1. Mengoni SE, Irvine K, Thakur D, Barton G, Dautenhahn K, Guldberg K, Robins B, Wellsted D, Sharma S. {{Feasibility study of a randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of using a humanoid robot to improve the social skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (Kaspar RCT): a study protocol}}. {BMJ Open}. 2017; 7(6): e017376.
INTRODUCTION: Interventions using robot-assisted therapy may be beneficial for the social skills development of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are lacking. The present research aims to assess the feasibility of conducting an RCT evaluating the effectiveness of a social skills intervention using Kinesics and Synchronisation in Personal Assistant Robotics (Kaspar) with children with ASD. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Forty children will be recruited. Inclusion criteria are the following: aged 5-10 years, confirmed ASD diagnosis, IQ over 70, English-language comprehension, a carer who can complete questionnaires in English and no current participation in a private social communication intervention. Children will be randomised to receive an intervention with a therapist and Kaspar, or with the therapist only. They will receive two familiarisation sessions and six treatment sessions for 8 weeks. They will be assessed at baseline, and at 10 and 22 weeks after baseline. The primary outcome of this study is to evaluate whether the predetermined feasibility criteria for a full-scale trial are met. The potential primary outcome measures for a full-scale trial are the Social Communication Questionnaire and the Social Skills Improvement System. We will conduct a preliminary economic analysis. After the study has ended, a sample of 20 participants and their families will be invited to participate in semistructured interviews to explore the feasibility and acceptability of the study’s methods and intervention. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Parents/carers will provide informed consent, and children will give assent, where appropriate. Care will be taken to avoid pressure or coercion to participate. Aftercare is available from the recruiting NHS Trust, and a phased withdrawal protocol will be followed if children become excessively attached to the robot. The results of the study will be disseminated to academic audiences and non-academic stakeholders, for example, families of children with ASD, support groups, clinicians and charities. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN14156001); Pre-results.
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2. South M, Taylor KM, Newton T, Christensen M, Jamison NK, Chamberlain P, Johnston O, Crowley MJ, Higley JD. {{Psychophysiological and Behavioral Responses to a Novel Intruder Threat Task for Children on the Autism Spectrum}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2017.
We measured skin conductance response (SCR) to escalating levels of a direct social threat from a novel, ecologically-relevant experimental paradigm, the Intruder Threat Task. We simultaneously evaluated the contribution of social symptom severity and behavioral movement. Children with AS group showed less psychophysiological reactivity to social threat than controls across all three phases of the experiment. In the AS group, greater social impairment was significantly associated with reduced SCR. However, movement activity predicted SCR while diagnosis did not. Research and treatment need to account for the complex interplay of emotional reactivity and social behavior in AS. Psychophysiology studies of AS should consider the impact of possible confounds such as movement.
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3. Yu Q, He Z. {{Comprehensive investigation of temporal and autism-associated cell type composition-dependent and independent gene expression changes in human brains}}. {Sci Rep}. 2017; 7(1): 4121.
The functions of human brains highly depend on the precise temporal regulation of gene expression, and the temporal brain transcriptome profile across lifespan has been observed. The substantial transcriptome alteration in neural disorders like autism has also been observed and is thought to be important for the pathology. While the cell type composition is known to be variable in brains, it remains unclear how it contributes to the temporal and pathological transcriptome changes in brains. Here, we applied a transcriptome deconvolution procedure to an age series RNA-seq dataset of healthy and autism samples, to quantify the contribution of cell type composition in shaping the temporal and autism pathological transcriptome in human brains. We estimated that composition change was the primary factor of both types of transcriptome changes. On the other hand, genes with substantial composition-independent expression changes were also observed in both cases. Those temporal and autism pathological composition-independent changes, many of which are related to synaptic functions, indicate the important intracellular regulatory changes in human brains in both processes.
