1. Anderson S, Meints K. {{Brief Report: The Effects of Equine-Assisted Activities on the Social Functioning in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2016 (Jul 25)
Equine-assisted activities and therapies are increasing in popularity for treatment of ASD symptoms. This research evaluated effects of a 5-week programme of therapeutic riding on social functioning of children/adolescents (N = 15) with ASD. The effectiveness of the programme was evaluated using the autism spectrum quotient, the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale and the empathising and systemising quotient. Results established that the TR intervention increased empathising and reduced maladaptive behaviours. The findings also indicated that specific adaptive behaviours like socialization and communication were not affected by the intervention. Thus, a complex picture of the effects of this intervention emerges: while TR does not change all of the child’s behaviour, it can improve specific aspects of social functioning and also reduce maladaptive ASD traits.
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2. Bargiela S, Steward R, Mandy W. {{The Experiences of Late-diagnosed Women with Autism Spectrum Conditions: An Investigation of the Female Autism Phenotype}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2016 (Jul 25)
We used Framework Analysis to investigate the female autism phenotype and its impact upon the under-recognition of autism spectrum conditions (ASC) in girls and women. Fourteen women with ASC (aged 22-30 years) diagnosed in late adolescence or adulthood gave in-depth accounts of: ‘pretending to be normal’; of how their gender led various professionals to miss their ASC; and of conflicts between ASC and a traditional feminine identity. Experiences of sexual abuse were widespread in this sample, partially reflecting specific vulnerabilities from being a female with undiagnosed ASC. Training would improve teachers’ and clinicians’ recognition of ASC in females, so that timely identification can mitigate risks and promote wellbeing of girls and women on the autism spectrum.
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3. Coury DL. {{What Are the Facts About Autism Spectrum Disorders, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, and Assisted Reproductive Technology?}}. {JAMA Pediatr};2016 (Jul 25):e161444.
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4. Kirchner J, Ruch W, Dziobek I. {{Brief Report: Character Strengths in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder Without Intellectual Impairment}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2016 (Jul 25)
In the current study, we assessed character strengths in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 32) and neurotypical controls (n = 32) using the Values in Action Inventory (VIA-IS, Peterson and Seligman 2004) and explored associations with levels of satisfaction with life (SWL). The most frequently endorsed signature strengths (i.e., five top-ranked strengths within an individual’s strength ranking) were emotional (humour, love) and interpersonal strengths (kindness, fairness) in the control group, the most frequently endorsed signature strengths in the ASD group were intellectual strengths (open-mindedness, creativity, love of learning). Interpersonal and emotional strengths had, however, the highest positive associations with SWL in the ASD group.
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5. Kleberg JL, Thorup E, Falck-Ytter T. {{Visual orienting in children with autism: Hyper-responsiveness to human eyes presented after a brief alerting audio-signal, but hyporesponsiveness to eyes presented without sound}}. {Autism Res};2016 (Jul 25)
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been associated with reduced orienting to social stimuli such as eyes, but the results are inconsistent. It is not known whether atypicalities in phasic alerting could play a role in putative altered social orienting in ASD. Here, we show that in unisensory (visual) trials, children with ASD are slower to orient to eyes (among distractors) than controls matched for age, sex, and nonverbal IQ. However, in another condition where a brief spatially nonpredictive sound was presented just before the visual targets, this group effect was reversed. Our results indicate that orienting to social versus nonsocial stimuli is differently modulated by phasic alerting mechanisms in young children with ASD. Autism Res 2016. (c) 2016 The Authors Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Autism Research.
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6. Oberg AS, D’Onofrio BM, Rickert ME, Hernandez-Diaz S, Ecker JL, Almqvist C, Larsson H, Lichtenstein P, Bateman BT. {{Association of Labor Induction With Offspring Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {JAMA Pediatr};2016 (Jul 25):e160965.
Importance: Induction of labor is a frequently performed obstetrical intervention. It would thus be of great concern if reported associations between labor induction and offspring risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) reflected causal influence. Objective: To assess the associations of labor induction with ASD, comparing differentially exposed relatives (siblings and cousins discordant for induction). Design, Setting, and Participants: Follow-up of all live births in Sweden between 1992 and 2005, defined in the Medical Birth Register. The register was linked to population registers of familial relations, inpatient and outpatient visits, and education records. Diagnoses of ASD were from 2001 through 2013, and data were analyzed in the 2015-2016 year. Exposures: Induction of labor. Main Outcomes and Measures: Autism spectrum disorders identified by diagnoses from inpatient and outpatient records between 2001 and 2013. Hazard ratios (HRs) quantified the association between labor induction and offspring ASD. In addition to considering a wide range of measured confounders, comparison of exposure-discordant births to the same woman allowed additional control for all unmeasured factors shared by siblings. Results: The full cohort included 1362950 births, of which 22077 offspring (1.6%) were diagnosed with ASD by ages 8 years through 21 years. In conventional models of the full cohort, associations between labor induction and offspring ASD were attenuated but remained statistically significant after adjustment for measured potential confounders (HR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.13-1.24). When comparison was made within siblings whose births were discordant with respect to induction, thus accounting for all environmental and genetic factors shared by siblings, labor induction was no longer associated with offspring ASD (HR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.88-1.10). Conclusions and Relevance: In this nationwide sample of live births we observed no association between induction of labor and offspring ASD within sibling comparison. Our findings suggest that concern for ASD should not factor into the clinical decision about whether to induce labor.
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7. Wei H, Ma Y, Liu J, Ding C, Jin G, Wang Y, Hu F, Yu L. {{Inhibition of IL-6 trans-signaling in the brain increases sociability in the BTBR mouse model of autism}}. {Biochim Biophys Acta};2016 (Jul 25)
Autism is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder with a large population prevalence, characterized by abnormal reciprocal social interactions, communication deficits, and repetitive behaviors with restricted interests. The BTBR T+Itpr3tf (BTBR) mice have emerged as strong candidates to serve as models of a range of autism-relevant behaviors. Increasing evidences suggest that interleukin (IL)-6, one of the most important neuroimmune factors, was involved in the pathophysiology of autism. It is of great importance to further investigate whether therapeutic interventions in autism can be achieved through the manipulation of IL-6. Our previous studies showed that IL-6 elevation in the brain could mediate autistic-like behaviors, possibly through the imbalances of neural circuitry and impairments of synaptic plasticity. In this study, we evaluate whether inhibiting IL-6 signaling in the brain is sufficient to modulate the autism-like behaviors on the BTBR mice. The results showed that chronic infusion of an analog of the endogenous IL-6 trans-signaling blocker sgp130Fc protein increased the sociability in BTBR mice. Furthermore, no change was observed in the number of excitatory synapse, level of synaptic proteins, density of dentitic spine and postsynaptic density in BTBR cortices after inhibiting IL-6 trans-signaling. However, inhibition of IL-6 trans-signaling increased the evoked glutamate release in synaptoneurosomes from the cerebral cortex of BTBR mice. Our findings suggest that inhibition of excessive production of IL-6 may have selective therapeutic efficacy in treating abnormal social behaviors in autism.
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8. Wise J. {{Induced labour is not associated with risk of autism, say researchers}}. {BMJ};2016;354:i4135.
