1. Chen Y, Ma K, Xu P, Si H, Duan Y, Zhai H. Design and Screening of New Lead Compounds for Autism Based on QSAR Model and Molecular Docking Studies. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 2022; 27(21).

The purpose of the present study aims to develop a satisfactory model for predicting pro-social and pro-cognitive effects on azinesulfonamides of cyclic amine derivatives as potential antipsychotics. The three dimensional-quantitative structure affinity relationship (3D-QSAR) study was performed on a series of azinesulfonamides of cyclic amine derivative using comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA). The best statistical model of CoMSIA q2, r2, SEE and F values are 0.664, 0.973, 0.087, and 82.344, respectively. Based on the model contour maps and the highest activity structure of the 43rd compound, serial new structures were designed and the 43k1 compound was selected as the best structure. The dock results showed a good binding of 43k1 with the protein (PDB ID: 6A93). The QSAR model analysis of the contour maps can help us to provide guidelines for finding novel potential antipsychotics.

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2. Couto RR, Kubaski F, Siebert M, Félix TM, Brusius-Facchin AC, Leistner-Segal S. Increased Serum Levels of miR-125b and miR-132 in Fragile X Syndrome: A Preliminary Study. Neurology Genetics. 2022; 8(6): e200024.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, identified as the most common cause of hereditary intellectual disability and monogenic cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), caused by the loss of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). FMRP is an RNA-binding protein, a regulator of translation that plays an important role in neurodevelopment, and its loss causes cognitive and behavioral deficits. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small molecules that regulate gene expression in diverse biological processes. Previous studies found that the interaction of FMRP with miR-125b and miR-132 regulates the maturation and synaptic plasticity in animal models and miRNA dysregulation plays a role in the pathophysiology of FXS. The present study aimed to analyze the expression of miR-125b-5p and miR-132-3p in the serum of patients with FXS. METHODS: The expressions of circulating miRNAs were studied in the serum of 10 patients with FXS and 20 controls using the real-time quantitative retrotranscribed method analyzed by relative quantification. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) were generated to assess the diagnostic values of the miRNAs. RESULTS: We found that both miR-125b and miR-132 were increased in the serum of patients with FXS compared with controls and likely involved with FMRP loss. The AUC (95% confidence interval) of miR-125b and miR-132 was 0.94 (0.86-1.0) and 0.89 (0.77-1.0), respectively. Databases allowed for the identification of possible target genes for miR-125b and miR-132, whose products play an important role in the homeostasis of the nervous system. DISCUSSION: Our results indicate that serum miR-125b and miR-132 may serve as potential biomarkers for FXS. The increased expression of circulating miR-125b and miR-132 seems to be associated with the genotype of FXS. Predicted gene targets of the differentially regulated miRNAs are involved in cognitive performance and ASD phenotype. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class III evidence that miR-125b and miR-132 distinguish men with FXS from normal controls.

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3. de Lima TA, Zuanetti PA, Nunes MEN, Hamad APA. Differential diagnosis between autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disorders with emphasis on the preschool period. World journal of pediatrics : WJP. 2022.

BACKGROUND: Neurodevelopmental disorders are a heterogeneous group of conditions that manifest as delays or deviations in the acquisition of expected developmental milestones and behavioral changes. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in communication and social interaction and by repetitive and restricted patterns of behavior, interests and activities. The aim of this review is to discuss the clinical features of the differential diagnoses of ASD that are prevalent among preschoolers, focusing on their similarities and disparities. DATA SOURCES: The international medical literature search was conducted using PubMed and was revised regarding the subject using single and/or combined keywords as follows: differential diagnosis, preschoolers, diagnostic challenge, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disability, high abilities/giftedness, childhood apraxia of speech, social communication disorder, Landau-Kleffner syndrome, stereotyped movement disorder and excessive screen time. RESULTS: We describe conditions commonly found in clinical practice, taking ASD as a reference. We addressed converging and divergent aspects of behavior, cognition, communication, language, speech, socialization, and stereotypes for the diagnosis of ASD and other disorders identified as potential differential or comorbid diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: The ranking and characterization of symptoms appear to be essential for better understanding the underlying common ground between children with developmental disorders and children with ASD, thus properly diagnosing and directing social, professional, or medication interventions. This detailed discussion adds to the literature since, although ASD differential diagnoses are frequently mentioned and discussed in textbooks and journal articles, they rarely occupy a prominent place as we aimed herein.

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4. Genovese AC, Singh SC, Casubhoy I, Hellings JA. Gender Diverse Autistic Young Adults: A Mental Health Perspective. Archives of sexual behavior. 2022.

Gender diverse autistic young adults often face mental health challenges which can increase the challenge of obtaining gender-affirming care. Social and communication differences associated with autism compounds the already complex process of navigating a path toward gender affirmation for individuals with these intersecting identities. In this case series of four gender diverse autistic adults, we demonstrate that success in management of their mental health crises was achieved through enlisting family and social support, obtaining effective mental health treatment, and accessing gender-affirming healthcare. These cases selected from two neuropsychiatric outpatient tertiary referral clinics demonstrate that effective mental health treatment supports ultimate success for these individuals in their journeys toward living as the gender with which they identify. We conclude that healthcare practices and treatment recommendations which incorporate internationally recognized standards of care guidelines for gender diverse individuals improve patient outcomes.

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5. Hsiao JH, An J, Hui VKS, Zheng Y, Chan AB. Understanding the role of eye movement consistency in face recognition and autism through integrating deep neural networks and hidden Markov models. NPJ science of learning. 2022; 7(1): 28.

Greater eyes-focused eye movement pattern during face recognition is associated with better performance in adults but not in children. We test the hypothesis that higher eye movement consistency across trials, instead of a greater eyes-focused pattern, predicts better performance in children since it reflects capacity in developing visual routines. We first simulated visual routine development through combining deep neural network and hidden Markov model that jointly learn perceptual representations and eye movement strategies for face recognition. The model accounted for the advantage of eyes-focused pattern in adults, and predicted that in children (partially trained models) consistency but not pattern of eye movements predicted recognition performance. This result was then verified with data from typically developing children. In addition, lower eye movement consistency in children was associated with autism diagnosis, particularly autistic traits in social skills. Thus, children’s face recognition involves visual routine development through social exposure, indexed by eye movement consistency.

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6. Kang J, Li X, Casanova MF, Sokhadze EM, Geng X. Impact of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on the directed connectivity of autism EEG signals: a pilot study. Medical & biological engineering & computing. 2022; 60(12): 3655-64.

To compare the differences in directed connectivity between typically developing (TD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children and identify the potential effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on brain connectivity and behavior of children with ASD; 26 TD children (18 males/8 females; the average age was 6.34 ± 0.45) and 30 ASD children (21 males/9 females; the average age was 6.42 ± 0.17) participated in the experiment. ASD children were divided randomly into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received 18 rTMS sessions (twice a week for nine weeks), whereas the control group received the same procedures with sham stimulation. Directed transfer function (DTF) was used to calculate the effective connectivity as a way of investigating differences between ASD and TD children while simultaneously evaluating the effectiveness of rTMS for ASD. The results illustrate that the DTF of TD children in the frontal lobe (Fp1, Fp2, F7, F8) and temporal lobe (T7, T8) is higher than that of ASD children in all frequency bands; however, the DTF of ASD children is higher than TD in the midline (Fz, Cz), central lobe (C3, C4), and parietal lobe (P3, P4). In the experimental group of ASD children, the effective connectivity decreased from O1 to T7 and from P7 to Fp1 in the alpha band and from Pz to T8 in the gamma band after stimulation. Significant changes in Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) scores were also found in social behaviors. Effective connectivity derived from DTF distinguishes ASD from TD children. rTMS provides changes in connectivity and behavior, suggesting its potential use as a viable treatment option for ASD individuals.

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7. Lu M, Pang F, Wang R, Liu Y, Peng T. The association between autistic traits and excessive smartphone use in Chinese college students: The chain mediating roles of social interaction anxiety and loneliness. Research in developmental disabilities. 2022; 131: 104369.

This study draws upon a large sample of Chinese college students to examine the chain mediating roles of social interaction anxiety and loneliness in the relation between autistic traits and excessive smartphone use. To test our hypothesis that social interaction anxiety and loneliness mediate the relation between autistic traits and excessive smartphone use, we recruited a sample of 1103 college students and asked them to complete an assessment that measured the degrees of autistic traits, social interaction anxiety, loneliness, and excessive smartphone use. The results showed significant correlations among these variables. More autistic traits, which are correlated with higher levels of social interaction anxiety and higher levels of loneliness, were found to be associated with excessive smartphone use. In conclusion, this study highlights the need for screening for excessive smartphone use among college students who demonstrate autistic traits. Social interaction anxiety and loneliness show great potential in screening for excessive smartphone use among college students with high levels of autistic traits. We discuss the practical implications of the findings and directions for future study.

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8. Martini MI, Kuja-Halkola R, Butwicka A, Du Rietz E, D’Onofrio BM, Happé F, Kanina A, Larsson H, Lundström S, Martin J, Rosenqvist MA, Lichtenstein P, Taylor MJ. Sex Differences in Mental Health Problems and Psychiatric Hospitalization in Autistic Young Adults. JAMA psychiatry. 2022.

IMPORTANCE: Psychiatric disorders are common among autistic children and adults. Little is known about sex differences in psychiatric disorders and hospitalization in early adulthood. OBJECTIVE: To examine sex differences in psychiatric diagnoses and hospitalizations in autistic compared with nonautistic young adults. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This population-based cohort study assessed all individuals born in Sweden between 1985 and 1997. A total of 1 335 753 individuals, including 20 841 autistic individuals (7129 [34.2%] female individuals), were followed up from age 16 through 24 years between 2001 and 2013. Analysis took place between June 2021 and August 2022. EXPOSURES: Autism was defined as having received at least 1 clinical diagnosis of autism based on the International Classification of Diseases. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The cumulative incidence of 11 psychiatric diagnoses up until age 25 years was estimated, and birth year-standardized risk difference was used to compare autistic female and male individuals directly. Sex-specific birth year-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs were calculated using Cox regression. Analyses were repeated for inpatient diagnoses to assess psychiatric hospitalization. RESULTS: Of 1 335 753 individuals included in this study, 650 314 (48.7%) were assigned female at birth. Autism was clinically diagnosed in 20 841 individuals (1.6%; 7129 [34.2%] female) with a mean (SD) age of 16.1 (5.1) years (17.0 [4.8] years in female individuals and 15.7 [5.2] years in male individuals) for the first recorded autism diagnosis. For most disorders, autistic female individuals were at higher risk for psychiatric diagnoses and hospitalizations. By age 25 years, 77 of 100 autistic female individuals and 62 of 100 autistic male individuals received at least 1 psychiatric diagnosis. Statistically significant standardized risk differences were observed between autistic female and male individuals for any psychiatric disorder (-0.18; 95% CI, -0.26 to -0.10) and specifically for anxiety, depressive, and sleep disorders. Risk differences were larger among autistic than nonautistic individuals. Compared with nonautistic same-sex individuals, autistic female individuals (HR range [95% CI], 3.17 [2.50-4.04.]-20.78 [18.48-23.37]) and male individuals (HR range [95% CI], 2.98 [2.75-3.23]-18.52 [17.07-20.08]) were both at increased risk for all psychiatric diagnoses. Any psychiatric hospitalization was statistically significantly more common in autistic female individuals (32 of 100) compared with autistic male individuals (19 of 100). However, both autistic female and male individuals had a higher relative risk for psychiatric hospitalization compared with nonautistic female and male individuals for all disorders (female individuals: HR range [95% CI], 5.55 [4.63-6.66]-26.30 [21.50-32.16]; male individuals: HR range [95% CI], 3.79 [3.22-4.45]-29.36 [24.04-35.87]). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These findings highlight the need for profound mental health services among autistic young adults. Autistic female individuals, who experience more psychiatric difficulties at different levels of care, require increased clinical surveillance and support.

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9. Pikwer A, Yang B, Granström M, Mattsson N, Sadr-Azodi O. General anesthesia in early childhood and possible association with autism: a population-based matched cohort study. Minerva anestesiologica. 2022.

BACKGROUND: In experimental animal studies, exposure to general anesthesia in early childhood may results in changes in infant brain morphology and behavior, potentially leading to the development of autistic behaviors in the long-term. However, in clinical studies the role of exposure to general anesthesia in early childhood and the risk of autism is unknown. METHODS: This is a population-based cohort study including all children aged 0-5 years of age exposed to general anesthesia between 2001 and 2014 and a corresponding matched population without such an exposure. Propensity score calculation was based on 49 variables (including age of parents, malformations, APGAR score, and family income, among others). Quasi-Poisson regression was used to estimate risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between exposure to general anesthesia and autism or autism spectrum disorder. RESULTS: In total, 401,750 children exposed to general anesthesia were compared with 1,187,796 unexposed individuals. Autism or autism spectrum disorder were more common in the children exposed to general anesthesia as compared to unexposed children (1.65% and 0.98%, respectively, p < 0.01). There was a statistically significant higher risk of autism or autism spectrum disorder in children exposed to general anesthesia as compared to unexposed children also after propensity score adjustment (RR 1.62, 95% CI: 1.57-1.67). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, exposure to general anesthesia in early childhood was associated with an increased risk of autism or autism spectrum disorder. Future studies are needed to asses if general anesthesia may cause autism or if the association is due to other factors.

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10. Santini A, Bullen JC, Zajic MC, McIntyre N, Mundy P. Brief Report: The Factors Associated with Social Cognition in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. 2022.

This study examined whether school-aged autistic children without co-occurring intellectual disabilities (autistic(WoID)) show similar difficulty on Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks as young autistic(WoID) children and if these difficulties are related to problems in domain-general aspects of cognition. Eighty-one autistic(WoID) and 44 neurotypical (NT) children between the ages of 8-16 years participated in this study and were matched on verbal IQ. ToM performance significantly and independently differentiated many, but not all, autistic(WoID) and NT participants above and beyond the effects of working memory and inferential thinking. However, these cognitive variables did not fully explain difficulties with social cognition in autistic(WoID) children. These findings have implications for understanding autism, the factors that may impact intervention for social cognition in autism, and the factors that impact the education of autistic children who may struggle in general education classrooms.

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11. Shabestari MM, Kerachian A, Poorzand H, Eshraghi A, Keihanian F. Trans-catheter closure of ASD and abnormal connection of left pulmonary vein to vertical vein: A case report. Medicine. 2022; 101(42): e31011.

RATIONALE: Partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection is a rare congenital anomaly in which one or more pulmonary veins are connected to the venous circulation leading to left to right heart shunt. Although correction of anomalous pulmonary venous connection is achieved through surgery, there are rare instances where the abnormal pulmonary vein has dual connection to both left atrium and the major systemic veins. Under these circumstances, catheter-based treatment might become a feasible option. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 22-year-old female presented with exertional dyspnea, holo-systolic murmur in left sternal border, and fixed splitting of S2 in examination. DIAGNOSIS: The patient was diagnosed with secundum type atrial septal defect (ASD) and dual drainage of left upper pulmonary vein. INTERVENTIONS: The patient was candidate for device closure. Under TEE guidance, occluder devices were deployed in the upper part of vertical vein and subsequently in place of ASD. OUTCOMES: Echocardiogram in the next day showed complete occlusion of flow through the vertical vein and ASD. Dual antiplatelet was prescribed on discharge. Follow-up echocardiography after 3 months showed obvious improvement in RV size. Due to suspicion for clot formation, TEE was done and thrombosis with approximate length of extension of 15 mm was detected back to the device. The patient is following for 5 years. Repeated TEE after 2 years did not show any change in the burden of clot. LESSONS: For comprehensive evaluation of patients with ASD, assessment of pulmonic veins is crucial and in the presence of a vertical vein, the dual drainage of pulmonic veins should be considered.

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12. Skjoldborg NM, Bender PK, Jensen de López KM. The Efficacy of Head-Mounted-Display Virtual Reality Intervention to Improve Life Skills of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment. 2022; 18: 2295-310.

Challenges in life skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with dependency on others and increased isolation from peers. In recent years, interventions using virtual reality (VR) technology have been proposed to improve life skills in ASD populations. This systematic review seeks to evaluate the efficacy of employing VR interventions mediated via head-mounted displays (HMD) for the improvement of life skills in individuals with ASD. Several databases were searched and a narrative synthesis was conducted to examine the findings of the included studies. Eight studies including a total of 58 participants were deemed relevant for this systematic review. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed via the use of critical appraisal tools. Results were generally positive, with one study reporting statistically significant results, and one study not reporting any change in abilities. The remaining six studies reported varying degrees of life skill improvement. The studies were characterized by methodological issues, such as very low sample sizes. The findings of this systematic review indicate some potential for HMD VR interventions in the improvement of life skills in individuals with ASD. However, this review also highlights the current lack of methodologically strong study designs, which prohibits any firm conclusions. Findings are discussed regarding methodological recommendations for further research as well as practical implications for life skills interventions for individuals with ASD.

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13. Stelzer JA, Yi JJ. A Scalable, Cell-based Method for the Functional Assessment of Ube3a Variants. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE. 2022; (188).

The increased use of sequencing in medicine has identified millions of coding variants in the human genome. Many of these variants occur in genes associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, but the functional significance of the vast majority of variants remains unknown. The present protocol describes the study of variants for Ube3a, a gene that encodes an E3 ubiquitin ligase linked to both autism and Angelman syndrome. Duplication or triplication of Ube3a is strongly linked to autism, whereas its deletion causes Angelman syndrome. Thus, understanding the valence of changes in UBE3A protein activity is important for clinical outcomes. Here, a rapid, cell-based method that pairs Ube3a variants with a Wnt pathway reporter is described. This simple assay is scalable and can be used to determine the valence and magnitude of activity changes in any Ube3a variant. Moreover, the facility of this method allows the generation of a wealth of structure-function information, which can be used to gain deep insights into the enzymatic mechanisms of UBE3A.

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14. Wang L, Mirabella VR, Dai R, Su X, Xu R, Jadali A, Bernabucci M, Singh I, Chen Y, Tian J, Jiang P, Kwan KY, Pak C, Liu C, Comoletti D, Hart RP, Chen C, Südhof TC, Pang ZP. Analyses of the autism-associated neuroligin-3 R451C mutation in human neurons reveal a gain-of-function synaptic mechanism. Molecular psychiatry. 2022.

Mutations in many synaptic genes are associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), suggesting that synaptic dysfunction is a key driver of ASD pathogenesis. Among these mutations, the R451C substitution in the NLGN3 gene that encodes the postsynaptic adhesion molecule Neuroligin-3 is noteworthy because it was the first specific mutation linked to ASDs. In mice, the corresponding Nlgn3 R451C-knockin mutation recapitulates social interaction deficits of ASD patients and produces synaptic abnormalities, but the impact of the NLGN3 R451C mutation on human neurons has not been investigated. Here, we generated human knockin neurons with the NLGN3 R451C and NLGN3 null mutations. Strikingly, analyses of NLGN3 R451C-mutant neurons revealed that the R451C mutation decreased NLGN3 protein levels but enhanced the strength of excitatory synapses without affecting inhibitory synapses; meanwhile NLGN3 knockout neurons showed reduction in excitatory synaptic strengths. Moreover, overexpression of NLGN3 R451C recapitulated the synaptic enhancement in human neurons. Notably, the augmentation of excitatory transmission was confirmed in vivo with human neurons transplanted into mouse forebrain. Using single-cell RNA-seq experiments with co-cultured excitatory and inhibitory NLGN3 R451C-mutant neurons, we identified differentially expressed genes in relatively mature human neurons corresponding to synaptic gene expression networks. Moreover, gene ontology and enrichment analyses revealed convergent gene networks associated with ASDs and other mental disorders. Our findings suggest that the NLGN3 R451C mutation induces a gain-of-function enhancement in excitatory synaptic transmission that may contribute to the pathophysiology of ASD.

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15. Weiner DJ, Ling E, Erdin S, Tai DJC, Yadav R, Grove J, Fu JM, Nadig A, Carey CE, Baya N, Bybjerg-Grauholm J, Berretta S, Macosko EZ, Sebat J, O’Connor LJ, Hougaard DM, Børglum AD, Talkowski ME, McCarroll SA, Robinson EB. Statistical and functional convergence of common and rare genetic influences on autism at chromosome 16p. Nature genetics. 2022; 54(11): 1630-9.

The canonical paradigm for converting genetic association to mechanism involves iteratively mapping individual associations to the proximal genes through which they act. In contrast, in the present study we demonstrate the feasibility of extracting biological insights from a very large region of the genome and leverage this strategy to study the genetic influences on autism. Using a new statistical approach, we identified the 33-Mb p-arm of chromosome 16 (16p) as harboring the greatest excess of autism’s common polygenic influences. The region also includes the mechanistically cryptic and autism-associated 16p11.2 copy number variant. Analysis of RNA-sequencing data revealed that both the common polygenic influences within 16p and the 16p11.2 deletion were associated with decreased average gene expression across 16p. The transcriptional effects of the rare deletion and diffuse common variation were correlated at the level of individual genes and analysis of Hi-C data revealed patterns of chromatin contact that may explain this transcriptional convergence. These results reflect a new approach for extracting biological insight from genetic association data and suggest convergence of common and rare genetic influences on autism at 16p.

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16. Welch CJ, Mulligan KA. Evaluating Learning and Memory in Drosophila melanogaster to Study the Neurodevelopmental Impacts of Toxicants. Current protocols. 2022; 2(10): e576.

Neurodevelopmental disorders are a heterogeneous group of behaviorally defined disorders with both genetic and environmental risk factors. Given that many neurodevelopmental disorders are characterized by impaired learning and/or intellectual abilities, behavioral paradigms that assess cognition in animal models have been effective tools in delineating underlying genetic variants that impact disease pathophysiology. For example, learning and memory paradigms in the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster have been successfully used to study risk genes and biological pathways associated with several neurodevelopmental disorders, including fragile X syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, and CHARGE syndrome. While these established Drosophila behavioral paradigms have historically been used to investigate genetic risk factors, they also have many other applications, including use in developmental neurotoxicology studies to determine environmental risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders. There is, however, a deficit of step-by-step protocols that describe how to apply learning and memory assays in fruit flies to developmental neurotoxicology studies. Here, we describe two quantitative behavioral paradigms for Drosophila-predator-induced oviposition and courtship conditioning-that can be used to measure different forms of learning and memory in the context of a developmental neurotoxicology study. Non-associative learning and memory are measured here by examining female Drosophila oviposition behavior in response to endoparasitoid wasps, while associative learning and memory are measured in males using courtship conditioning. Our protocols outline procedures for oral toxicant exposure of developing fruit flies, culturing of endoparasitoid wasps, measuring Drosophila oviposition activity, and assessing conditioned courtship in order to identify the impact of toxicants on learning and memory in both females and males. As an example, we present the protocols using bisphenol A, a chemical utilized in the synthesis of polycarbonate plastics, to determine its impacts on learning and memory. These protocols are inexpensive and relatively simple to perform, and can be used by labs that are new to Drosophila behavioral research to evaluate how toxicant exposure influences learning and memory in male and female flies. © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Preparation of toxicant-containing food and developmental exposure Basic Protocol 2: Predator-induced oviposition assay Support Protocol: Culture of Leptopilina heterotoma Basic Protocol 3: Conditioned courtship assay.

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17. Westby C. Nature and Effects of Autobiographical Memory Issues in Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment. 2022; 18: 2279-93.

This comprehensive thematic review focuses on autobiographical memory (AM) in individuals with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with the overarching aim of informing and instructing stakeholders on this important memory structure that is often compromised in individuals with ASD. Accordingly, articles that best address the theme were selected from legitimate publishers with prime peer-reviewed journals. ASD is recognized as a neurodevelopmental disorder, often impacting on many aspects of language, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Considerable research has documented the problems children and adults with ASD frequently exhibit in language and its offshoots, the development of executive function, and theory of mind or the ability to reflect on the thoughts and feelings of self and others. These studies resulted in numerous assessments and intervention strategies designed to target the noted issues, among them problems with AM. Specialists in a variety of medical, psychological, and educational fields are exploring the nature and development of AM across the lifespan and the effects of AM weaknesses on cognitive and social-emotional factors such as self-regulation, social interactions, and self-identity. Researchers are reporting on the nature of AM deficits in persons with ASD and how AM deficits interact with or may explain other difficulties exhibited by these persons, but to date, little of this research has been incorporated into assessment and intervention strategies for persons with ASD. The aims of this article are to: 1. Describe the nature of AM, 2. Expound on assessments of AM, 3. Explain the effects of deficits in AMs on the personal narratives, self-regulation, and self-identity of persons with ASD, and 4. Explore intervention strategies to facilitate AM and the abilities of persons with ASD to tell coherent personal narratives.

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18. Zhao W, Li Q, Zhang X, Song X, Zhu S, Shou X, Meng F, Xu X, Zhang R, Kendrick KM. Language Skill Differences Further Distinguish Social Sub-types in Children with Autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. 2022.

This study investigated heterogeneity in language skills of children with autism and their relationship with different autistic social subtypes. Data from 90 autistic and 30 typically developing children were analyzed. Results showed that autistic social subtypes varied in language skill problems (aloof > passive > active-but-odd). There was a negative association between aloof dimension scores and language performance but positive for the active-but-odd dimension and no association in the passive one. Moreover, aloof dimension score was the main contributor to language performance. A receiver operating characteristic analysis suggested language vocabulary as an additional component in differentiating autistic social subtypes. These findings demonstrate that variations in language skills in autistic children provide additional information for discriminating their social subtype.

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