1. Fabio RA, Castelli I, Marchetti A, Antonietti A. {{Training communication abilities in Rett Syndrome through reading and writing}}. {Frontiers in psychology}. 2013;4:911.
The goal of this clinical case study is to investigate the possibility of training communication abilities in people with Rett Syndrome (RS). Usually, girls with RS never exceed the sensorimotor stage of development, but the inter-individual variability typical of RS may lead us to doubt the irrevocability of that developmental limit, especially for those girls who are engaged in cognitive rehabilitation. The case study reported here concerns a 21-year-old girl with RS who was engaged in cognitive rehabilitation training based upon the principles of Feuerstein’s modificability and mediated learning theory. The training aimed to teach her basic concepts and enhance reading-writing abilities. Statistical analyses showed that the girl reached adequate reading-writing abilities, proving the validity of the cognitive intervention which allowed her to communicate by composing words with her forefinger on an alphabetic table. Although these results need to be cautiously considered as they derive from a single case study, they have implications for future cognitive rehabilitation for deeply impaired clinical conditions as in the case of RS.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
2. Landry O, Parker A. {{A meta-analysis of visual orienting in autism}}. {Frontiers in human neuroscience}. 2013;7:833.
Background: Visual orienting is inconsistently reported to be impaired in autism. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis on visual orienting in autism. We focused on studies that used a Posner-type task. A total of 18 research papers published between 1993 and 2011 were included in our meta-analysis. We examined the effects of differences in experimental design as well as differences in participant samples. We examined both orienting reaction times of participants with autism, and the effect size relative to comparison group in each experiment. Results: We found that participants with autism oriented across conditions (mean orienting effect = 40.73 ms), which was of an overall smaller magnitude than that of comparison groups (Cohen’s d = 0.44). Participants with autism were most impaired on arrow cue tasks, and least impaired on eye-gaze cue tasks, more impaired with rapid trials, and the impairment increased with age. Conclusions: Variations in experimental design and participant age group contribute to whether participants with autism appear impaired at visual orienting. Critical gaps exist in the literature; developmental studies are needed across and comparing broader age ranges, and more attention should be focused on basic endogenous orienting processes.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
3. Larkin F, Guerin S, Hobson JA, Gutstein SE. {{The Relationship Development Assessment – Research Version: Preliminary validation of a clinical tool and coding schemes to measure parent-child interaction in autism}}. {Clinical child psychology and psychiatry}. 2013 Dec 23.
The aim of this project was to replicate and extend findings from two recent studies on parent-child relatedness in autism (Beurkens, Hobson, & Hobson, 2013; Author reference withheld for blind review) by adapting an observational assessment and coding schemes of parent-child relatedness for the clinical context and examining their validity and reliability. The coding schemes focussed on three aspects of relatedness: joint attentional focus (Adamson, Bakeman, & Deckner, 2004), the capacity to co-regulate an interaction and the capacity to share emotional experiences. The participants were 40 children (20 with autism, 20 without autism) aged 6-14, and their parents. Parent-child dyads took part in the observational assessment and were coded on these schemes. Comparisons were made with standardised measures of autism severity (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, ADOS: Lord, Rutter, DiLavore, & Risi, 2001; Social Responsiveness Scale, SRS: Constantino & Gruber, 2005), relationship quality (Parent Child Relationship Inventory, PCRI: Gerard, 1994) and quality of parent-child interaction (Dyadic Coding Scales, DCS: Humber & Moss, 2005). Inter-rater reliability was very good and, as predicted, codes both diverged from the measure of parent-child relationship and converged with a separate measure of parent-child interaction quality. A detailed profile review revealed nuanced areas of group and individual differences which may be specific to verbally-able school-age children. The results support the utility of the Relationship Development Assessment – Research Version for clinical practice.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
4. Lind SE, Williams DM, Raber J, Peel A, Bowler DM. {{Spatial navigation impairments among intellectually high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder: Exploring relations with theory of mind, episodic memory, and episodic future thinking}}. {Journal of abnormal psychology}. 2013 Nov;122(4):1189-99.
Research suggests that spatial navigation relies on the same neural network as episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and theory of mind (ToM). Such findings have stimulated theories (e.g., the scene construction and self-projection hypotheses) concerning possible common underlying cognitive capacities. Consistent with such theories, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by concurrent impairments in episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and ToM. However, it is currently unclear whether spatial navigation is also impaired. Hence, ASD provides a test case for the scene construction and self-projection theories. The study of spatial navigation in ASD also provides a test of the extreme male brain theory of ASD, which predicts intact or superior navigation (purportedly a systemizing skill) performance among individuals with ASD. Thus, the aim of the current study was to establish whether spatial navigation in ASD is impaired, intact, or superior. Twenty-seven intellectually high-functioning adults with ASD and 28 sex-, age-, and IQ-matched neurotypical comparison adults completed the memory island virtual navigation task. Tests of episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and ToM were also completed. Participants with ASD showed significantly diminished performance on the memory island task, and performance was positively related to ToM and episodic memory, but not episodic future thinking. These results suggest that (contra the extreme male brain theory) individuals with ASD have impaired survey-based navigation skills-that is, difficulties generating cognitive maps of the environment-and adds weight to the idea that scene construction/self-projection are impaired in ASD. The theoretical and clinical implications of these results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
5. Malkki H. {{Neurodevelopmental disorders: Human gut microbiota alleviate behavioural symptoms in a mouse model of autism spectrum disorder}}. {Nature reviews Neurology}. 2013 Dec 24.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
6. Neufeld J, Roy M, Zapf A, Sinke C, Emrich HM, Prox-Vagedes V, Dillo W, Zedler M. {{Is synesthesia more common in patients with Asperger syndrome?}}. {Frontiers in human neuroscience}. 2013;7:847.
There is increasing evidence from case reports that synesthesia is more common in individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). Further, genes related to synesthesia have also been found to be linked to ASC and, similar to synaesthetes, individuals with ASC show altered brain connectivity and unusual brain activation during sensory processing. However, up to now a systematic investigation of whether synesthesia is more common in ASC patients is missing. The aim of the current pilot study was to test this hypothesis by investigating a group of patients diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS) using questionnaires and standard consistency tests in order to classify them as grapheme-color synaesthetes. The results indicate that there are indeed many more grapheme-color synaesthetes among AS patients. This finding is discussed in relation to different theories regarding the development of synesthesia as well as altered sensory processing in autism.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
7. Robins DL, Casagrande K, Barton M, Chen CM, Dumont-Mathieu T, Fein D. {{Validation of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised With Follow-up (M-CHAT-R/F)}}. {Pediatrics}. 2013 Dec 23.
OBJECTIVE:This study validates the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-up (M-CHAT-R/F), a screening tool for low-risk toddlers, and demonstrates improved utility compared with the original M-CHAT.METHODS:Toddlers (N = 16 071) were screened during 18- and 24-month well-child care visits in metropolitan Atlanta and Connecticut. Parents of toddlers at risk on M-CHAT-R completed follow-up; those who continued to show risk were evaluated.RESULTS:The reliability and validity of the M-CHAT-R/F were demonstrated, and optimal scoring was determined by using receiver operating characteristic curves. Children whose total score was >/=3 initially and >/=2 after follow-up had a 47.5% risk of being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.41-0.54) and a 94.6% risk of any developmental delay or concern (95% CI: 0.92-0.98). Total score was more effective than alternative scores. An algorithm based on 3 risk levels is recommended to maximize clinical utility and to reduce age of diagnosis and onset of early intervention. The M-CHAT-R detects ASD at a higher rate compared with the M-CHAT while also reducing the number of children needing the follow-up. Children in the current study were diagnosed 2 years younger than the national median age of diagnosis.CONCLUSIONS:The M-CHAT-R/F detects many cases of ASD in toddlers; physicians using the 2-stage screener can be confident that most screen-positive cases warrant evaluation and referral for early intervention. Widespread implementation of universal screening can lower the age of ASD diagnosis by 2 years compared with recent surveillance findings, increasing time available for early intervention.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
8. Takarae Y, Luna B, Minshew NJ, Sweeney JA. {{Visual motion processing and visual sensorimotor control in autism}}. {Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS}. 2014 Jan;20(1):113-22.
Impairments in visual motion perception and use of visual motion information to guide behavior have been reported in autism, but the brain alterations underlying these abnormalities are not well characterized. We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies to investigate neural correlates of impairments related to visual motion processing. Sixteen high-functioning individuals with autism and 14 age and IQ-matched typically developing individuals completed two fMRI tasks using passive viewing to examine bottom-up responses to visual motion and visual pursuit tracking to assess top-down modulation of visual motion processing during sensorimotor control. The autism group showed greater activation and faster hemodynamic decay in V5 during the passive viewing task and reduced frontal and V5 activation during visual pursuit. The observations of increased V5 activation and its faster decay during passive viewing suggest alterations in local V5 circuitries that may be associated with reduced GABAergic tone and inhibitory modulation. Reduced frontal and V5 activation during active pursuit suggest reduced top-down modulation of sensory processing. These results suggest that both local intrinsic abnormalities in V5 and more widely distributed network level abnormalities are associated with visual motion processing in autism. (JINS, 2014, 20, 113-122).
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
9. Zangwill N. {{Music, autism, and emotion}}. {Frontiers in psychology}. 2013;4:890.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
10. Zerbo O, Qian Y, Yoshida C, Grether JK, Van de Water J, Croen LA. {{Maternal Infection During Pregnancy and Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2013 Dec 24.
We conducted a nested case-control study including 407 cases and 2,075 frequency matched controls to investigate the association between maternal infections during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Cases, controls, and maternal infections were ascertained from Kaiser Permanente Northern California clinical databases. No overall association between diagnoses of any maternal infection during pregnancy and ASD was observed [adjusted odds ratio (ORadj) = 1.15, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.92-1.43]. However, women with infections diagnosed during a hospital admission (ORadj = 1.48, 95 % CI 1.07-2.04), particularly bacterial infections (ORadj = 1.58, 95 % CI 1.06-2.37), were at increased risk of delivering a child with ASD. Multiple infections during pregnancy were associated with ASD (ORadj = 1.36, 95 % CI 1.05-1.78).
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
11. 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.
