1. Clumeck C, Suarez Garcia S, Bourguignon M, Wens V, Op de Beeck M, Marty B, Deconinck N, Soncarrieu MV, Goldman S, Jousmaki V, Van Bogaert P, De Tiege X. {{Preserved Coupling between the Reader’s Voice and the Listener’s Cortical Activity in Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {PLoS One}. 2014; 9(3): e92329.
PURPOSE: Investigating the steadiness of the phase-coupling between the time-course of the reader’s voice and brain signals of subjects with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) passively listening to connected speech using magnetoencephalography (MEG). In typically developed subjects, such coupling occurs at the right posterior temporal sulcus (pSTS) for frequencies below 1 Hz, and reflects the neural processing of sentence-level rhythmic prosody at the prelexical level. METHODS: Cortical neuromagnetic signals were recorded with MEG (Elekta Oy, Finland) while seven right-handed and native French-speaking ASD subjects (six males, one female, range: 13-20 years) listened to live (Live) or recorded (Recorded) voices continuously reading a text in French for five minutes. Coherence was computed between the reader’s voice time-course and ASD subjects’ MEG signals. Coherent neural sources were subsequently reconstructed using a beamformer. KEY FINDINGS: Significant coupling was found at 0.5 Hz in all ASD subjects in Live and in six subjects in Recorded. Coherent sources were located close to the right pSTS in both conditions. No significant difference was found in coherence levels between Live and Recorded, and between ASD subjects and ten typically developed subjects (right-handed, native French-speaking adults, 5 males, 5 females, age range: 21-38 years) included in a previous study. SIGNIFICANCE: This study discloses a preserved coupling between the reader’s voice and ASD subjects’ cortical activity at the right pSTS. These findings support the existence of preserved neural processing of sentence-level rhythmic prosody in ASD. The preservation of early cortical processing of prosodic elements in verbal language might be exploited in therapeutic interventions in ASD.
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2. Talisa VB, Boyle L, Crafa D, Kaufmann WE. {{Autism and anxiety in males with fragile X syndrome: An exploratory analysis of neurobehavioral profiles from a parent survey}}. {Am J Med Genet A}. 2014.
Although it is suspected that anxiety modifies the clinical presentation of autism in fragile X syndrome (FXS), neuropsychiatric co-morbidity profiles of these two disorders have not been extensively studied. The National Fragile X Survey was completed for 1,027 males with FXS, for whom yes/no information regarding the presence of several disorders is provided. Although the survey exhibited limited depth and lacked validation by standardized measures, this exploratory study was conducted to take advantage of the data as an opportunity for identifying future lines of inquiry. We addressed the following questions: (i) how do the co-morbidity profiles of FXS males with both autism and anxiety compare to those without anxiety?; (ii) do individuals with autism exhibit specific co-morbidity profiles compared to FXS males with anxiety only, or without either autism or anxiety?; (iii) how do co-morbidity profiles in children ages 3-11 differ from profiles of individuals >12 years? The group with autism and anxiety reported the highest prevalence of attention problems, hyperactivity/impulsivity, self-injurious behavior and aggressiveness. In addition, the lowest prevalence rates of these conditions were often observed in non-anxious groups regardless of autism status. Overall, this exploratory analysis generated several hypotheses for further study: (i) anxiety increases the severity of autism in FXS, particularly through additional behavioral abnormalities; (ii) some neuropsychiatric and behavioral conditions (i.e., attention problems, hyperactivity/impulsivity, aggressiveness) are primarily related to comorbid anxiety, not autism; (iii) prevalence of behavioral abnormalities increases with age. Future studies evaluating these hypotheses should incorporate validated neurobehavioral assessments, and control for cognitive level. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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3. Warner G, Moss J, Smith P, Howlin P. {{Autism Characteristics and Behavioural Disturbances in approximately 500 Children with Down’s Syndrome in England and Wales}}. {Autism Res}. 2014.
Recent research shows that a significant minority of children with Down’s syndrome (DS) also meet diagnostic criteria for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study investigated what proportion of children aged 6-15 years with a confirmed diagnosis of DS in England and Wales display autistic-type behaviours, and explored the characteristics of this group of children. The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) was used to screen for autism characteristics and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to explore behavioural difficulties. The proportion of children who met the cut-off score for ASD on the SCQ (total score >/= 15) was 37.7% (95% CI: 33.4-42.0%); for autism (total score >/= 22) the proportion was 16.5% (95% CI: 13.2-19.8%). Children who met the cut-off for ASD were significantly more likely to be reported as having emotional symptoms, conduct problems and hyperactivity on the SDQ than children who scored well below cut-off (total score < 10). However, the profile of their autism characteristics on the SCQ was atypical compared with individuals with idiopathic ASD. The pervasiveness of ASD in children with DS in England and Wales is substantially higher than in the general population. These children also experience significantly greater behavioural problems than children with DS only. Early detection of autism characteristics is important for appropriate intervention. However, the unusual profile of autism characteristics in this group may affect the recognition of the disorder and hinder the implementation of appropriate interventions. Autism Res 2014, : -. (c) 2014 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
