1. Campbell AW. {{Autism: Environmental Triggers}}. {Adv Mind Body Med};2015 (Summer);29(3):4-5.
No Abstract Available.
2. Fung SC. {{Increasing the Social Communication of a Boy With Autism Using Animal-assisted Play Therapy: A Case Report}}. {Adv Mind Body Med};2015 (Summer);29(3):27-31.
Context * Although research has shown that animal-assisted play therapy (AAPT) is associated with increased positive social behaviors in children with autism, the related literature on AAPT and autism is very limited. Objectives * The study tested the effectiveness of AAPT in increasing the social communication of a boy with autism. The treatment’s effects on specific types of social communication were also investigated. Design * An A-B-A single-subject design was adopted to examine treatment effectiveness. Follow-up assessments were made at 1 mo posttreatment. Setting * The videotaped treatment sessions were held in the multipurpose room of the participant’s school. Participant * A 7-y-old boy who had a diagnosis of autism and mild-grade intellectual disability participated in the study. Intervention * AAPT was implemented in 20-min sessions held 3 x/wk. The 14 AAPT sessions occurred in 4 phases, covering child-dog relationship building and interaction in the presence of the therapist, with the diminishing presence of the dog occurring in phase 4.Outcome Measures * Naturally occurring social behaviors were measured in 3 baseline sessions, during the 14 AAPT sessions, during 3 posttreatment sessions, and again during 3 follow-up sessions. Momentary time sampling was used to estimate the frequency of target behaviors, using a 15-s interval. Behavioral categories were checked at every interval during each 20-min session in all 23 sessions. Results * The study showed that the boy’s social communication increased during treatment and remained higher than baseline at follow-up. An analysis of specific types of social communication showed that the benefits of AAPT were most apparent in the joint-attention and waiting behaviors. Conclusions * The findings provide support for using AAPT as an intervention to facilitate the social communication of children with autism.
3. Kaufmann M, Schuffenhauer A, Fruh I, Klein J, Thiemeyer A, Rigo P, Gomez-Mancilla B, Heidinger-Millot V, Bouwmeester T, Schopfer U, Mueller M, Fodor BD, Cobos-Correa A. {{High-Throughput Screening Using iPSC-Derived Neuronal Progenitors to Identify Compounds Counteracting Epigenetic Gene Silencing in Fragile X Syndrome}}. {J Biomol Screen};2015 (May 29)
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited mental retardation, and it is caused in most of cases by epigenetic silencing of the Fmr1 gene. Today, no specific therapy exists for FXS, and current treatments are only directed to improve behavioral symptoms. Neuronal progenitors derived from FXS patient induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represent a unique model to study the disease and develop assays for large-scale drug discovery screens since they conserve the Fmr1 gene silenced within the disease context. We have established a high-content imaging assay to run a large-scale phenotypic screen aimed to identify compounds that reactivate the silenced Fmr1 gene. A set of 50,000 compounds was tested, including modulators of several epigenetic targets. We describe an integrated drug discovery model comprising iPSC generation, culture scale-up, and quality control and screening with a very sensitive high-content imaging assay assisted by single-cell image analysis and multiparametric data analysis based on machine learning algorithms. The screening identified several compounds that induced a weak expression of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) and thus sets the basis for further large-scale screens to find candidate drugs or targets tackling the underlying mechanism of FXS with potential for therapeutic intervention.
