1. Cohen S, Masyn K, Mastergeorge A, Hessl D. {{Psychophysiological Responses to Emotional Stimuli in Children and Adolescents with Autism and Fragile X Syndrome}}. {J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol}. 2013.
Individuals with autism demonstrate atypical and variable responses to social and emotional stimuli, perhaps reflecting heterogeneity of the disorder. The goal of this study was to determine whether unique profiles of psychophysiological responses to such stimuli could be identified in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with fragile X syndrome (FXS), and with comorbid autism and fragile X syndrome (ASD + FXS), and in typically developing (TYP) individuals. This study included 52 boys (ages 10-17): idiopathic ASD (n = 12), FXS (n = 12), comorbid ASD + FXS (n = 17), and TYP (n = 11). Physiological responses, including potentiated startle, electrodermal response, heart rate variability, and vagal tone, were collected concurrently while participants viewed emotionally evocative pictures of human faces or nonsocial images. Although some of these measures have been utilized separately for investigations on these diagnostic groups, they have not been considered together. Results using Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance by ranks indicate statistically significant differences in distributions of autonomic regulation responses between groups. The most notable differences were between the ASD group and both the FXS groups on measures of sympathetic activity, with FXS groups evincing increased activity. Also, both the ASD and ASD + FXS groups showed significantly decreased parasympathetic activity compared with FXS and TYP groups. In addition, the ASD + FXS group demonstrated a unique distribution of startle potentiation and arousal modulation. This study provides evidence that autonomic arousal and regulation profiles could be useful for distinguishing subgroups of autism and shed light on the variability underlying emotional responsivity.
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2. de Boer-Schellekens L, Keetels M, Eussen M, Vroomen J. {{No Evidence for Impaired Multisensory Integration of Low-Level Audiovisual Stimuli in Adolescents and Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Neuropsychologia}. 2013.
Abrupt click sounds can improve the visual processing of flashes in several ways. Here, we examined this in high functioning adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) using three tasks: 1) a task where clicks improve sensitivity for visual temporal order (temporal ventriloquism); 2) a task where a click improves visual search (pip-and-pop), and 3) a task where a click speeds up the visual orienting to a peripheral target (clock reading). Adolescents with ASD were, compared to adolescents with typical development (TD), impaired in judgments of visual temporal order, but they were unimpaired in visual search and orienting. Importantly, in all tasks visual performance of the ASD group improved by the presence of clicks by at least equal amounts as in the TD group. This suggests that adolescents and young adults with ASD show no generalized deficit in the multisensory integration of low-level audiovisual stimuli and/or the phasic alerting by abrupt sounds.
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3. Green SA, Rudie JD, Colich NL, Wood JJ, Shirinyan D, Hernandez L, Tottenham N, Dapretto M, Bookheimer SY. {{Overreactive brain responses to sensory stimuli in youth with autism spectrum disorders}}. {J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry}. 2013; 52(11): 1158-72.
OBJECTIVES: Sensory over-responsivity (SOR), defined as a negative response to or avoidance of sensory stimuli, is both highly prevalent and extremely impairing in youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), yet little is known about the neurological bases of SOR. This study aimed to examine the functional neural correlates of SOR by comparing brain responses to sensory stimuli in youth with and without ASD. METHOD: A total of 25 high-functioning youth with ASD and 25 age- and IQ-equivalent typically developing (TD) youth were presented with mildly aversive auditory and visual stimuli during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. Parents provided ratings of children’s SOR and anxiety symptom severity. RESULTS: Compared to TD participants, ASD participants displayed greater activation in primary sensory cortical areas as well as amygdala, hippocampus, and orbital-frontal cortex. In both groups, the level of activity in these areas was positively correlated with level of SOR severity as rated by parents, over and above behavioral ratings of anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that youth with ASD show neural hyper-responsivity to sensory stimuli, and that behavioral symptoms of SOR may be related to both heightened responsivity in primary sensory regions as well as areas related to emotion processing and regulation.
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4. Hasegawa N, Kitamura H, Murakami H, Kameyama S, Sasagawa M, Egawa J, Tamura R, Endo T, Someya T. {{Altered Activity of the Primary Visual Area during Gaze Processing in Individuals with High-Functioning Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A Magnetoencephalography Study}}. {Neuropsychobiology}. 2013; 68(3): 181-8.
Background: Individuals with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate an impaired ability to infer the mental states of others from their gaze. Thus, investigating the relationship between ASD and eye gaze processing is crucial for understanding the neural basis of social impairments seen in individuals with ASD. In addition, characteristics of ASD are observed in more comprehensive visual perception tasks. These visual characteristics of ASD have been well-explained in terms of the atypical relationship between high- and low-level gaze processing in ASD. Method: We studied neural activity during gaze processing in individuals with ASD using magnetoencephalography, with a focus on the relationship between high- and low-level gaze processing both temporally and spatially. Minimum Current Estimate analysis was applied to perform source analysis of magnetic responses to gaze stimuli. Results: The source analysis showed that later activity in the primary visual area (V1) was affected by gaze direction only in the ASD group. Conversely, the right posterior superior temporal sulcus, which is a brain region that processes gaze as a social signal, in the typically developed group showed a tendency toward greater activation during direct compared with averted gaze processing. Conclusion: These results suggest that later activity in V1 relating to gaze processing is altered or possibly enhanced in high-functioning individuals with ASD, which may underpin the social cognitive impairments in these individuals. (c) 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.
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5. Keyes KM, Bearman P. {{Authors’ Response to: Cohort effects explain the increase in autism diagnosis among children born from 1992 to 2003 in California}}. {Int J Epidemiol}. 2013; 42(5): 1521.
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6. Lecavalier L, Wood JJ, Halladay AK, Jones NE, Aman MG, Cook EH, Handen BL, King BH, Pearson DA, Hallett V, Sullivan KA, Grondhuis S, Bishop SL, Horrigan JP, Dawson G, Scahill L. {{Measuring Anxiety as a Treatment Endpoint in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2013.
Despite the high rate of anxiety in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), measuring anxiety in ASD is fraught with uncertainty. This is due, in part, to incomplete consensus on the manifestations of anxiety in this population. Autism Speaks assembled a panel of experts to conduct a systematic review of available measures for anxiety in youth with ASD. To complete the review, the panel held monthly conference calls and two face-to-face meetings over a fourteen-month period. Thirty eight published studies were reviewed and ten assessment measures were examined: four were deemed appropriate for use in clinical trials, although with conditions; three were judged to be potentially appropriate, while three were considered not useful for clinical trials assessing anxiety. Despite recent advances, additional relevant, reliable and valid outcome measures are needed to evaluate treatments for anxiety in ASD.
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7. O’Haire ME, McKenzie SJ, McCune S, Slaughter V. {{Effects of Classroom Animal-Assisted Activities on Social Functioning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Altern Complement Med}. 2013.
Abstract Objective: The objective of this study was to implement and evaluate a classroom-based Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA) program on social functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Design: This was a multisite, control-to-intervention design study. Settings/location: The study was conducted in 41 classrooms in 15 schools in Brisbane, Australia. Subjects: Sixty-four (64) 5- to 12-year-old children diagnosed with ASD comprised the study group. Intervention: The AAA program consisted of 8 weeks of animal exposure in the school classroom in addition to 16 20-minute animal-interaction sessions. Outcome measures: Teacher- and parent-reported child behavior and social functioning were assessed through standardized instruments at three time points: upon study entry (Time 1), after an 8-week waiting period during the week prior to the AAA program (Time 2), and during the week following the 8-week AAA program (Time 3). Results: Significant improvements were identified in social functioning, including increases in social approach behaviors and social skills, and decreases in social withdrawal behaviors, from before to after the AAA program, but not during the waitlist period. Over half of parents also reported that participants demonstrated an increased interest in attending school during the program. Conclusions: Results demonstrate the feasibility and potential efficacy of a new classroom-based Animal-Assisted Activities model, which may provide a relatively simple and cost-effective means of helping educators and families to improve the social functioning of children with ASD.
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8. Spiers N. {{Cohort effects explain the increase in autism diagnosis among children born from 1992 to 2003 in California}}. {Int J Epidemiol}. 2013; 42(5): 1520-1.
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9. Wei X, Christiano ER, Yu JW, Blackorby J, Shattuck P, Newman LA. {{Postsecondary Pathways and Persistence for STEM Versus Non-STEM Majors: Among College Students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2013.
Little is known about postsecondary pathways and persistence among college students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, 2001-2009, a nationally representative sample of students in special education with an ASD who progressed from high school to postsecondary education. Findings suggest that most college students with an ASD enrolled in a 2-year community college at some point in the postsecondary careers (81 %). Those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields were more likely to persist in a 2-year community college and were twice as likely to transfer from a 2-year community college to a 4-year university than their peers in the non-STEM fields. College persistence rates varied by gender, race, parent education level, and college pathway and major. Educational policy implications are discussed.
