serotonin 5-HT7 Receptors Modulates Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity by Stimulation of Adenylate Cyclases and Rescues Learning and Behavior in a Mouse Model of Fragile X Syndrome}}. {Frontiers in molecular neuroscience}. 2018; 11: 353.
We have previously demonstrated that activation of serotonin 5-HT7 receptors (5-HT7R) reverses metabotropic glutamate receptor-mediated long term depression (mGluR-LTD) in the hippocampus of wild-type (WT) and Fmr1 Knockout (KO) mice, a model of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) in which mGluR-LTD is abnormally enhanced. Here, we have investigated intracellular mechanisms underlying the effect of 5-HT7R activation using patch clamp on hippocampal slices. Furthermore, we have tested whether in vivo administration of LP-211, a selective 5-HT7R agonist, can rescue learning and behavior in Fmr1 KO mice. In the presence of an adenylate cyclase blocker, mGluR-LTD was slightly enhanced in WT and therefore the difference between mGluR-LTD in WT and Fmr1 KO slices was no longer present. Conversely, activation of adenylate cyclase by either forskolin or Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase Activating Polypeptide (PACAP) completely reversed mGluR-LTD in WT and Fmr1 KO. 5-HT7R activation reversed mGluR-LTD in WT and corrected exaggerated mGluR-LTD in Fmr1 KO; this effect was abolished by blockade of either adenylate cyclase or protein kinase A (PKA). Exposure of hippocampal slices to LP-211 caused an increased phosphorylation of extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK), an intracellular effector involved in mGluR-LTD, in WT mice. Conversely, this effect was barely detectable in Fmr1 KO mice, suggesting that 5-HT7R-mediated reversal of mGluR-LTD does not require ERK stimulation. Finally, an acute in vivo administration of LP-211 improved novel object recognition (NOR) performance in WT and Fmr1 KO mice and reduced stereotyped behavior in Fmr1 KO mice. Our results indicate that mGluR-LTD in WT and Fmr1 KO slices is bidirectionally modulated in conditions of either reduced or enhanced cAMP formation. Activation of 5-HT7 receptors reverses mGluR-LTD by activation of the cAMP/PKA intracellular pathway. Importantly, a systemic administration of a 5-HT7R agonist to Fmr1 KO mice corrected learning deficits and repetitive behavior. We suggest that selective 5-HT7R agonists might become novel pharmacological tools for FXS therapy.
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7. Dadalko OI, Travers BG. {{Evidence for Brainstem Contributions to Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Frontiers in integrative neuroscience}. 2018; 12: 47.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects one in 59 children in the United States. Although there is a mounting body of knowledge of cortical and cerebellar contributions to ASD, our knowledge about the early developing brainstem in ASD is only beginning to accumulate. Understanding how brainstem neurotransmission is implicated in ASD is important because many of this condition’s sensory and motor symptoms are consistent with brainstem pathology. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to integrate epidemiological, behavioral, histological, neuroimaging, and animal evidence of brainstem contributions to ASD. Because ASD is a neurodevelopmental condition, we examined the available data through a lens of hierarchical brain development. The review of the literature suggests that developmental alterations of the brainstem could have potential cascading effects on cortical and cerebellar formation, ultimately leading to ASD symptoms. This view is supported by human epidemiology findings and data from animal models of ASD, showing that perturbed development of the brainstem substructures, particularly during the peak formation of the brainstem’s monoaminergic centers, may relate to ASD or ASD-like behaviors. Furthermore, we review evidence from human histology, psychophysiology, and neuroimaging suggesting that brainstem development and maturation may be atypical in ASD and may be related to key ASD symptoms, such as atypical sensorimotor features and social responsiveness. From this review there emerges the need of future research to validate early detection of the brainstem-based somatosensory and psychophysiological behaviors that emerge in infancy, and to examine the brainstem across the life span, while accounting for age. In all, there is preliminary evidence for brainstem involvement in ASD, but a better understanding of the brainstem’s role would likely pave the way for earlier diagnosis and treatment of ASD.
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8. Deon Kidd V, De Claro AMO. {{Preparing for Autistic Patients in Orthopaedic Surgery: Tips for a Successful Health-Care Interaction}}. {The Journal of bone and joint surgery American volume}. 2018; 100(20): e132.
The prevalence of autism in the United States has been climbing for the last 3 decades, and this comes at a time when the medical community is poorly equipped to address the various needs of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Because busy orthopaedic surgery practices will invariably encounter more patients with ASD, they may want to develop pragmatic strategies and protocols that will promote a successful health-care interaction with these patients.
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9. Gao K, Zhang Y, Zhang L, Kong W, Xie H, Wang J, Wu Y, Wu X, Liu X, Zhang Y, Zhang F, Yu AC, Jiang Y. {{Large De Novo Microdeletion in Epilepsy with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, with a Systems Biology Analysis}}. {Advances in neurobiology}. 2018; 21: 247-66.
Epilepsy is one of the most common complex neurological diseases. It is frequently associated with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). In recent years, copy number variation (CNV), especially microdeletion, was proven to be a potential key factor of genetic epilepsy. In this paper, the authors tested the hypothesis that the large de novo rare CNV is an important cause of epilepsy with ID/DD. We performed a custom array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) to detect the CNVs of 96 Chinese epileptic patients with ID/DD. The aCGH was designed with a higher density probe coverage of 320 genes known to be involved in epilepsy and ID/DD with lower density whole-genome backbone coverage. We detected 9 large de novo rare microdeletions from 8 patients. These CNVs are located on 2q24.1, 2q33.1-q34, 5q13.2 (2 similar CNVs), 5q33.1-q34, 17p13.2, 22q11.21-q11.22 (2 identical CNVs) and Xp22.31. We also found that only a few genes in the CNVs are known epilepsy related genes. By analysis with systems biology, we found most of the genes are interacting genes known to be epilepsy related genes. We also found a gene motif « BGNADP », constructed by BTD, GALNT10, NMUR2, AUTS2, DLG2 and PTPRD, would be a key motif in epilepsy and ID/DD. These findings strongly indicate that some large de novo rare microdeletion is an important pathological cause of epilepsy with ID/DD. Our study also found a gene motif « BGNADP » should be a key small network in epilepsy with ID/DD.
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10. Kempny A, Gatzoulis MA. {{Percutaneous repair of sinus venosus ASD: the end of congenital cardiac surgery?}}. {EuroIntervention : journal of EuroPCR in collaboration with the Working Group on Interventional Cardiology of the European Society of Cardiology}. 2018; 14(8): 843-5.
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11. Li Y, Jia H, Yu D. {{Novel analysis of fNIRS acquired dynamic hemoglobin concentrations: application in young children with autism spectrum disorder}}. {Biomedical optics express}. 2018; 9(8): 3694-710.
A novel analysis of the spatial complexity of functional connectivity (SCFC) was proposed to investigate the spatial complexity of multiple dynamic functional connectivity series in an fNIRS study, using an approach combining principal component analysis and normalized entropy. The analysis was designed to describe the complex spatial features of phase synchrony based dynamic functional connectivity (dFC), which are unexplained in traditional approaches. The feasibility and validity of this method were verified in a sample of young patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Our results showed that there were information exchange deficits in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) of children with ASD, with markedly higher interregion SCFCs between the right PFC and other brain regions than those of normal controls. Furthermore, the global SCFC was significantly higher in young patients with ASD, along with considerably higher intraregion SCFCs in the prefrontal and temporal lobes which represents more diverse information exchange in these areas. The study suggests a novel method to analyze the fNIRS required dynamic hemoglobin concentrations by using concepts of SCFC. Moreover, the clinical results extend our understanding of ASD pathology, suggesting the crucial role of the right PFC during the information exchange process.
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12. Luebbert C, Real D, Sadowski G. {{Choosing Appropriate Solvents for ASD Preparation}}. {Molecular pharmaceutics}. 2018.
Amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) are often used for formulating poorly water-soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). In an ASD, the amorphous API is embedded in a suitable matrix excipient in order to stabilize the amorphous state and control the dissolution performance. ASDs can be prepared by commonly dissolving the API and the polymer in a suitable organic solvent which is evaporated afterward (e.g., via spray drying) aiming at a homogeneous API distribution in the polymer matrix. Sometimes, unexpected solvent influences on the heterogeneity of the dry ASD are observed. Thermodynamic predictions using the Perturbed-Chain Statistical Associating Fluid Theory combined with experimental investigations via Raman spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and microscopy performed in this work revealed the amorphous phase separation (APS) between the solvent and the polymer as causing the ASD heterogeneities. It will be shown that thermodynamic modeling allows for identifying appropriate solvents that will neither show APS with the polymeric excipient nor at any time of the drying process of ASD formulations.
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13. Mammarella IC, Cardillo R, Zoccante L. {{Differences in visuospatial processing in individuals with nonverbal learning disability or autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability}}. {Neuropsychology}. 2018.
OBJECTIVE: Although previous reports produced converging empirical evidence of a core deficit on visuospatial processing in children with a nonverbal learning disability (NLD), few studies compared the visuospatial profile of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or NLD in visuoconstructive and visuospatial working memory tasks. Nor did any of these studies investigate the role of the local bias, typically observed in ASD, when comparing these clinical groups. The present study aimed to analyze whether NLD and ASD share any characteristics. METHOD: A group of participants with NLD (n = 17) was compared with another group who had ASD (n = 17) without intellectual disability (ID), and without a peak in visuospatial intelligence, and with a control group (n = 17). Participants aged from 8 to 18 years performed a visuoconstructive and a visuospatial working memory task in which global-local processing styles were manipulated. RESULTS: The analysis of their visuospatial processing clearly distinguished between the neuropsychological profiles of the group with ASD without ID and the group with NLD: the latter performed less well than the former in all domains. The participants with ASD without ID had a more heterogeneous visuospatial profile, showing a diminished sensitivity to perceptual cohesiveness only in the visuoconstructive task. CONCLUSIONS: Examining different visuospatial domains and manipulating the cohesiveness of the stimuli might be useful for better discriminating between NLD and ASD without ID. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
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14. Nayar K, Gordon PC, Martin GE, Hogan AL, La Valle C, McKinney W, Lee M, Norton ES, Losh M. {{Links between looking and speaking in autism and first-degree relatives: insights into the expression of genetic liability to autism}}. {Molecular autism}. 2018; 9: 51.
Background: Rapid automatized naming (RAN; naming of familiar items presented in an array) is a task that taps fundamental neurocognitive processes that are affected in a number of complex psychiatric conditions. Deficits in RAN have been repeatedly observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and also among first-degree relatives, suggesting that RAN may tap features that index genetic liability to ASD. This study used eye tracking to examine neurocognitive mechanisms related to RAN performance in ASD and first-degree relatives, and investigated links to broader language and clinical-behavioral features. Methods: Fifty-one individuals with ASD, biological parents of individuals with ASD (n = 133), and respective control groups (n = 45 ASD controls; 58 parent controls) completed RAN on an eye tracker. Variables included naming time, frequency of errors, and measures of eye movement during RAN (eye-voice span, number of fixations and refixations). Results: Both the ASD and parent-ASD groups showed slower naming times, more errors, and atypical eye-movement patterns (e.g., increased fixations and refixations), relative to controls, with differences persisting after accounting for spousal resemblance. RAN ability and associated eye movement patterns were correlated with increased social-communicative impairment and increased repetitive behaviors in ASD. Longer RAN times and greater refixations in the parent-ASD group were driven by the subgroup who showed clinical-behavioral features of the broad autism phenotype (BAP). Finally, parent-child dyad correlations revealed associations between naming time and refixations in parents with the BAP and increased repetitive behaviors in their child with ASD. Conclusions: Differences in RAN performance and associated eye movement patterns detected in ASD and in parents, and links to broader social-communicative abilities, clinical features, and parent-child associations, suggest that RAN-related abilities might constitute genetically meaningful neurocognitive markers that can help bridge connections between underlying biology and ASD symptomatology.
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15. Roberts JR, Dawley EH, Reigart JR. {{Children’s low-level pesticide exposure and associations with autism and ADHD: a review}}. {Pediatric research}. 2018.
Pesticides are chemicals that are designed specifically for the purpose of killing or suppressing another living organism. Human toxicity is possible with any pesticide, and a growing body of literature has investigated possible associations with neurodevelopmental disorders. Attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are two of these specific disorders that have garnered particular interest. Exposure to toxic chemicals during critical windows of brain development is a biologically plausible mechanism. This review describes the basic laboratory science including controlled pesticide dosing experiments in animals that supports a mechanistic relationship in the development of ADHD and/or ASD. Epidemiological relationships are also described for low-level pesticide exposure and ADHD and/or ASD. The available evidence supports the hypothesis that pesticide exposure at levels that do not cause acute toxicity may be among the multifactorial causes of ADHD and ASD, though further study is needed, especially for some of the newer pesticides.
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16. Samadi SA, McConkey R. {{Perspectives on Inclusive Education of Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Other Developmental Disabilities in Iran}}. {International journal of environmental research and public health}. 2018; 15(10).
Background: Iranian children with disabilities invariably attend special schools and many may be excluded from education entirely. Information on preschool education is limited but probably mirrors the situation in schools. There is a lack of information in terms of parental preferences for schooling and teachers’ experiences of inclusion in Iran. Method: Two feasibility studies were undertaken; one with 89 parents of children with autism or intellectual disabilities, and another with the head teachers of two private kindergartens. Results: Two-thirds of parents favored inclusive schools; most parents whose children had autism or were verbally proficient were in favor of their child attending ordinary schools, even if their child had been placed in a specialist preschool facility. The head teachers justified inclusion in terms of children’s rights but identified three main challenges: coping with the diverse level of functioning, the need for special devices and training of teachers, and challenging the negative reactions of parents of non-disabled children. Conclusions: Further exploration of the views of those who have experienced inclusion would further challenge existing practices. Moreover, the training and preparation of teachers is key to reforming schools. However, wider social values and beliefs towards disabilities also need to change.
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17. Travers BG, Mason A, Gruben KG, Dean DC, 3rd, McLaughlin K. {{Standing Balance on Unsteady Surfaces in Children on the Autism Spectrum: The Effects of IQ}}. {Research in autism spectrum disorders}. 2018; 51: 9-17.
Background: Postural stability difficulties are commonly reported in people on the autism spectrum. However, it is unclear whether unsteady surfaces may exacerbate postural stability difficulties in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Understanding balance on unsteady surfaces is important because uneven surfaces are commonly encountered in daily life. Methods: Twenty-one youth on the autism spectrum and 16 youth with typical development (ages 6-16 years, IQ >/= 79) stood on both a fixed and unsteady (tiltable) platform, and center of pressure was measured. Results: The group with ASD exhibited differentially more postural sway on the unsteady surface compared to the group with typical development. However, there was substantial variability within the ASD group. Follow-up analyses suggested that much of the variability in postural sway in the ASD group was accounted for by IQ. Conclusions: Clinically, these findings suggest that not all individuals with ASD struggle more with postural stability on unsteady surfaces. Instead children and adolescents with ASD and below-average IQ may have particular difficulty on unsteady surfaces and may require accommodations. Further, these findings lay the groundwork for future research to investigate the underlying mechanisms of poorer balance across the autism spectrum.
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18. Wang Q, Lu L, Zhang Q, Fang F, Zou X, Yi L. {{Eye avoidance in young children with autism spectrum disorder is modulated by emotional facial expressions}}. {Journal of abnormal psychology}. 2018; 127(7): 722-32.
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit a reduced duration of eye contact compared with typically developing (TD) individuals. This reduced eye contact has been theorized to be a strategy to relieve discomfort elicited by direct eye contact (Tanaka & Sung, 2016). Looking at threatening facial expressions may elicit more discomfort and consequently more eye avoidance in ASD individuals than looking at nonthreatening expressions. We explored whether eye avoidance in children with ASD is modulated by the social threat level of emotional expressions. In this study, 2- to 5-year-old children with and without ASD viewed faces with happy, angry, sad, and neutral expressions, while their eye movements were recorded. We observed the following: (a) when confronted with angry faces, the children with ASD fixated less on the eyes than did TD children, persistently across time; (b) the group differences in the overall eye-looking time were rarely found for happy, neutral, and sad faces; (c) the ASD group showed eye avoidance for neutral faces between 1,000 ms and 2,900 ms after the stimulus onset. Additionally, both groups spent more time looking at the angry faces than the faces showing other emotions. Considering that the children with ASD spent less time looking at the eyes of the angry faces than other emotional faces, the results suggest a combination of vigilance to threatening faces and an avoidance of the eyes in children with ASD. Our study not only extends the gaze aversion hypothesis but also has implications for the treatment and screening of ASD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
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19. Weiss EM, Rominger C, Hofer E, Fink A, Papousek I. {{Less differentiated facial responses to naturalistic films of another person’s emotional expressions in adolescents and adults with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry}. 2018; 89: 341-6.
BACKGROUND: Reduced facial expressivity (flat affect) and deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors are characteristic symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Based on the important interpersonal functions of facial emotional responsiveness the present study aimed at a comprehensive and differentiated analysis of perceptible facial behavior in response to another person’s naturalistic, dynamic facial expressions of emotion. METHODS: In a group of 21 adolescent and adult individuals with High-Funtioning autism spectrum disorder (HF-ASD) and in 21 matched healthy controls we examined perceptible facial responses using the whole range of action units of the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) while participants were watching films displaying continuous, dynamic real-life facial expressions of four universal emotions (cheerfulness, anger, sadness, anxiety). The duration of the 80s films was in the typical range of casual face-to-face interactions. RESULTS: Overall, the number of congruent facial muscle movements while watching the emotion-laden stimulus films did not differ in the two groups. However, the comprehensive FACS analysis indicated that participants with HF-ASD displayed less differentiated facial responses to the watched emotional expressions. CONCLUSIONS: The unusual or awkward patterns of facial emotional responses in ASD may hamper the recognition of affect in other people as well as the interaction partner’s sense of interpersonal resonance, and thereby lead to social disadvantage in individuals with ASD.
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20. Will MN, Currans K, Smith J, Weber S, Duncan A, Burton J, Kroeger-Geoppinger K, Miller V, Stone M, Mays L, Luebrecht A, Heeman A, Erickson C, Anixt J. {{Evidenced-Based Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care}. 2018.
This paper reviews evidenced-based interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) across the disciplines of psychology, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, and developmental pediatrics. BACKGROUND: rates of ASD diagnoses have been steadily rising over the past 2 decades. There are a wide range of therapies and interventions, of varying levels of evidence, across disciplines that are now available to treat children with ASD. The field has moved toward a greater emphasis on the identification and utilization of evidenced-based treatments. METHODS: a review and summary of recent literature was conducted by professionals in an interdisciplinary autism center. An emphasis was placed on results of the National Autism Center’s National Standards Project. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: within each discipline, interventions exist that vary in level of evidenced-based support. Although disciplines may differ in their definitions of evidence-based treatments, it is important for each discipline to strive to offer and promote practices with the best evidenced-based support according to each field’s standards.
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21. Won DC, Feldman HM, Huffman LC. {{Sleep Problem Detection and Documentation in Children With ASD and ADHD by Developmental-Behavioral Pediatricians: A DBPNet Study}}. {Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP}. 2018.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the percentage of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and combined ASD + ADHD who had sleep problems documented by developmental-behavioral pediatricians at diagnostic and follow-up visits at 12 US academic medical centers comprising the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Research Network (DBPNet) and to identify the predictors of sleep problem documentation. METHODS: Developmental-behavioral pediatricians completed encounter forms that covered sociodemographic, medical, clinician, and visit factors. There was 1 dependent variable, sleep problem documentation, for which 4 definitions were developed (Model 1 = Sleep Disorder coded; Model 2 = Sleep Disorder or polysomnogram coded; Model 3 = Sleep Disorder, polysomnogram, or sleep medication coded; and Model 4 = Sleep Disorder, polysomnogram, sleep medication, or clonidine coded). RESULTS: Sleep problem documentation was 14.1% for Model 1, 15.2% for Model 2, 17.3% for Model 3, and 19.7% for Model 4. All values were lower (p < 0.001) than the reported prevalence of sleep problems in these conditions. For Model 4, predictors of sleep problem documentation were age group, ethnicity, medical insurance type, and DBPNet site. CONCLUSION: Developmental-behavioral pediatricians in DBPNet under-reported sleep problems in children with ASD and ADHD. Variation among sites was substantial. Care plans for children with ASD and ADHD should specify which treating clinician(s) monitors sleep issues. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
22. Yang C, Li J, Wu Q, Yang X, Huang AY, Zhang J, Ye AY, Dou Y, Yan L, Zhou WZ, Kong L, Wang M, Ai C, Yang D, Wei L. {{AutismKB 2.0: a knowledgebase for the genetic evidence of autism spectrum disorder}}. {Database : the journal of biological databases and curation}. 2018; 2018.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with strong genetic contributions. To provide a comprehensive resource for the genetic evidence of ASD, we have updated the Autism KnowledgeBase (AutismKB) to version 2.0. AutismKB 2.0 integrates multiscale genetic data on 1379 genes, 5420 copy number variations and structural variations, 11 669 single-nucleotide variations or small insertions/deletions (SNVs/indels) and 172 linkage regions. In particular, AutismKB 2.0 highlights 5669 de novo SNVs/indels due to their significant contribution to ASD genetics and includes 789 mosaic variants due to their recently discovered contributions to ASD pathogenesis. The genes and variants are annotated extensively with genetic evidence and clinical evidence. To help users fully understand the functional consequences of SNVs and small indels, we provided comprehensive predictions of pathogenicity with iFish, SIFT, Polyphen etc. To improve user experiences, the new version incorporates multiple query methods, including simple query, advanced query and batch query. It also functionally integrates two analytical tools to help users perform downstream analyses, including a gene ranking tool and an enrichment analysis tool, KOBAS. AutismKB 2.0 is freely available and can be a valuable resource for researchers.
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23. Zeanah CH. {{Autistic social behaviors and the half-empty, half-full cup}}. {Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines}. 2018; 59(11): 1125-6.
Unusual social behaviors have been central to our notions of autism spectrum disorders since their original descriptions. We have come to recognize that such behaviors are broadly distributed beyond the classic phenotype and may be induced by postnatal experiences involving insufficient care. Sex differences have also been noted, and a paper in the current issue by Mandy and colleagues, demonstrates different longitudinal trajectories in boys and girls in autistic social traits from middle childhood to mid-adolescence. These and related findings are evidence of both progress in our understanding and how much we still need to learn to understand the social behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorders.
