1. Bottema-Beutel K, Kim SY. A Systematic Literature Review of Autism Research on Caregiver Talk. Autism Res ;2020 (Dec 29)

Describing how caregivers’ talk to their autistic children, and how their talk may influence social and language outcomes, has important implications for developmental theory and intervention research. In this systematic literature review, we examine 294 caregiver talk variables extracted from 65 studies, provide a narrative overview of research findings, and link measurement approaches to various theories of language development. The majority of variables included only talk directed to children (90%), and specified the speech act being performed (57%). More than one-third of variables measured talk that was responsive to children’s attention, activities, or communication (38%), and slightly less than a third measured variables that elicited children’s communication or engagement. Semantic aspects of talk were specified in 41% of variables, structural features were measured in 20% of variables, and suprasegmental features were measured in only 1% of variables. Talk quantity (without reference to other aspects of talk) was measured in 8% of variables. We found strong support that talk related to children’s attention is implicated in autistic children’s language development, but this construct has been measured inconsistently in terms of semantic, structural, and functional features. There is also evidence for bi-directional relationships between caregiver’s talk and autistic children’s development on a variety of semantic and structural variables. LAY SUMMARY : In our review, we found many differences in how researchers measured caregiver’s talk, but also some promising leads. Researchers should continue examining caregiver talk related to children’s focus of attention to clarify how this type of language contributes to autistic children’s development. We also found interesting research on how children influence caregiver’s talk, and encourage researchers to continue to study how this occurs.

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2. Bruno JL, Hong DS, Lightbody AA, Hosseini SMH, Hallmayer J, Reiss AL. Glucocorticoid regulation and neuroanatomy in fragile x syndrome. J Psychiatr Res ;2020 (Dec 11) ;134:81-88.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the leading known inherited cause for intellectual disability. Due to mutations in the FMR1 gene, affected individuals are at risk for serious cognitive and behavioral symptoms and developmental disability. Clinical presentation varies considerably, and investigation of genetic factors not directly related to FMR1 may help better understand variability. The present study examined the BclI polymorphism of the glucocorticoid receptor gene NR3C1 in 43 individuals with FXS (28 females, age 16 to 25). Females with FXS who presented with one or more G alleles demonstrated attenuated symptoms of anxiety/depression (p = 0.038) and externalizing behaviors (p = 0.042) relative to individuals with the C/C allele. In the combined sample (males and females) structural neuroimaging data differentiated individuals with a G allele from those with the C/C genotype (p < 0.001). Key components of anxiety/fear neurocircuitry (amygdala, insula) contributed more (relative to other regions) to the model differentiating groups. These results indicate that GR polymorphisms are associated with an altered pattern of behavioral and brain development in FXS. This information is important for understanding and treating mood disorders and altered brain development among individuals with FXS. With further research, these findings could be informative for understanding anxiety and mood disorders more broadly.

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3. Como DH, Stein Duker LI, Polido JC, Cermak SA. Oral Health and Autism Spectrum Disorders : A Unique Collaboration between Dentistry and Occupational Therapy. Int J Environ Res Public Health ;2020 (Dec 27) ;18(1)

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at risk for oral health disparities. With the dramatic rise in ASD prevalence to 1 in 54 children, it is likely that an increasing number of dental practitioners will encounter or be asked to treat children with ASD. This paper reviews explanations related to the increasing prevalence of ASD, provides reasons why children with ASD are at increased risk for poor oral health, and discusses unique interprofessional collaborations between dental practitioners and occupational therapists. Occupational therapists and dentists can work together to plan modifications to the dental environment or adapt dental protocols to reduce some of the barriers encountered by those with ASD, provide desensitization strategies before the clinic visit, or help a child with emotional regulation during clinical treatments.

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4. Downs J, Lotan M, Elefant C, Leonard H, Wong K, Buckley N, Stahlhut M. Implementing telehealth support to increase physical activity in girls and women with Rett syndrome-ActivRett : protocol for a waitlist randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open ;2020 (Dec 29) ;10(12):e042446.

INTRODUCTION : Individuals with Rett syndrome (RTT) experience impaired gross motor skills, limiting their capacity to engage in physical activities and participation in activities. There is limited evidence of the effectiveness of supported physical activity interventions. This study aims to evaluate the effects of a telehealth-delivered physical activity programme on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and quality of life in RTT. METHODS AND ANALYSIS : This is a multicentre study, conducted in Australia, Denmark and Israel. It is a randomised waitlist-controlled trial comparing an intervention to support physical activity with usual care. Participants are children and adults with RTT, recruited from the Australian Rett Syndrome Database, the Danish Center for Rett Syndrome and the Rett Syndrome Association of Israel. The intervention duration is 12 weeks, including fortnightly telephone contact to plan, monitor and develop individual activity programmes. Outcomes are measured at baseline, at 13 weeks and then at 25 weeks. The primary outcomes are sedentary behaviour assessed with an activPAL accelerometer and the number of daily steps measured with a StepWatch Activity Monitor. Secondary outcomes include sleep, behaviour and quality of life. Caregiver experiences will be assessed immediately after the intervention using a satisfaction questionnaire. Group differences for each outcome will be evaluated with analysis of covariance, adjusting for baseline values on an intention-to-treat basis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION : Ethics approval has been obtained in Western Australia from the Child and Adolescent Health Services (RGS3371), in Denmark from the Capital Region Ethics Committee (H-19040514) and in Israel from the Ariel University Institutional Review Board (AU-HEA-ML-20190331). Manuscripts on the development of the intervention from pilot work and the results of the intervention will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals. Results will be presented at conferences and consumer forums. We will develop an online resource documenting the physical activity programme and available supporting evidence. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER : NCT04167059 ; Pre-results.

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5. Edirisooriya M, Dykiert D, Auyeung B. IQ and Internalising Symptoms in Adolescents with ASD. J Autism Dev Disord ;2020 (Dec 30)

Intelligence quotient (IQ), has been found to relate to the presence of internalising symptoms in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This meta-analysis sought to clarify the direction of the relationship between IQ and two prevalent internalising symptoms, anxiety and depression, in adolescents with ASD. Secondly, this study aimed to highlight methodological factors contributing to inconsistent findings in existing research. Self-reported anxiety was found to be significantly higher in youth with a lower IQ, while depression was positively associated with IQ. Consequently, parents, schools and clinicians should be cautious of underestimating anxiety in youth with a lower IQ. However, care should also be taken to ensure adolescents with ASD without intellectual disabilities are not overlooked with regards to social and emotional support.

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6. Eltokhi A, Santuy A, Merchan-Perez A, Sprengel R. Glutamatergic Dysfunction and Synaptic Ultrastructural Alterations in Schizophrenia and Autism Spectrum Disorder : Evidence from Human and Rodent Studies. Int J Mol Sci ;2020 (Dec 23) ;22(1)

The correlation between dysfunction in the glutamatergic system and neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder, is undisputed. Both disorders are associated with molecular and ultrastructural alterations that affect synaptic plasticity and thus the molecular and physiological basis of learning and memory. Altered synaptic plasticity, accompanied by changes in protein synthesis and trafficking of postsynaptic proteins, as well as structural modifications of excitatory synapses, are critically involved in the postnatal development of the mammalian nervous system. In this review, we summarize glutamatergic alterations and ultrastructural changes in synapses in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder of genetic or drug-related origin, and briefly comment on the possible reversibility of these neuropsychiatric disorders in the light of findings in regular synaptic physiology.

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7. Eshraghi RS, Davies C, Iyengar R, Perez L, Mittal R, Eshraghi AA. Gut-Induced Inflammation during Development May Compromise the Blood-Brain Barrier and Predispose to Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Clin Med ;2020 (Dec 24) ;10(1)

Recently, the gut microbiome has gained considerable interest as one of the major contributors to the pathogenesis of multi-system inflammatory disorders. Several studies have suggested that the gut microbiota plays a role in modulating complex signaling pathways, predominantly via the bidirectional gut-brain-axis (GBA). Subsequent in vivo studies have demonstrated the direct role of altered gut microbes and metabolites in the progression of neurodevelopmental diseases. This review will discuss the most recent advancements in our understanding of the gut microbiome’s clinical significance in regulating blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity, immunological function, and neurobiological development. In particular, we address the potentially causal role of GBA dysregulation in the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through compromising the BBB and immunological abnormalities. A thorough understanding of the complex signaling interactions between gut microbes, metabolites, neural development, immune mediators, and neurobiological functionality will facilitate the development of targeted therapeutic modalities to better understand, prevent, and treat ASD.

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8. Ganesh A, Shareef S. Safety and Efficacy of Cannabis in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Pediatr Neurol Briefs ;2020 (Dec 24) ;34:25.

Investigators from the Soroka University Medical Centre, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Tikun Olam Ltd. in Israel studied the safety and efficacy of medical cannabis treatment on 188 patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for six months.

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9. Gee BM, Lloyd K, Sutton J, McOmber T. Weighted Blankets and Sleep Quality in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders : A Single-Subject Design. Children (Basel) ;2020 (Dec 27) ;8(1)

The purpose of the study was to explore the efficacy of weighted blanket applications and sleep quality in children with autism spectrum disorder and behavioral manifestations of sensory processing deficits. Two 4-year-old participants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who also experienced sleep disturbances took part in a single-subject design study. Objective sleep measures and caregiver surveys were tracked for a baseline period of eight days, followed by a 14-day weighted blanket intervention and a seven-day withdrawal phase. Caregiver reports and objective data were evaluated using visual analysis and the percentage of non-overlapping data methods. The results suggest minimal changes in sleep patterns as a result of the weighted blanket intervention. The findings based on using a weighted blanket intervention were enhanced morning mood after night use and a significantly decreased time to fall asleep for participants, though they were not strong enough to recommend for clinical use. Future directions include single-subject and cohort-designed studies exploring the efficacy of weighted blankets with increasing sleep quality among children with autism.

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10. Haweel R, Shalaby A, Mahmoud A, Seada N, Ghoniemy S, Ghazal M, Casanova MF, Barnes GN, El-Baz A. A Robust DWT-CNN Based CAD System for Early Diagnosis of Autism Using Task-based fMRI. Med Phys ;2020 (Dec 30)

PURPOSE : Task-based fMRI (TfMRI) is a diagnostic imaging modality for observing the effects of a disease or other condition on the functional activity of the brain. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder associated with impairments in social and linguistic abilities. Machine learning algorithms have been widely utilized for brain imaging aiming for objective ASD diagnostics. Recently, deep learning methods have been gaining more attention for fMRI classification. The goal of this paper is to develop a convolutional neural network (CNN) based framework to help in global diagnosis of ASD using TfMRI data that are collected from a response to speech experiment. METHODS : To achieve this goal, the proposed framework adopts a novel imaging marker integrating both spatial and temporal information that are related to the functional activity of the brain. The developed pipeline consists of three main components. In the first step, the collected TfMRI data are preprocessed and parcellated using the Harvard-Oxford probabilistic atlas included with the fMRIB Software Library (FSL). Secondly, a group analysis using FSL is performed between ASD and typically developing (TD) children to identify significantly activated brain areas in response to the speech task. In order to reduce brain spatial dimensionality, a K-means clustering technique is performed on such significant brain areas. Informative blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals are extracted from each cluster. A compression step for each extracted BOLD signal using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has been proposed. The adopted wavelets are similar to the expected hemodynamic response which enables DWT to compress the BOLD signal while highlighting its activation information. Finally, a deep learning 2D CNN network is used to classify the patients as ASD or TD based on extracted features from the previous step. RESULTS : Preliminary results on 100 TfMRI dataset (50 ASD, 50 TD) obtain 80% correct global classification using 10-fold cross validation (with sensitivity =84%, specificity = 76%) CONCLUSION : The experimental results show the high accuracy of the proposed framework and hold promise for the presented framework as a helpful adjunct to currently used ASD diagnostic tools.

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11. Helfer B, Boxhoorn S, Songa J, Steel C, Maltezos S, Asherson P. Emotion recognition and mind wandering in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism spectrum disorder. J Psychiatr Res ;2020 (Dec 22) ;134:89-96.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adults are often undiagnosed and overlap in psychopathology. Here we investigated the transdiagnostic traits of emotion recognition and mind wandering in a sample of 103 adults (43 with ADHD and 14 with ASD). The ability to correctly identify a facial expression of anger, fear, disgust or surprise was no different between the adults with ADHD or ASD and neurotypical (NT) adults. However, adults with ADHD or ASD were on average almost 200 ms slower in making a correct decision, suggesting a larger speed-accuracy trade-off in facial emotion recognition compared to NT adults. General processing speed was associated with excessive mind wandering in adults with ADHD, but not with ASD. The deficits in emotional processing were independent from mind wandering in both adults with ADHD or ASD. Emotional dysregulation and functional impairment scales separated adults with ADHD and ASD from the NT adults, but not from each other. When controlling for self-reported ADHD and ASD symptom severity, mind wandering in ADHD was independent from both ADHD and ASD symptom severity. In ASD, mind wandering was related to ASD but not ADHD symptom severity. Our results suggest that ASD and ADHD share a slower ability to recognize emotions, which is exacerbated by excessive mind wandering in ADHD, and by decreased processing speed in ASD.

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12. Kim N, Kim KH, Lim WJ, Kim J, Kim SA, Yoo HJ. Whole Exome Sequencing Identifies Novel De Novo Variants Interacting with Six Gene Networks in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Genes (Basel) ;2020 (Dec 22) ;12(1)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heritable condition caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors such as de novo and inherited variants, as well as rare or common variants among hundreds of related genes. Previous genome-wide association studies have identified susceptibility genes ; however, most ASD-associated genes remain undiscovered. This study aimed to examine rare de novo variants to identify genetic risk factors of ASD using whole exome sequencing (WES), functional characterization, and genetic network analyses of identified variants using Korean familial dataset. We recruited children with ASD and their biological parents. The clinical best estimate diagnosis of ASD was made according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5(TM)), using comprehensive diagnostic instruments. The final analyses included a total of 151 individuals from 51 families. Variants were identified and filtered using the GATK Best Practices for bioinformatics analysis, followed by genome alignments and annotation to the reference genome assembly GRCh37 (liftover to GRCh38), and further annotated using dbSNP 154 build databases. To evaluate allele frequencies of de novo variants, we used the dbSNP, gnomAD exome v2.1.1, and genome v3.0. We used Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA, Qiagen) software to construct networks using all identified de novo variants with known autism-related genes to find probable relationships. We identified 36 de novo variants with potential relations to ASD ; 27 missense, two silent, one nonsense, one splice region, one splice site, one 5′ UTR, and one intronic SNV and two frameshift deletions. We identified six networks with functional relationships. Among the interactions between de novo variants, the IPA assay found that the NF-κB signaling pathway and its interacting genes were commonly observed at two networks. The relatively small cohort size may affect the results of novel ASD genes with de novo variants described in our findings. We did not conduct functional experiments in this study. Because of the diversity and heterogeneity of ASD, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate probable causative relationships between novel de novo variants and known autism genes. Additionally, we based functional relationships with known genes on network analysis rather than on statistical analysis. We identified new variants that may underlie genetic factors contributing to ASD in Korean families using WES and genetic network analyses. We observed novel de novo variants that might be functionally linked to ASD, of which the variants interact with six genetic networks.

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13. Oh J, Bennett DH, Calafat AM, Tancredi D, Roa DL, Schmidt RJ, Hertz-Picciotto I, Shin HM. Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in association with autism spectrum disorder in the MARBLES study. Environ Int ;2021 (Feb) ;147:106328.

BACKGROUND : Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has shown potential to adversely affect child brain development, but epidemiologic evidence remains inconsistent. We examined whether prenatal exposure to PFAS was associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS : Participants were 173 mother-child pairs from MARBLES (Markers of Autism Risk in Babies – Learning Early Signs), a high-risk ASD cohort. At 3 years old, children were clinically confirmed for ASD and classified into ASD (n = 57) and typical development (TD, n = 116). We quantified nine PFAS in maternal serum collected during pregnancy. We examined associations of ASD with individual PFAS as well as the combined effect of PFAS on ASD using scores of the first principal component (PC-1) accounting for the largest variance. RESULTS : Prenatal perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) showed positive associations (per 2 nanogram per milliliter increase : relative risk (RR) = 1.20, 95% CI : 0.90, 1.61 [PFOA] ; RR = 1.24, 95% CI : 0.91, 1.69 [PFNA]), while perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) showed a negative association (RR = 0.88, 95% CI : 0.77, 1.01) with ASD risk. When examining associations of ASD with untransformed PFAS concentrations, PFOA, PFNA, and PC-1 were associated with increased ASD risk (per nanogram per milliliter increase : RR = 1.31, 95% CI : 1.04, 1.65 ; RR = 1.79, 95% CI : 1.13, 2.85 ; RR = 1.10, 95% CI : 0.97, 1.25, respectively), while the RR of PFHxS moved toward the null. CONCLUSIONS : From this high-risk ASD cohort, we observed increased risk of ASD in children exposed to PFOA and PFNA. Further studies should be conducted in the general population because this population may have a larger fraction of cases resulting from genetic sources.

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14. Park HJ, Choi SJ, Kim Y, Cho MS, Kim YR, Oh JE. Mealtime Behaviors and Food Preferences of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Foods ;2020 (Dec 26) ;10(1)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a lack of social communication and restrictive, repetitive behaviors or interests. This study aimed to examine the mealtime behaviors and food preferences of students with ASD. An online questionnaire on mealtime behavior and food preferences of ASD students was conducted by caregivers including parents, and the average age of ASD students was 14.1 ± 6.1. The analysis of mealtime behavior resulted in classification into three clusters : cluster 1, the « low-level problematic mealtime behavior group » ; cluster 2, the « mid-level problematic mealtime behavior group » ; and cluster 3, the « high-level problematic mealtime behavior group ». Cluster 1 included older students than other clusters and their own specific dietary rituals. Meanwhile, cluster 3 included younger students than other clusters, high-level problematic mealtime behavior, and a low preference for food. In particular, there were significant differences in age and food preference for each subdivided ASD group according to their eating behaviors. Therefore, the content and method of nutrition education for ASD students’ needs a detailed approach according to the characteristics of each group.

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15. Pehlivanidis A, Papanikolaou K, Korobili K, Kalantzi E, Mantas V, Pappa D, Papageorgiou C. Trait-Based Dimensions Discriminating Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and, Co-occurring ADHD/ASD. Brain Sci ;2020 (Dec 26) ;11(1)

This study assessed the co-occurrence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in newly diagnosed adults of normal intelligence and the contribution of trait-based dimensions deriving from the Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale-IV (BAARS-IV), the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), and the Empathy Quotient (EQ) to the differentiation of patients with ADHD, ASD, and ADHD/ASD. A total of 16.1% of patients with ADHD received a co-occurring ASD diagnosis, while 33.3% of patients with ASD received an ADHD diagnosis. Subjects with ADHD or ADHD/ASD had higher scores in all ADHD traits compared to ASD subjects. Compared to the ADHD group, the ASD group had AQ scores that were significantly greater, except for attention to detail. ADHD/ASD co-occurrence significantly increased the score of attention to detail. The total EQ score was greater in the ADHD group. In the stepwise logistic regression analyses, past hyperactivity, current inattention and impulsivity, attention switching, communication, imagination, and total EQ score discriminated ADHD patients from ASD patients. Attention to detail, imagination, and total EQ score discriminated ADHD cases from ADHD/ASD cases, while past hyperactivity and current impulsivity discriminated ASD subjects from ADHD/ASD subjects. Our findings highlight the importance of particular trait-based dimensions when discriminating adults with ADHD, ASD, and co-occurring ADHD/ASD.

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16. Peng J, Zhao M, Havrilla J, Liu C, Weng C, Guthrie W, Schultz R, Wang K, Zhou Y. Natural language processing (NLP) tools in extracting biomedical concepts from research articles : a case study on autism spectrum disorder. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak ;2020 (Dec 30) ;20(Suppl 11):322.

BACKGROUND : Natural language processing (NLP) tools can facilitate the extraction of biomedical concepts from unstructured free texts, such as research articles or clinical notes. The NLP software tools CLAMP, cTAKES, and MetaMap are among the most widely used tools to extract biomedical concept entities. However, their performance in extracting disease-specific terminology from literature has not been compared extensively, especially for complex neuropsychiatric disorders with a diverse set of phenotypic and clinical manifestations. METHODS : We comparatively evaluated these NLP tools using autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a case study. We collected 827 ASD-related terms based on previous literature as the benchmark list for performance evaluation. Then, we applied CLAMP, cTAKES, and MetaMap on 544 full-text articles and 20,408 abstracts from PubMed to extract ASD-related terms. We evaluated the predictive performance using precision, recall, and F1 score. RESULTS : We found that CLAMP has the best performance in terms of F1 score followed by cTAKES and then MetaMap. Our results show that CLAMP has much higher precision than cTAKES and MetaMap, while cTAKES and MetaMap have higher recall than CLAMP. CONCLUSION : The analysis protocols used in this study can be applied to other neuropsychiatric or neurodevelopmental disorders that lack well-defined terminology sets to describe their phenotypic presentations.

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17. Pijl MKJ, Bontinck C, Rommelse NNJ, Begum Ali J, Cauvet E, Niedzwiecka A, Falck-Ytter T, Jones EJH, Van den Boomen C, Bölte S, Johnson MH, Charman T, Warreyn P, Roeyers H, Buitelaar JK, Oosterling IJ. Parent-child interaction during the first year of life in infants at elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder. Infant Behav Dev ;2020 (Dec 30) ;62:101521.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) likely emerges from a complex interaction between pre-existing neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities and the environment. The interaction with parents forms a key aspect of an infant’s social environment, but few prospective studies of infants at elevated likelihood (EL) for ASD (who have an older sibling with ASD) have examined parent-child interactions in the first year of life. As part of a European multisite network, parent-child dyads of free play were observed at 5 months (62 EL infants, 47 infants at typical likelihood (TL)) and 10 months (101 EL siblings, 77 TL siblings). The newly-developed Parent-Infant/Toddler Coding of Interaction (PInTCI) scheme was used, focusing on global characteristics of infant and parent behaviors. Coders were blind to participant information. Linear mixed model analyses showed no significant group differences in infant or parent behaviors at 5 or 10 months of age (all ps≥0.09, d≤0.36), controlling for infant’s sex and age, and parental educational level. However, without adjustments, EL infants showed fewer and less clear initiations at 10 months than TL infants (p = 0.02, d = 0.44), but statistical significance was lost after controlling for parental education (p = 0.09, d = 0.36), which tended to be lower in the EL group. Consistent with previous literature focusing on parent-infant dyads, our findings suggest that differences between EL and TL dyads may only be subtle during the first year of life. We discuss possible explanations and implications for future developmental studies.

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18. Tárraga-Mínguez R, Gómez-Marí I, Sanz-Cervera P. Interventions for Improving Reading Comprehension in Children with ASD : A Systematic Review. Behav Sci (Basel) ;2020 (Dec 30) ;11(1)

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have comorbid learning difficulties in reading comprehension, an essential skill in accessing any area of the curriculum. The aim of this systematic review is to analyze the effectiveness of reading comprehension interventions in students with ASD. We conducted a search for scientific articles published from 2000 to 2019 using the keyword « autis* » in combination with the terms « reading comprehension » and « intervention » or « instruction » in Psyc Info and Scopus databases. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 25 studies were selected. The content analysis of these studies shows that when specific interventions are carried out, students with ASD are able to take advantage of the instruction they receive and compensate for difficulties. Understanding inferences and the main idea of the text are the most common reading comprehension topics, and direct instruction is the most widely-used intervention method in the reviewed studies. Nonetheless, it must be kept in mind that some of the reviews do not specify which sub-processes are addressed in the intervention. Future work should include this aspect, consider the importance of the interventions being implemented by teachers, and take specific aspects of ICT into account that can contribute to improving reading comprehension.

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19. Xu L, Sun Z, Xie J, Yu J, Li J, Wang J. Identification of autism spectrum disorder based on short-term spontaneous hemodynamic fluctuations using deep learning in a multi-layer neural network. Clin Neurophysiol ;2020 (Dec 30) ;132(2):457-468.

OBJECTIVE : To classify children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typical development (TD) using short-term spontaneous hemodynamic fluctuations and to explore the abnormality of inferior frontal gyrus and temporal lobe in ASD. METHODS : 25 ASD children and 22 TD children were measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy located on the inferior frontal gyrus and temporal lobe. To extract features used to classify ASD and TD, a multi-layer neural network was applied, combining with a three-layer convolutional neural network, a layer of long and short-term memory network (LSTM) and a layer of LSTM with Attention mechanism. In order to shorten the time of data collection and get more information from limited samples, a sliding window with 3.5 s width was utilized after comparisons, and numerous short (3.5 s) fNIRS time series were then obtained and used as the input of the multi-layer neural network. RESULTS : A good classification between ASD and TD was obtained with considerably high accuracy by using a multi-layer neural network in different brain regions, especially in the left temporal lobe, where sensitivity of 90.6% and specificity of 97.5% achieved. CONCLUSIONS : The « CLAttention » multi-layer neural network has the potential to excavate more meaningful features to distinguish between ASD and TD. Moreover, the temporal lobe may be worth further study. SIGNIFICANCE : The findings in this study may have implications for rapid diagnosis of children with ASD and provide a new perspective for future medical diagnosis.

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20. Zheng Y, Verhoeff TA, Perez Pardo P, Garssen J, Kraneveld AD. The Gut-Brain Axis in Autism Spectrum Disorder : A Focus on the Metalloproteases ADAM10 and ADAM17. Int J Mol Sci ;2020 (Dec 24) ;22(1)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a spectrum of disorders that are characterized by problems in social interaction and repetitive behavior. The disease is thought to develop from changes in brain development at an early age, although the exact mechanisms are not known yet. In addition, a significant number of people with ASD develop problems in the intestinal tract. A Disintegrin And Metalloproteases (ADAMs) include a group of enzymes that are able to cleave membrane-bound proteins. ADAM10 and ADAM17 are two members of this family that are able to cleave protein substrates involved in ASD pathogenesis, such as specific proteins important for synapse formation, axon signaling and neuroinflammation. All these pathological mechanisms are involved in ASD. Besides the brain, ADAM10 and ADAM17 are also highly expressed in the intestines. ADAM10 and ADAM17 have implications in pathways that regulate gut permeability, homeostasis and inflammation. These metalloproteases might be involved in microbiota-gut-brain axis interactions in ASD through the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses in the intestinal tract. In this review, the potential roles of ADAM10 and ADAM17 in the pathology of ASD and as targets for new therapies will be discussed, with a focus on the gut-brain axis.

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