1. Burke SM. {{The Use of Technology by Adolescents With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities}}. {J Pediatr Nurs};2017 (Jul 21)
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2. Chen H, Uddin LQ, Duan X, Zheng J, Long Z, Zhang Y, Guo X, Zhang Y, Zhao J, Chen H. {{Shared atypical default mode and salience network functional connectivity between autism and schizophrenia}}. {Autism Res};2017 (Jul 21)
Schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are two prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders sharing some similar genetic basis and clinical features. The extent to which they share common neural substrates remains unclear. Resting-state fMRI data were collected from 35 drug-naive adolescent participants with first-episode schizophrenia (15.6 +/- 1.8 years old) and 31 healthy controls (15.4 +/- 1.6 years old). Data from 22 participants with ASD (13.1 +/- 3.1 years old) and 21 healthy controls (12.9 +/- 2.9 years old) were downloaded from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange. Resting-state functional networks were constructed using predefined regions of interest. Multivariate pattern analysis combined with multi-task regression feature selection methods were conducted in two datasets separately. Classification between individuals with disorders and controls was achieved with high accuracy (schizophrenia dataset: accuracy = 83%; ASD dataset: accuracy = 80%). Shared atypical brain connections contributing to classification were mostly present in the default mode network (DMN) and salience network (SN). These functional connections were further related to severity of social deficits in ASD (p = 0.002). Distinct atypical connections were also more related to the DMN and SN, but showed different atypical connectivity patterns between the two disorders. These results suggest some common neural mechanisms contributing to schizophrenia and ASD, and may aid in understanding the pathology of these two neurodevelopmental disorders. Autism Res 2017. (c) 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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3. Chen L, Shen J, Shan X, Wang F, Kan T, Tang X, Zhao X, Qin Y. {{Improvement of tricuspid regurgitation after transcatheter ASD closure in older patients}}. {Herz};2017 (Jul 19)
BACKGROUND: Adult patients with undiagnosed atrial septal defect (ASD) may have right heart cavity enlargement and functional tricuspid valve insufficiency. Moderate or more severe tricuspid regurgitation has been associated with a worse prognosis, and more serious complications are typically seen in older patients. This study aimed to evaluate the improvement in functional tricuspid regurgitation and heart geometry after transcatheter ASD closure in older patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The data of 111 patients over 60 years of age with moderate or severe tricuspid regurgitation before ASD closure were analyzed. RESULTS: At the 1month and 6month follow-up after closure, both tricuspid regurgitation jet area and right atrial volume decreased significantly. Right ventricular volume decreased 1 month after closure, showing a further decrease at the end of the 6month follow-up. However, 24 patients (21.6%) still had persistent severe tricuspid regurgitation after the procedure. Multivariate analysis revealed that patient age at ASD closure and pulmonary artery systolic pressure determined by echocardiography before closure were predictors of persistent tricuspid regurgitation after closure. CONCLUSION: Transcatheter ASD closure in older patients could significantly decrease tricuspid regurgitation and improve right heart geometry.
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4. Chiodo L, Majerus S, Mottron L. {{Typical versus delayed speech onset influences verbal reporting of autistic interests}}. {Mol Autism};2017;8:35.
BACKGROUND: The distinction between autism and Asperger syndrome has been abandoned in the DSM-5. However, this clinical categorization largely overlaps with the presence or absence of a speech onset delay which is associated with clinical, cognitive, and neural differences. It is unknown whether these different speech development pathways and associated cognitive differences are involved in the heterogeneity of the restricted interests that characterize autistic adults. METHOD: This study tested the hypothesis that speech onset delay, or conversely, early mastery of speech, orients the nature and verbal reporting of adult autistic interests. The occurrence of a priori defined descriptors for perceptual and thematic dimensions were determined, as well as the perceived function and benefits, in the response of autistic people to a semi-structured interview on their intense interests. The number of words, grammatical categories, and proportion of perceptual/thematic descriptors were computed and compared between groups by variance analyses. The participants comprised 40 autistic adults grouped according to the presence (N = 20) or absence (N = 20) of speech onset delay, as well as 20 non-autistic adults, also with intense interests, matched for non-verbal intelligence using Raven’s Progressive Matrices. RESULTS: The overall nature, function, and benefit of intense interests were similar across autistic subgroups, and between autistic and non-autistic groups. However, autistic participants with a history of speech onset delay used more perceptual than thematic descriptors when talking about their interests, whereas the opposite was true for autistic individuals without speech onset delay. This finding remained significant after controlling for linguistic differences observed between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Verbal reporting, but not the nature or positive function, of intense interests differed between adult autistic individuals depending on their speech acquisition history: oral reporting of intense interests was characterized by perceptual dominance for autistic individuals with delayed speech onset and thematic dominance for those without. This may contribute to the heterogeneous presentation observed among autistic adults of normal intelligence.
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5. Dieringer ST, Porretta DL, Sainato D. {{Music and On-task Behaviors in Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Adapt Phys Activ Q};2017 (Jul);34(3):217-234.
The purpose of our study was to determine the effect of music (music with lyrics versus music with lyrics plus instruction) relative to on-task behaviors in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a gross motor setting. Five preschool children (4 boys, 1 girl) diagnosed with ASD served as participants. A multiple baseline across participants in conjunction with an alternating-treatment design was used. For all participants, music with lyrics plus instruction increased on-task behaviors to a greater extent than did music with lyrics. The results of our study provide a better understanding of the role of music with regard to the behaviors of young children with ASD.
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6. Filipe MG, Watson L, Vicente SG, Frota S. {{Atypical preference for infant-directed speech as an early marker of autism spectrum disorders? A literature review and directions for further research}}. {Clin Linguist Phon};2017 (Jul 20):1-19.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) refer to a complex group of neurodevelopmental disorders causing difficulties with communication and interpersonal relationships, as well as restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests. As early identification, diagnosis, and intervention provide better long-term outcomes, early markers of ASD have gained increased research attention. This review examines evidence that auditory processing enhanced by social interest, in particular auditory preference of speech directed towards infants and young children (i.e. infant-directed speech – IDS), may be an early marker of risk for ASD. Although this review provides evidence for IDS preference as, indeed, a potential early marker of ASD, the explanation for differences in IDS processing among children with ASD versus other children remains unclear, as are the implications of these impairments for later social-communicative development. Therefore, it is crucial to explore atypicalities in IDS processing early on development and to understand whether preferential listening to specific types of speech sounds in the first years of life may help to predict the impairments in social and language development.
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7. Haruvi-Lamdan N, Horesh D, Golan O. {{PTSD and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Co-morbidity, Gaps in Research, and Potential Shared Mechanisms}}. {Psychol Trauma};2017 (Jul 20)
BACKGROUND: While autism and trauma were often linked in psychoanalytic theory, very few scientific attempts have been made to explore the associations and comorbidity between the two. Instead, each area has grown separately, yielding large bodies of theoretical and clinical knowledge. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: In this article, we suggest several possible pathways that may link trauma and autism. First, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may serve as a vulnerability marker for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), specifically by increasing the risk for exposure to traumatic events. Second, PTSD, once it has appeared, may exacerbate certain ASD symptoms, for example, through maladaptive coping strategies and reduced help-seeking. Third, there may be shared underlying mechanisms for PTSD and ASD, including neurological abnormalities associated with both disorders, as well as cognitive and behavioral mechanisms, such as increased rumination, cognitive rigidity, avoidance, anger, and aggression. In addition, the unique characteristics of ASD may determine which events are experienced as particularly traumatic (e.g., social insults and degradation, sensory overstimulation, abrupt changes in known routines) and affect both the manifestation and severity of posttraumatic sequelae among diagnosed individuals. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Research conducted separately in the areas of PTSD and ASD strongly suggests several potential pathways connecting both disorders. We conclude that there is a pressing need for more PTSD-ASD research, focusing not only on the prevalence of traumatic stress in individuals with autism, but also on their potentially unique perception of traumatic events, particularly from the social sphere. Such research may carry important clinical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record
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8. Kaplan YC, Keskin-Arslan E, Acar S, Sozmen K. {{Maternal SSRI discontinuation, use, psychiatric disorder and the risk of autism in children: A meta-analysis of cohort studies}}. {Br J Clin Pharmacol};2017 (Jul 21)
We undertook an exclusive meta-analysis of cohort studies investigating the possible link between prenatal SSRI exposure and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children to further investigate our previous suggestion of confounding by indication. The point estimates regarding the following cohorts were extracted and pooled: (1) Pregnant women who discontinued SSRI until 3 months before pregnancy. (2) Pregnant women who were exposed to SSRI during pregnancy. (3) Pregnant women with maternal psychiatric disorder but no exposure to SSRI during pregnancy. Although the pooled point estimate of the first cohort showed a trend for increase, it did not reach significance. The pooled point estimates of the latter cohorts showed a significant association with ASD which strengthens our previous suggestion of confounding by indication. Future studies should be adequately designed to differentiate whether the previously suggested association is a result of maternal psychiatric disorder or SSRI exposure or both.
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9. McDaniel Peters BC, Wood W. {{Autism and Equine-Assisted Interventions: A Systematic Mapping Review}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2017 (Jul 21)
This systematic mapping review mapped current knowledge of equine-assisted interventions for people with autism to help guide future practice and research. Thirty-three studies including children and adolescents with autism, 3 of which confirmed diagnoses, were reviewed. Five types of equine-assisted activities were identified across 25 studies, with reported improvements in behavior, social interaction, and communication. Four types of equine-assisted therapies were identified across 8 studies, with reported improvements in motor control and self-care. Different approaches to therapeutic riding and hippotherapy, the most studied interventions, were evident. While this literature reflected early scientific development, it offered broad proof of concept that equine-assisted interventions can benefit children and adolescents with autism. Promising outcomes support continued investigation focused on standardization, appropriateness, and efficacy.
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10. Park SH, Guastella AJ, Lynskey M, Agrawal A, Constantino JN, Medland SE, Song YJC, Martin NG, Colodro-Conde L. {{Neuroticism and the Overlap Between Autistic and ADHD Traits: Findings From a Population Sample of Young Adult Australian Twins}}. {Twin Res Hum Genet};2017 (Aug);20(4):319-329.
Neuroticism, a ‘Big Five’ personality trait, has been associated with sub-clinical traits of both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The objective of the current study was to examine whether causal overlap between ASD and ADHD traits can be accounted for by genetic and environmental risk factors that are shared with neuroticism. We performed twin-based structural equation modeling using self-report data from 12 items of the Neo Five-Factor Inventory Neuroticism domain, 11 Social Responsiveness Scale items, and 12 Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale items obtained from 3,170 young adult Australian individual twins (1,081 complete pairs). Univariate analysis for neuroticism, ASD, and ADHD traits suggested that the most parsimonious models were those with additive genetic and unique environmental components, without sex limitation effects. Heritability of neuroticism, ASD, and ADHD traits, as measured by these methods, was moderate (between 40% and 45% for each respective trait). In a trivariate model, we observed moderate phenotypic (between 0.45 and 0.62), genetic (between 0.56 and 0.71), and unique environmental correlations (between 0.37and 0.55) among neuroticism, ASD, and ADHD traits, with the highest value for the shared genetic influence between neuroticism and self-reported ASD traits (r g = 0.71). Together, our results suggest that in young adults, genetic, and unique environmental risk factors indexed by neuroticism overlap with those that are shared by ASD and ADHD.
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11. Qasem H, Al-Ayadhi L, Al Dera H, El-Ansary A. {{Increase of cytosolic phospholipase A2 as hydrolytic enzyme of phospholipids and autism cognitive, social and sensory dysfunction severity}}. {Lipids Health Dis};2017 (Jun 15);16(1):117.
BACKGROUND: Autism is neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by developmental, behavioral, social and sensory abnormalities. Researchers have focused in last years in immunological alteration and inflammation as a hot subject in autism field. This work aims to study the alteration in phospholipids (PE, PS, and PC) together with the change in cPLA2 concentration as the main phospholipid hydrolytic enzyme in autistic patients compared to control. It was also extended to find a correlation between these biomarkers and severity of autism measured as childhood autism rating scale (CARS), Social responsiveness scale (SRS), and Short sensory profile (SSP). METHODS: Phospholipids (PE, PS, PC) and cPLA2 as biochemical parameters were determined in the plasma of 48 Saudi autistic male patients, categorized as mild-moderate and severe as indicated by their Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), social responsiveness scale (SRS) and short sensory profile (SSP) and compared to 40 age- and gender-matched control samples. RESULTS: The reported data demonstrate significantly lower levels of PE, PS, and PC together with a significant increase in cPLA2. While association between severity of autism and impaired phospholipid concentration was completely lacked, an association between cPLA2 and impaired sensory processing was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The impaired phospholipid level and remarkable increased in cPLA2 concentration asserted their roles in the etiology of autism. Receiver operating characteristic analysis together with predictiveness diagrams proved that the measured parameters could be used as predictive biomarkers of clinical symptoms and provide significant guidance for future therapeutic strategy to re-establish physiological homeostasis.
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12. Rai D, Lee BK, Dalman C, Newschaffer C, Lewis G, Magnusson C. {{Antidepressants during pregnancy and autism in offspring: population based cohort study}}. {Bmj};2017 (Jul 19);358:j2811.
Objectives To study the association between maternal use of antidepressants during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring.Design Observational prospective cohort study with regression methods, propensity score matching, sibling controls, and negative control comparison.Setting Stockholm County, Sweden.Participants 254 610 individuals aged 4-17, including 5378 with autism, living in Stockholm County in 2001-11 who were born to mothers who did not take antidepressants and did not have any psychiatric disorder, mothers who took antidepressants during pregnancy, or mothers with psychiatric disorders who did not take antidepressants during pregnancy. Maternal antidepressant use was recorded during first antenatal interview or determined from prescription records.Main outcome measure Offspring diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, with and without intellectual disability.Results Of the 3342 children exposed to antidepressants during pregnancy, 4.1% (n=136) had a diagnosis of autism compared with a 2.9% prevalence (n=353) in 12 325 children not exposed to antidepressants whose mothers had a history of a psychiatric disorder (adjusted odds ratio 1.45, 95% confidence interval 1.13 to 1.85). Propensity score analysis led to similar results. The results of a sibling control analysis were in the same direction, although with wider confidence intervals. In a negative control comparison, there was no evidence of any increased risk of autism in children whose fathers were prescribed antidepressants during the mothers’ pregnancy (1.13, 0.68 to 1.88). In all analyses, the risk increase concerned only autism without intellectual disability.Conclusions The association between antidepressant use during pregnancy and autism, particularly autism without intellectual disability, might not solely be a byproduct of confounding. Study of the potential underlying biological mechanisms could help the understanding of modifiable mechanisms in the aetiology of autism. Importantly, the absolute risk of autism was small, and, hypothetically, if no pregnant women took antidepressants, the number of cases that could potentially be prevented would be small.
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13. Ross LA, Del Bene VA, Molholm S, Jae Woo Y, Andrade GN, Abrahams BS, Foxe JJ. {{Common variation in the autism risk gene CNTNAP2, brain structural connectivity and multisensory speech integration}}. {Brain Lang};2017 (Jul 21);174:50-60.
Three lines of evidence motivated this study. 1) CNTNAP2 variation is associated with autism risk and speech-language development. 2) CNTNAP2 variations are associated with differences in white matter (WM) tracts comprising the speech-language circuitry. 3) Children with autism show impairment in multisensory speech perception. Here, we asked whether an autism risk-associated CNTNAP2 single nucleotide polymorphism in neurotypical adults was associated with multisensory speech perception performance, and whether such a genotype-phenotype association was mediated through white matter tract integrity in speech-language circuitry. Risk genotype at rs7794745 was associated with decreased benefit from visual speech and lower fractional anisotropy (FA) in several WM tracts (right precentral gyrus, left anterior corona radiata, right retrolenticular internal capsule). These structural connectivity differences were found to mediate the effect of genotype on audiovisual speech perception, shedding light on possible pathogenic pathways in autism and biological sources of inter-individual variation in audiovisual speech processing in neurotypicals.
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14. Schendel DE. {{Prenatal antidepressant use and risk of autism}}. {Bmj};2017 (Jul 19);358:j3388.
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15. Sices L, Pawlowski K, Farfel L, Phillips D, Howe Y, Cochran DM, Choueiri R, Forbes PW, Brewster SJ, Frazier JA, Neumeyer A, Bridgemohan C. {{Feasibility of Conducting Autism Biomarker Research in the Clinical Setting}}. {J Dev Behav Pediatr};2017 (Jul 14)
OBJECTIVE: Recruitment and completion of research activities during regular clinical care has the potential to increase research participation in complex neurodevelopmental disorders. We evaluated the feasibility, and effect on clinical care, of conducting biomarker research within a subspecialty clinical visit for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: Children, aged 5 to 10 years, were recruited by providers in ASD clinics at 5 institutions. Biomarkers collected were growth measurements, head circumference, neurologic and dysmorphology examinations, digit ratio (2D:4D) measurement, and platelet serotonin and urinary melatonin sulfate excretion levels. Parents completed the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community and a medical/demographic questionnaire. Cognitive level was abstracted from the medical record. Parents and clinicians completed surveys on the effect of the study on the clinical visit. RESULTS: Eighty-three children and their caregivers participated. Factors limiting participation included difficulty reaching families by phone and parent concern about the study blood draw requirement. All children completed at least 4 of 7 planned research activities. Demographic factors, educational placement, and child behavior were not associated with completion of study activities. Lower nonverbal cognitive function was weakly associated with fewer activities completed. Forty-four percent of clinicians reported an effect of the research study on the clinical visit. However, neither parent-reported nor clinician-reported effect was associated with the degree of study activity completion. CONCLUSION: Recruiting study participants in the context of scheduled ASD clinical visits required significant effort. However, once recruited, participants completed most study activities, regardless of behavioral symptom severity. Research activities did not adversely affect the clinical visit.
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16. Sturner R, Howard B, Bergmann P, Stewart L, Afarian TE. {{Comparison of Autism Screening in Younger and Older Toddlers}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2017 (Jul 21)
This study examined the effect of age at completion of an autism screening test on item failure rates contrasting older (>20 months) with younger (<20 months) toddlers in a community primary care sample of 73,564 children. Items related to social development were categorized into one of three age sets per criteria from Inada et al. (Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 4(4):605-611, 2010). Younger toddlers produced higher rates of item failure than older toddlers and items in both of the later acquired item sets had higher probability rates for failure than the earliest acquired item set (prior to 8 months). Use of the same items and the same scoring throughout the target age range for autism screening may not be the best strategy for identifying the youngest toddlers at risk for autism. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
17. Subramanian K, Brandenburg C, Orsati F, Soghomonian JJ, Hussman JP, Blatt GJ. {{Basal ganglia and autism – a translational perspective}}. {Autism Res};2017 (Jul 21)
The basal ganglia are a collection of nuclei below the cortical surface that are involved in both motor and non-motor functions, including higher order cognition, social interactions, speech, and repetitive behaviors. Motor development milestones that are delayed in autism such as gross motor, fine motor and walking can aid in early diagnosis of autism. Neuropathology and neuroimaging findings in autism cases revealed volumetric changes and altered cell density in select basal ganglia nuclei. Interestingly, in autism, both the basal ganglia and the cerebellum are impacted both in their motor and non-motor domains and recently, found to be connected via the pons through a short disynaptic pathway. In typically developing individuals, the basal ganglia plays an important role in: eye movement, movement coordination, sensory modulation and processing, eye-hand coordination, action chaining, and inhibition control. Genetic models have proved to be useful toward understanding cellular and molecular changes at the synaptic level in the basal ganglia that may in part contribute to these autism-related behaviors. In autism, basal ganglia functions in motor skill acquisition and development are altered, thus disrupting the normal flow of feedback to the cortex. Taken together, there is an abundance of emerging evidence that the basal ganglia likely plays critical roles in maintaining an inhibitory balance between cortical and subcortical structures, critical for normal motor actions and cognitive functions. In autism, this inhibitory balance is disturbed thus impacting key pathways that affect normal cortical network activity. Autism Res 2017. (c) 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Habit learning, action selection and performance are modulated by the basal ganglia, a collection of groups of neurons located below the cerebral cortex in the brain. In autism, there is emerging evidence that parts of the basal ganglia are structurally and functionally altered disrupting normal information flow. The basal ganglia through its interconnected circuits with the cerebral cortex and the cerebellum can potentially impact various motor and cognitive functions in the autism brain.
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18. Uljarevic M, Richdale AL, Evans DW, Cai RY, Leekam SR. {{Interrelationship between insistence on sameness, effortful control and anxiety in adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)}}. {Mol Autism};2017;8:36.
BACKGROUND: Both self-regulation and insistence on sameness (IS) are related to anxiety, which is a common feature of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we aimed to characterise the IS-self-regulation-anxiety interrelationship by investigating the potential contribution made by self-regulation, assessed via effortful control (EC), to the IS-anxiety relationship in a sample of adolescents and young adults with ASD. METHOD: Seventy-one older adolescents and younger adults with ASD (49 males, 22 females; Mage = 18.71 years, SD = 2.51, range 14.42-24.81) completed the Adult Repetitive Behaviour Questionnaire-2, Effortful Control Scale of the Adult Temperament Questionnaire and the DSM-5 Dimensional Anxiety Scales. RESULTS: IS was associated with both EC (r = -.39, p = .001) and anxiety (r = .45, p < .001), and anxiety was in turn associated with EC (r = -.44, p < .001). To characterise the nature of this interrelationship, two mediation analyses were performed using the serial mediation model in PROCESS with 5000 resamples in bootstrapping. There was a significant indirect effect of EC on anxiety, through IS (b = -.06; BCa 95% CI [-.13, -.02]), and indirect effect on anxiety through EC (b = 1.62; BCa 95% CI [.59, 3.24]) with the mediators accounting for 29.07 and 26.04% of the total effect, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides the first exploration of the IS-anxiety-self-regulation link in ASD. The finding that lower levels of self-regulation are related both to anxiety and IS behaviours points to self-regulation as a viable intervention target for both anxiety and IS behaviours. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
19. Wu HF, Chen PS, Hsu YT, Lee CW, Wang TF, Chen YJ, Lin HC. {{D-Cycloserine Ameliorates Autism-Like Deficits by Removing GluA2-Containing AMPA Receptors in a Valproic Acid-Induced Rat Model}}. {Mol Neurobiol};2017 (Jul 21)
Valproic acid (VPA)-exposed rat offspring have demonstrated autism spectrum disorder (ASD) phenotypes and impaired N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-dependent long-term depression (LTD) in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala. NMDAR partial agonist D-cycloserine (DCS) has been reported to act as a cognitive enhancer by increasing the NMDAR response to improve autistic-like phenotypes in animals. However, the mechanism of DCS in alleviating the ASD is still unknown. Using combined behavioral, electrophysiological, and molecular approaches, we found that DCS administration rescued social interaction deficits and anxiety/repetitive-like behaviors observed in VPA-exposed offspring. In the amygdala synapses, DCS treatment reversed the decreased paired pulse ratio (PPR) and the impaired NMDAR-dependent LTD, increased the frequency and amplitude of miniature excitatory post-synaptic currents (mEPSCs), and resulted in a higher dendritic spine density at the amygdala synapses in the VPA-exposed offspring. Moreover, we found that DCS facilitated the removal of GluA2-containing alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (GluA2/AMPARs) by inducing NMDAR-dependent LTD in the VPA-exposed offspring. We further established that the effects of DCS treatment, including increased GluA2/AMPAR removal and rescues of impaired social behavior, were blocked by Tat-GluA23Y, a GluA2-derived peptide that disrupted regulation of AMPAR endocytosis. These results provided the first evidence that rescue of the ASD-like phenotype by DCS is mediated by the mechanism of GluA2/AMPAR removal in VPA-exposed rat offspring.
