1. Chiang HM, Tsai LY, Cheung YK, Brown A, Li H. {{A Meta-Analysis of Differences in IQ Profiles Between Individuals with Asperger’s Disorder and High-Functioning Autism}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2013 Dec 22.
A meta-analysis was performed to examine differences in IQ profiles between individuals with Asperger’s disorder (AspD) and high-functioning autism (HFA). Fifty-two studies were included for this study. The results showed that (a) individuals with AspD had significantly higher full-scale IQ, verbal IQ (VIQ), and performance IQ (PIQ) than did individuals with HFA; (b) individuals with AspD had significantly higher VIQ than PIQ; and (c) VIQ was similar to PIQ in individuals with HFA. These findings seem to suggest that AspD and HFA are two different subtypes of Autism. The implications of the present findings to DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder are discussed.
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2. Jimenez L, Lorda MJ, Mendez C. {{Emulation and Mimicry in School Students with Typical Development and with High Functioning Autism}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2013 Dec 22.
Two samples of participants with typical development (TD) and high functioning autism performed an imitation task where the goal was of high or low salience, and where the modeled action complied with or was contrary to the end-state comfort (ESC) effect. Imitation was affected by the ESC effect in both groups, and participants with autism reproduced high salient goals as frequently as did participants with TD, but they reproduced less of the low salient goals. Participants with autism showed a reduced tendency to reproduce those actions which were relatively inefficient to reach the goals. The results are discussed in terms of either a relative imbalance between emulation and mimicry in autism, or a reduced tendency to overimitate.
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3. Schwartz C, Dratsch T, Vogeley K, Bente G. {{Brief Report: Impression Formation in High-Functioning Autism: Role of Nonverbal Behavior and Stereotype Activating Information}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2013 Dec 22.
Little is known about whether stereotypes influence social judgments of autistic individuals, in particular when they compete with tacit face-to-face cues. We compared impression formation of 17 subjects with high-functioning autism (HFA) and 17 age-, gender- and IQ-matched controls. Information about the profession of a job applicant served as stereotype activating information. The target person’s nonverbal behavior was presented as a computer animation showing two virtual characters in interaction. Contrary to our hypothesis, HFA participants were as sensitive to nonverbal cues as controls. Moreover, HFA showed a tendency to evaluate persons more positively. This might indicate a routine HFA apply in impression formation in order to compensate for their deficit in intuitive understanding of nonverbal communication cues.
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4. Zhang Y, Yuan X, Wang Z, Li R. {{The Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway in Autism}}. {CNS & neurological disorders drug targets}. 2013 Dec 22.
With continuous accumulation of research on the molecular pathogenesis of autism, more attention is being focused on the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway has been implicated in a variety of functions in the cell, including proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and neuronal migration during embryonic development. Given its wide range of roles, dysregulation of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway could have any number of deleterious effects on neural development and thereby contribute to the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism. Here, we review human and animal studies that implicate the canonical Wnt signal transduction pathway in the pathogenesis of autism. We also describe the crosstalk between the canonical Wnt pathway with the Notch signaling pathway in several types of autism spectrum disorders, including Asperger syndrome and Fragile X. Further research on the crosstalk between the canonical Wnt signaling pathway and other signaling cascades in autism may be an efficient avenue to understand the etiology of autism and ultimately lead to alternative medications for autism-like phenotypes.
