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Weerasekera A, Ion-Mărgineanu A, Nolan GP, Mody M. Subcortical-cortical white matter connectivity in adults with autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia patients. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2024; 340:111806. [PMID: 38508025 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2024.111806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SZ) are neuropsychiatric disorders that overlap in symptoms associated with social-cognitive impairment. Alterations of the cingulate cortex, subcortical, medial-temporal, and orbitofrontal structures are frequently reported in both disorders. In this study, we examined white-matter connectivity between these structures in adults with ASD and SZ patients compared with their respective neurotypical controls and indirectly with each other, using probabilistic and local DTI tractography. This exploratory study utilized publicly available neuroimaging databases, of adults with ASD (ABIDE II; n = 28) and SZ (COBRE; n = 38), age-gender matched neurotypicals (NT) and associated phenotypic data. Tractography was performed using Freesurfer and MRtrix software, and diffusion metrics of white-matter tracts between cingulate-, orbitofrontal- cortices, subcortical structures, parahippocampal, entorhinal cortex were assessed. In ASD, atypical diffusivity parameters were found in the isthmus cingulate and parahippocampal connectivity to subcortical and rostral-anterior cingulate, which were also associated with IQ and social skills (SRS). In contrast, atypical diffusivity parameters were observed between the medial-orbitofrontal cortex and subcortical structures in SZ, and were associated with executive function (i.e., IQ, processing speed) and emotional regulation. Overall, the results suggest that defects in the isthmus cingulate, medial-orbitofrontal, and striato-limbic white matter connectivity may help unravel the neural underpinnings of executive and social-emotional dysfunction at the core of neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akila Weerasekera
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Adrian Ion-Mărgineanu
- ESAT - STADIUS, KU Leuven, Leuven. Belgium; Biomed Artificial Intelligence LLC, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Garry P Nolan
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, United States
| | - Maria Mody
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Chen L, Liu J, Kang JB, Rosenberg-Lee M, Abrams DA, Menon V. Atypical pattern separation memory and its association with restricted interests and repetitive behaviors in autistic children. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2024; 28:1503-1518. [PMID: 38263761 PMCID: PMC11132949 DOI: 10.1177/13623613231223354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT Memory challenges remain understudied in childhood autism. Our study investigates one specific aspect of memory function, known as pattern separation memory, in autistic children. Pattern separation memory refers to the critical ability to store unique memories of similar stimuli; however, its role in childhood autism remains largely uncharted. Our study first uncovered that the pattern separation memory was significantly reduced in autistic children, and then showed that reduced memory performance was linked to their symptoms of repetitive, restricted interest and behavior. We also identified distinct subgroups with profiles of reduced and increased generalization for pattern separation memory. More than 72% of autistic children showed a tendency to reduce memory generalization, focusing heavily on unique details of objects for memorization. This focus made it challenging for them to identify commonalities across similar entities. Interestingly, a smaller proportion of autistic children displayed an opposite pattern of increased generalization, marked by challenges in differentiating between similar yet distinct objects. Our findings advance the understanding of memory function in autism and have practical implications for devising personalized learning strategies that align with the unique memory patterns exhibited by autistic children. This study will be of broad interest to researchers in psychology, psychiatry, and brain development as well as teachers, parents, clinicians, and the wider public.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lang Chen
- Department of Psychology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053
- Neuroscience Program, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Jin Liu
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Julia Boram Kang
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Miriam Rosenberg-Lee
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07102
| | - Daniel A. Abrams
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Vinod Menon
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305
- Department of Neurology & Neurological Sciences
- Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305
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3
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Barreto C, Curtin A, Topoglu Y, Day-Watkins J, Garvin B, Foster G, Ormanoglu Z, Sheridan E, Connell J, Bennett D, Heffler K, Ayaz H. Prefrontal Cortex Responses to Social Video Stimuli in Young Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. Brain Sci 2024; 14:503. [PMID: 38790481 PMCID: PMC11119834 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14050503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2024] [Revised: 05/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting individuals worldwide and characterized by deficits in social interaction along with the presence of restricted interest and repetitive behaviors. Despite decades of behavioral research, little is known about the brain mechanisms that influence social behaviors among children with ASD. This, in part, is due to limitations of traditional imaging techniques specifically targeting pediatric populations. As a portable and scalable optical brain monitoring technology, functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) provides a measure of cerebral hemodynamics related to sensory, motor, or cognitive function. Here, we utilized fNIRS to investigate the prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity of young children with ASD and with typical development while they watched social and nonsocial video clips. The PFC activity of ASD children was significantly higher for social stimuli at medial PFC, which is implicated in social cognition/processing. Moreover, this activity was also consistently correlated with clinical measures, and higher activation of the same brain area only during social video viewing was associated with more ASD symptoms. This is the first study to implement a neuroergonomics approach to investigate cognitive load in response to realistic, complex, and dynamic audiovisual social stimuli for young children with and without autism. Our results further confirm that new generation of portable fNIRS neuroimaging can be used for ecologically valid measurements of the brain function of toddlers and preschool children with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candida Barreto
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Adrian Curtin
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Yigit Topoglu
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | | | - Brigid Garvin
- St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA 19134, USA
| | - Grant Foster
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Zuhal Ormanoglu
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | | | - James Connell
- School of Education, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - David Bennett
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19129, USA
| | - Karen Heffler
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19129, USA
| | - Hasan Ayaz
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Drexel Solutions Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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4
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Brown MI, Heck PR, Chabris CF. The Social Shapes Test as a Self-Administered, Online Measure of Social Intelligence: Two Studies with Typically Developing Adults and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2024; 54:1804-1819. [PMID: 36757539 PMCID: PMC9909157 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-05901-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Abstract
The Social Shapes Test (SST) is a measure of social intelligence which does not use human faces or rely on extensive verbal ability. The SST has shown promising validity among adults without autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but it is uncertain whether it is suitable for adults with ASD. We find measurement invariance between adults with (n = 229) or without ASD (n = 1,049) on the 23-item SST. We also find that adults without ASD score higher on the SST than adults with ASD (d = 0.21). We also provide two, 14-item versions which demonstrated good parallel test-retest reliability and are positively related to scores on the Frith-Happé task. The SST is suitable for remote, online research studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matt I Brown
- Geisinger Health System, Lewisburg, PA, USA.
- Human Resources Research Organization, 66 Canal Center Plaza, Suite 700, 22314, Alexandria, VA, USA.
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Seyed-Alipour S, Alaghband-Rad J, Faraji S, Hooshyari Z, Tehranidoost M, Motamed M. Cognitive functioning in adults with autism spectrum disorder. APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY. ADULT 2024:1-8. [PMID: 38635408 DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2024.2336201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Neuropsychological deficits in areas of Executive Functioning (EF), theory of mind, and central coherence have been well-documented among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, there remains a significant gap in knowledge with regards to neuropsychological profile in adults with ASD. This study aims to investigate the intellectual functioning and neuropsychological profiles of a clinical population of adults with ASD. METHODS This cross-sectional study included 40 available autistic individuals referred to an adult developmental disorders clinic at a hospital between 2021 and 2022. All participants were assessed using the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (SBIS), Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R), and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). RESULTS Individuals with ASD exhibited lower IQ scores across all domains of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, compared to the general population, although the mean IQ scores remained within the normal range. Significant differences were observed in Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ, Non-Verbal IQ, Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing, and Working Memory compared to the general population. Additionally, autistic individuals' performance on verbal knowledge was higher compared to non-verbal knowledge. No significant correlations were found between the total and subscale scores of verbal and nonverbal IQ and AQ, RAADS-R, and SRS scores. CONCLUSION Considering the significant impacts of cognitive and executive function on the social and occupational aspects of autistic adults, further investigations in this area are warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sajedeh Seyed-Alipour
- Roozbeh Hospital, Faculty of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Javad Alaghband-Rad
- Roozbeh Hospital, Faculty of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Saba Faraji
- Roozbeh Hospital, Faculty of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Zahra Hooshyari
- Ziaeian Hospital, Faculty of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mehdi Tehranidoost
- Roozbeh Hospital, Faculty of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mahtab Motamed
- Roozbeh Hospital, Faculty of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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Simmons GL, Corbett BA, Lerner MD, Wofford K, White SW. Social competence in autism: A structural equation modeling approach. Autism Res 2024; 17:761-774. [PMID: 38481386 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
Autistic individuals present with difficulties in social competence (e.g., navigating social interactions and fostering relationships). Clinical interventions widely target social cognition and social behavior, but there is inconsistent understanding of the underlying components of social competence. The present study used structural equation modeling to examine social cognition and social behavior and explore the relationship between these latent constructs. Autistic youth (ages 10-17; n = 219) and their caregivers participated in this study. Constructs of social cognition and social behavior were captured using caregiver-report and self-report rating scales, as well as observational measures and direct clinical assessments (e.g., NEPSY-II). Measurement models of social cognition and social behavior demonstrated adequate to good fit. Correlational models demonstrated adequate to poor fit, indicating latent constructs of social cognition and social behavior are not closely related in autistic youth. Exploratory examination of a subsample of male youth (n = 157) evidenced improved model fit of social behavior, specifically. Findings tease apart social cognition and social behavior as cohesive and separable constructs; results do not support a structural relationship between social cognition and social behavior. Noted treatment implications include consideration of how targeting social cognition and social behavior together or separately may support autistic youth's progress toward reaching their identified therapeutic goals and supporting their self-directed social development.
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Affiliation(s)
- G L Simmons
- TEACCH Autism Program, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Center for Youth Development and Intervention, Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
| | - B A Corbett
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - M D Lerner
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA
- AJ Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - K Wofford
- Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
| | - S W White
- Center for Youth Development and Intervention, Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
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van Andel DM, Sprengers JJ, Königs M, de Jonge MV, Bruining H. Effects of Bumetanide on Neurocognitive Functioning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial. J Autism Dev Disord 2024; 54:894-904. [PMID: 36626004 PMCID: PMC10907457 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05841-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
We present the secondary-analysis of neurocognitive tests in the 'Bumetanide in Autism Medication and Biomarker' (BAMBI;EUDRA-CT-2014-001560-35) study, a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled (1:1) trial testing 3-months bumetanide treatment (≤ 1 mg twice-daily) in unmedicated children 7-15 years with ASD. Children with IQ ≥ 70 were analyzed for baseline deficits and treatment-effects on the intention-to-treat-population with generalized-linear-models, principal component analysis and network analysis. Ninety-two children were allocated to treatment and 83 eligible for analyses. Heterogeneous neurocognitive impairments were found that were unaffected by bumetanide treatment. Network analysis showed higher modularity after treatment (mean difference:-0.165, 95%CI:-0.317 to - 0.013,p = .034) and changes in the relative importance of response inhibition in the neurocognitive network (mean difference:-0.037, 95%CI:-0.073 to - 0.001,p = .042). This study offers perspectives to include neurocognitive tests in ASD trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorinde M van Andel
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Centre, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Jan J Sprengers
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Centre, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Marsh Königs
- Department of Paediatrics, Emma Neuroscience Group, Amsterdam UMC Emma Children's Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Maretha V de Jonge
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Centre, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Department Education and Child Studies, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Hilgo Bruining
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Centre, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychosocial Care, Emma Children's Hospital, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- N=You Neurodevelopmental Precision Center, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam Reproduction and Development, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Levvel, Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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8
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Bagnall R, Russell A, Brosnan M, Maras K. Autistic adults' inclination to lie in everyday situations. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2024; 28:718-731. [PMID: 37572035 PMCID: PMC10913365 DOI: 10.1177/13623613231183911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/14/2023]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT Differences in social communication and understanding others' mental states may mean that autistic adults are less likely to deceive others than non-autistic individuals. We investigated whether autistic and non-autistic adults differ in their inclination to lie and which psychological factors are involved in the inclination to lie. We found that autistic and non-autistic groups reported a similar inclination to lie, and the extent to which participants viewed lying as acceptable helped to explain their inclination to deceive others. However, the other underlying psychological factors associated with deception inclination differed between autistic and non-autistic groups. Autistic adults' belief about their ability to lie and also how quickly they could lie helped to explain whether they were more or less inclined to lie. For non-autistic adults, their memory and ability to understand others' mental states helped to explain their lie inclination. We discuss these findings and recommend areas for future research.
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Bieczek D, Ściślicka A, Bobowska A, Tomsia F, Wilczyński KM, Janas-Kozik M. Relationship of autistic traits and the severity of fear of the COVID-19 pandemic in the general population. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1260444. [PMID: 38469032 PMCID: PMC10925681 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1260444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Background The aim of the study was to investigate the level of fear of the COVID-19 pandemic and to detect a possible correlation between the autistic traits and the level of fear and to learn about other factors that may affect the level of fear. Methods The study utilised a questionnaire and was conducted online in the period from 16.02.2021 to 11.06.2021. The test group consisted of 214 respondents with an average age of 23.78 years (95%CI: 22.48 - 25.08; max: 61, min: 14) from the general population. The study used The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) questionnaire to assess the degree of autistic traits in the general population and The Fear of COVID-19 Scale, which was used to assess the level of fear of COVID-19. Results Among the respondents, 9 people scored ≥32 on the AQ test and were considered to have a high degree of autistic traits. In multiple regression (R2 = 0.1, p<0.0001), a positive relationship between the severity of fear of COVID-19 and the autistic traits (p=0.01) and age (p<0.001) was obtained. Additionally, a second multiple regression (R2 = 0.1, p<0.000001) including the subscales of AQ was performed and a positive relationship between the severity of fear of COVID-19 and the difficulties in attention switching (p=0.0004) and age (p=0.00001) was obtained. Conclusion People with higher autistic traits present greater fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. We suggest that it might be caused by cognitive stiffness and disorders in emotions regulation, according to the literature. The elderly also present higher levels of fear. The other variables did not affect the level of fear of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominika Bieczek
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Developmental Age, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
| | - Adrianna Ściślicka
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Developmental Age, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Bobowska
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Developmental Age, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
| | - Filip Tomsia
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Developmental Age, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Maria Wilczyński
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Developmental Age, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Developmental Age, John Paul’s II Pediatric Center, Sosnowiec, Poland
| | - Małgorzata Janas-Kozik
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Developmental Age, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Developmental Age, John Paul’s II Pediatric Center, Sosnowiec, Poland
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McNair ML, Mondejar V, Libsack EJ, Mordekai NH, McKown C, Russo-Ponsaran NM, Lerner MD. Examining the Process and Impact of Social Problem Solving in Autistic Children. J Autism Dev Disord 2024:10.1007/s10803-024-06261-1. [PMID: 38393439 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06261-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
Social problem solving (SPS) represents a social cognitive reasoning process that gives way to behavior when individuals are navigating challenging social situations. Autistic individuals have been shown to struggle with specific aspects of SPS, which, in turn, has been related to social difficulties in children. However, no previous work has measured how SPS components not only relate to one another but also discretely and conjointly predict autism-related symptoms and social difficulties in autistic children, specifically. Fifty-eight autistic children (44 male; 6-10 years old, Mage=8.67, SDage=1.31) completed a self-administered, computerized assessment of SPS. To elucidate how SPS components discretely, and combined, contribute to autism-related symptoms and social difficulties, commonality analyses were conducted for each measure assessing autism-related symptoms and social difficulties. Socially normative problem identification, goal preference, and solution preference were related to fewer parent-reported autism-related social difficulties. Measures related to autism symptomatology, social perspective taking, and emotion recognition were not significantly associated with discrete SPS components in this sample. The problem identification aspect of SPS contributed the most unique variance to parent-reported autism-related social difficulties, while shared variance across all SPS components accounted for substantial variance in both parent-reported autism-related social difficulties models. Results suggest that SPS components are interrelated, but distinct, constructs in the autistic population. These findings not only further clarify the impact of SPS components on autism-related symptoms and social difficulties, but also have implications for refining SPS-focused interventions in the autistic population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan L McNair
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-2500, USA
| | - Victoria Mondejar
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-2500, USA
| | - Erin J Libsack
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-2500, USA
| | - Nicole H Mordekai
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-2500, USA
- American Medical Program at Tel Aviv University, Sackler School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA
| | - Clark McKown
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA
| | - Nicole M Russo-Ponsaran
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA
| | - Matthew D Lerner
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-2500, USA.
- AJ Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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11
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Livingston LA, Shah P, Happé F. Linearly integrating speed and accuracy to measure individual differences in theory of mind: Evidence from autistic and neurotypical adults. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2024; 77:287-297. [PMID: 36912210 PMCID: PMC10798019 DOI: 10.1177/17470218231165251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Revised: 01/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
It has long been theorised that there is a direct link between individual differences in social cognition and behaviour. One of the most popular tests of this theory has involved examination of Theory of Mind (ToM) difficulties in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, evidence for associations between ToM and social behaviour is mixed, both when testing the ToM explanation of ASD and when investigating individual differences in ToM in the general population. We argue that this is due to methodological limitations of many ToM measures, such as a lack of variability in task performance, inappropriate non-ToM control tasks, and a failure to account for general mental ability. To overcome these issues, we designed a novel task, which probed individual differences in ToM fluency through mental state attribution in response to cartoons (Cartoons Theory of Mind [CarToM] task). This task, enabling the linear combination of speed and accuracy, was used to quantify ToM ability and its association with self-reported (a)typical social behaviour in adults with and without ASD. In a large sample (N = 237), we found that having an ASD diagnosis and higher autistic traits predicted lower ToM ability, even after accounting for performance on a well-matched non-ToM condition and general mental ability. Overall, our findings provide fresh support for the existence of a link between individual differences in social cognition (specifically, ToM) and behaviour (specifically, autism). This has implications for social-cognitive theory and research, allowing large-scale, online assessment of individual differences in ToM in clinical groups and the general population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy Anne Livingston
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Innovation Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Punit Shah
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK
| | - Francesca Happé
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
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12
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Thirtamara Rajamani K, Barbier M, Lefevre A, Niblo K, Cordero N, Netser S, Grinevich V, Wagner S, Harony-Nicolas H. Oxytocin activity in the paraventricular and supramammillary nuclei of the hypothalamus is essential for social recognition memory in rats. Mol Psychiatry 2024; 29:412-424. [PMID: 38052983 PMCID: PMC11116117 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-02336-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Revised: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Oxytocin plays an important role in modulating social recognition memory. However, the direct implication of oxytocin neurons of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) and their downstream hypothalamic targets in regulating short- and long-term forms of social recognition memory has not been fully investigated. In this study, we employed a chemogenetic approach to target the activity of PVH oxytocin neurons in male rats and found that specific silencing of this neuronal population led to an impairment in short- and long-term social recognition memory. We combined viral-mediated fluorescent labeling of oxytocin neurons with immunohistochemical techniques and identified the supramammillary nucleus (SuM) of the hypothalamus as a target of PVH oxytocinergic axonal projections in rats. We used multiplex fluorescence in situ hybridization to label oxytocin receptors in the SuM and determined that they are predominantly expressed in glutamatergic neurons, including those that project to the CA2 region of the hippocampus. Finally, we used a highly selective oxytocin receptor antagonist in the SuM to examine the involvement of oxytocin signaling in modulating short- and long-term social recognition memory and found that it is necessary for the formation of both. This study discovered a previously undescribed role for the SuM in regulating social recognition memory via oxytocin signaling and reinforced the specific role of PVH oxytocin neurons in regulating this form of memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keerthi Thirtamara Rajamani
- Department of Psychiatry and Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Marie Barbier
- Department of Psychiatry and Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Arthur Lefevre
- Department of Neuropeptide Research in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
- Cortical Systems and Behavior Laboratory, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Kristi Niblo
- Department of Psychiatry and Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nicholas Cordero
- CUNY School of Medicine, The City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY, USA
| | - Shai Netser
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Valery Grinevich
- Department of Neuropeptide Research in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Shlomo Wagner
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Hala Harony-Nicolas
- Department of Psychiatry and Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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13
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Ross LA, Molholm S, Butler JS, Del Bene VA, Brima T, Foxe JJ. Neural correlates of audiovisual narrative speech perception in children and adults on the autism spectrum: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Autism Res 2024; 17:280-310. [PMID: 38334251 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Autistic individuals show substantially reduced benefit from observing visual articulations during audiovisual speech perception, a multisensory integration deficit that is particularly relevant to social communication. This has mostly been studied using simple syllabic or word-level stimuli and it remains unclear how altered lower-level multisensory integration translates to the processing of more complex natural multisensory stimulus environments in autism. Here, functional neuroimaging was used to examine neural correlates of audiovisual gain (AV-gain) in 41 autistic individuals to those of 41 age-matched non-autistic controls when presented with a complex audiovisual narrative. Participants were presented with continuous narration of a story in auditory-alone, visual-alone, and both synchronous and asynchronous audiovisual speech conditions. We hypothesized that previously identified differences in audiovisual speech processing in autism would be characterized by activation differences in brain regions well known to be associated with audiovisual enhancement in neurotypicals. However, our results did not provide evidence for altered processing of auditory alone, visual alone, audiovisual conditions or AV- gain in regions associated with the respective task when comparing activation patterns between groups. Instead, we found that autistic individuals responded with higher activations in mostly frontal regions where the activation to the experimental conditions was below baseline (de-activations) in the control group. These frontal effects were observed in both unisensory and audiovisual conditions, suggesting that these altered activations were not specific to multisensory processing but reflective of more general mechanisms such as an altered disengagement of Default Mode Network processes during the observation of the language stimulus across conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars A Ross
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
- Department of Imaging Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Sophie Molholm
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - John S Butler
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Technological University Dublin, City Campus, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Victor A Del Bene
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
- Heersink School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Tufikameni Brima
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
| | - John J Foxe
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
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14
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Alvarez R, Velthorst E, Pinkham A, Ludwig KA, Alamansa J, Gaigg SB, Penn DL, Harvey PD, Fett AK. Reading the mind in the eyes and cognitive ability in schizophrenia- and autism spectrum disorders. Psychol Med 2023; 53:7913-7922. [PMID: 37522512 PMCID: PMC10755246 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723002052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Schizophrenia (SZ) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by difficulties in theory of mind (ToM). We examined group differences in performance on a ToM-related test and associations with an estimated IQ. METHODS Participants [N = 1227, SZ (n = 563), ASD (n = 159), and controls (n = 505), 32.2% female] completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and assessments of cognitive ability. Associations between IQ and group on RMET were investigated with regression analyses. RESULTS SZ (d = 0.73, p < 0.001) and ASD (d = 0.37, p < 0.001) performed significantly worse on the RMET than controls. SZ performed significantly worse than ASD (d = 0.32, p = 0.002). Adding IQ to the model, SZ (d = 0.60, p < 0.001) and ASD (d = 0.44, p < 0.001) continued to perform significantly worse than controls, but no longer differed from each other (d = 0.13, p = 0.30). Small significant negative correlations between symptom severity and RMET performance were found in SZ (PANSS positive: r = -0.10, negative: r = -0.11, both p < 0.05). A small non-significant negative correlation was found for Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule scores and RMET in ASD (r = -0.08, p = 0.34). CONCLUSIONS SZ and ASD are characterized by impairments in RMET. IQ contributed significantly to RMET performance and accounted for group differences in RMET between SZ and ASD. This suggests that non-social cognitive ability needs to be included in comparative studies of the two disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Alvarez
- Department of Psychology, City, University of London, London, UK
| | - Eva Velthorst
- Community Mental Health Department GGZ Noord-Holland-Noord, Heerhugowaard, the Netherlands
| | - Amy Pinkham
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA
| | - Kelsey A. Ludwig
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jorge Alamansa
- Department of Psychology, City, University of London, London, UK
| | | | - David L. Penn
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Philip D. Harvey
- University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
- Research Service, Bruce W. Carter Medical Center, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Anne-Kathrin Fett
- Department of Psychology, City, University of London, London, UK
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, UK
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15
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Zapparrata NM, Brooks PJ, Ober TM. Slower Processing Speed in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-analytic Investigation of Time-Based Tasks. J Autism Dev Disord 2023; 53:4618-4640. [PMID: 36112302 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05736-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition affecting information processing across domains. The current meta-analysis investigated whether slower processing speed is associated with the ASD neurocognitive profile and whether findings hold across different time-based tasks and stimuli (social vs. nonsocial; linguistic vs. nonlinguistic). Mean RTs of ASD and age-matched neurotypical comparison groups (N = 893 ASD, 1063 neurotypical; mean age ASD group = 17 years) were compared across simple RT, choice RT, and interference control tasks (44 studies, 106 effects) using robust variance estimation meta-analysis. Simple RT tasks required participants to respond to individual stimuli, whereas choice RT tasks required forced-choice responses to two or more stimuli. Interference control tasks required a decision in the context of a distractor or priming stimulus; in an effort to minimize inhibitory demands, we extracted RTs only from baseline and congruent conditions of such tasks. All tasks required nonverbal (motor) responses. The overall effect-size estimate indicated significantly longer mean RTs in ASD groups (g = .35, 95% CI = .16; .54) than comparison groups. Task type moderated effects, with larger estimates drawn from simple RT tasks than interference control tasks. However, across all three task types, ASD groups exhibited significantly longer mean RTs than comparison groups. Stimulus type and age did not moderate effects. Generalized slowing may be a domain-general characteristic of ASD with potential consequences for social, language, and motor development. Assessing processing speed may inform development of interventions to support autistic individuals and their diverse cognitive profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole M Zapparrata
- The College of Staten Island, City University of New York, 2800 Victory Blvd, Staten Island, NY, 10314, USA.
- Educational Psychology Program, The CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave., New York, NY, 10016, USA.
| | - Patricia J Brooks
- The College of Staten Island, City University of New York, 2800 Victory Blvd, Staten Island, NY, 10314, USA
- Educational Psychology Program, The CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave., New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Teresa M Ober
- University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA
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16
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Ozbek SU, Sut E, Bora E. Comparison of social cognition and neurocognition in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 155:105441. [PMID: 37923237 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Revised: 10/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND This report aimed to compare group differences in social and non-social cognition in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia, and examine the influence of age and other factors on group differences. METHODS Literature searches were conducted in Pubmed and Web of Science from January 1980 to August 2022. Original research articles reporting objective measures of cognition were selected. RESULTS 57 articles involving 1864 patients with schizophrenia and 1716 patients with ASD have been included. Schizophrenia was associated with more severe non-social-cognitive impairment, particularly in fluency (g=0.47;CI[0.17-0.76]) and processing speed domains (g=0.41;CI[0.20-0.62]). Poorer performance in social cognition (Z = 3.68,p = 0.0002) and non-social cognition (Z = 2.48,p = 0.01) in schizophrenia were significantly related to older age. ASD was associated with more severe social cognitive impairment when groups were matched for non-social-cognition (g=-0.18, p = 0.04) or reasoning/problem solving (g=-0,62; CI [-1,06-(-0.08)]. DISCUSSION While both disorders present with social and non-social cognitive impairments, the pattern and developmental trajectories of these deficits are different. The limitations included heterogeneity of the cognitive measures, and the lack of sufficient information about antipsychotic use.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ekin Sut
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
| | - Emre Bora
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey; Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Carlton South, Victoria 3053, Australia; Department of Neurosciences, Health Sciences Institute, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
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17
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Wang Q, Ren H, Li Z, Li J, Dai L, Dong M, Zhou J, He J, Chen X, Gu L, He Y, Tang J. Differences in olfactory dysfunction and its relationship with cognitive function in schizophrenia patients with and without auditory verbal hallucinations. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2023; 273:1813-1824. [PMID: 36949249 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-023-01589-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/24/2023]
Abstract
Olfactory discrimination dysfunction has been observed in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ), but its relationship with cognitive function has not been clarified. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in olfactory identification function in SCZ patients with and without auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) and its relationship with cognitive function. Olfactory identification function was measured in 80 SCZ patients with AVHs, 57 SCZ patients without AVHs, and 87 healthy controls (HC). Clinical symptom scores and neuropsychological measures were also administered to all corresponding subjects. Compared to HC, SCZ patients showed significant deficits in olfactory identification and cognitive function, but there were no differences in olfactory identification dysfunction and cognitive dysfunction between the two subgroups. In the non-AVHs subgroup only, poorer Olfactory Stick Identification Test for Japanese (OSIT-J) scores were significantly and positively correlated with total and delayed recall (Bonferroni correction, p < 0.002). Stepwise regression analysis revealed that factors affecting olfactory identification impairment differed in the two SCZ patient subgroups. In conclusion, this study highlights the commonality of olfactory identification dysfunction in SCZ patients and the importance of olfactory assessment of different subtypes of SCZ patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianjin Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Honghong Ren
- Department of Psychiatry, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Shandong, China
| | - Zongchang Li
- Department of Psychiatry, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Jinguang Li
- Department of Psychiatry, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Lulin Dai
- Department of Psychiatry, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Min Dong
- Guangdong Mental Health Center, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Jun Zhou
- Department of Psychiatry, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Jingqi He
- Department of Psychiatry, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Xiaogang Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | | | - Ying He
- Department of Psychiatry, and National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
| | - Jinsong Tang
- Department of Psychiatry, Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310016, China.
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18
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Van der Donck S, Hendriks M, Vos S, Op de Beeck H, Boets B. Neural sensitivity to facial identity and facial expression discrimination in adults with autism. Autism Res 2023; 16:2110-2124. [PMID: 37823568 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
The fluent processing of faces can be challenging for autistic individuals. Here, we assessed the neural sensitivity to rapid changes in subtle facial cues in 23 autistic men and 23 age and IQ matched non-autistic (NA) controls using frequency-tagging electroencephalography (EEG). In oddball paradigms examining the automatic and implicit discrimination of facial identity and facial expression, base rate images were presented at 6 Hz, periodically interleaved every fifth image with an oddball image (i.e. 1.2 Hz oddball frequency). These distinctive frequency tags for base rate and oddball stimuli allowed direct and objective quantification of the neural discrimination responses. We found no large differences in the neural sensitivity of participants in both groups, not for facial identity discrimination, nor for facial expression discrimination. Both groups also showed a clear face-inversion effect, with reduced brain responses for inverted versus upright faces. Furthermore, sad faces generally elicited significantly lower neural amplitudes than angry, fearful and happy faces. The only minor group difference is the larger involvement of high-level right-hemisphere visual areas in NA men for facial expression processing. These findings are discussed from a developmental perspective, as they strikingly contrast with robust face processing deficits observed in autistic children using identical EEG paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Van der Donck
- Center for Developmental Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michelle Hendriks
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Unit Brain and Cognition, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuve, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Silke Vos
- Center for Developmental Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Hans Op de Beeck
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Unit Brain and Cognition, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuve, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bart Boets
- Center for Developmental Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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19
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Thaler H, Falter-Wagner C. [Autism spectrum disorder in adulthood]. FORTSCHRITTE DER NEUROLOGIE-PSYCHIATRIE 2023; 91:466-478. [PMID: 37944552 DOI: 10.1055/a-1898-5347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that starts in early childhood and persists over the lifespan. A combination of genetic factors and environmental factors around birth contribute to its etiology. Autistic individuals show differences and difficulties in social interaction and communication as well as repetitive, stereotypical behavior and interests. The diagnostic procedure is complex and should be carried out in a specialized assessment unit. Diagnostic assessment is based on behavioral observation and a careful evaluation of developmental history. A wide range of potential differential diagnoses should be considered. Autistic adults have a higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression. Psychotherapeutic treatment that is adapted to autism-related difficulties can be helpful. Co-occurring conditions should be treated in accordance with disorder-specific guidelines. Psychopharmacological treatment of co-occurring conditions is, in most cases, only recommended as an addition to behavioral interventions. Autistic people often experience difficulties in social participation, which can be targeted with sociotherapeutic interventions.
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20
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Al-Mazidi SH. The Physiology of Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Current and Future Challenges. Cureus 2023; 15:e46581. [PMID: 37808604 PMCID: PMC10557542 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.46581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Cognitive impairment is among the most challenging characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although ASD is one of the common neurodevelopmental disorders, we are still behind in diagnosing and treating cognitive impairment in ASD. Cognitive impairment in ASD varies, meaning it could be at the sensory perception level to cognitive processing, learning, and memory. There are no diagnostic criteria for cognitive impairment that are specific to ASD. The leading causes of cognitive impairment in ASD could be neurological, immune, and gastrointestinal dysfunction. Immune dysfunction might lead to neuroinflammation, affecting neural connectivity, glutamate/gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) balance, and plasticity. The gut-brain axes are essential in the developing brain. Special retinal changes have recently been detected in ASD, which need clinical investigation to find their possible role in early diagnosis. Early intervention is crucial for ASD cognitive dysfunction. Due to the heterogeneity of the disease, the clinical manifestation of ASD makes it difficult for clinicians to develop gold-standard diagnostic and therapeutic criteria. We suggest a triad for diagnosis, which includes clinical tests for immune and gastrointestinal dysfunction biomarkers, clinical examination for the retina, and an objective neurocognitive evaluation for ASD, and to develop a treatment strategy involving these three aspects. Developing clear treatment criteria for cognitive impairment for ASD would improve the quality of life of ASD people and their caregivers and would delay or prevent dementia-related disorders in ASD people.
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21
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Gao S, Wang X, Su Y. Examining whether adults with autism spectrum disorder encounter multiple problems in theory of mind: a study based on meta-analysis. Psychon Bull Rev 2023; 30:1740-1758. [PMID: 37101097 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02280-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023]
Abstract
Theory of mind (ToM) represents a complex ability, while persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encounter difficulties in the processing of ToM. The present ToM-focused studies on adults with ASD report inconsistent results, possibly owing to the differences between tasks. For instance, different ToM-related tasks involve different cognitive abilities, but the development of these cognitive abilities is different among adults with ASD, thereby leading to different behaviors by the same individual with ASD in different tasks. Therefore, it is of vital significance to explore the potential reasons for inconsistencies in the existing studies based on the task classification perspective. Hence, this study primarily reviews the existing ToM tasks used in studies on adults with ASD; afterward, based on the forms and characteristics of the task, the current ToM tasks are classified into four categories-reading comprehension, perceptual scene comprehension, comprehensive scene comprehension , and self-other processing. Subsequently, a meta-analysis is undertaken to determine the difference in each ToM task category between the ASD group and the typically developing (TD) group. As a result, 110 research papers (including 3,205 adults with ASD and 3,675 TD adults) that fulfilled the stated criteria are examined in this study. The study findings suggest that adults with ASD demonstrate worse performance in terms of all four ToM task categories as compared to TD adults. Furthermore, compared with tasks of self-other processing and perceptual scene comprehension, adults with ASD perform worse in reading comprehension and comprehensive scene comprehension. This shows that the differences between tasks may exert a potential influence on the study results. Future studies should focus on different abilities involved in ToM processing and the choice of ToM tasks, in order to elucidate the critical problems of ToM in adults with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shihuan Gao
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Xieshun Wang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, China
- School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
| | - Yanjie Su
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, China.
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22
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Soylu F, May K, Kana R. White and gray matter correlates of theory of mind in autism: a voxel-based morphometry study. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:1671-1689. [PMID: 37452864 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02680-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/02/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties in theory of mind (ToM) and social communication. Studying structural and functional correlates of ToM in the brain and how autistic and nonautistic groups differ in terms of these correlates can help with diagnosis and understanding the biological mechanisms of ASD. In this study, we investigated white matter volume (WMV) and gray matter volume (GMV) differences between matching autistic and nonautistic samples, and how these structural features relate to age and ToM skills, indexed by the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RMIE) measure. The results showed widespread GMV and WMV differences between the two groups in regions crucial for social processes. The autistic group did not express the typically observed negative GMV and positive WMV correlations with age at the same level as the nonautistic group, pointing to abnormalities in developmental structural changes. In addition, we found differences between the two groups in how GMV relates to ToM, particularly in the left frontal regions, and how WMV relates to ToM, mostly in the cingulate and corpus callosum. Finally, GMV in the left insula, a region that is part of the salience network, was found to be crucial in distinguishing ToM performance between the two groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Firat Soylu
- Educational Psychology Program, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA.
| | - Kaitlyn May
- Educational Psychology Program, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA
| | - Rajesh Kana
- Department of Psychology, & the Center for Innovative Research in Autism, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA
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23
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McNair ML, Keenan EG, Houck AP, Lerner MD. Seeking contexts that promote neurodiverse social success: Patterns of behavior during minimally-structured interaction settings in autistic and non-autistic youth. Dev Psychopathol 2023:1-16. [PMID: 37593821 PMCID: PMC10874463 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579423000950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/19/2023]
Abstract
While peer interaction differences are considered a central feature of autism, little is known regarding the nature of these interactions via directly-observed measurement of naturalistic (i.e., minimally-structured) groups of autistic and non-autistic adolescent peers. 148 autistic and non-autistic adolescents (111 male, Mage = 14.22, SDage = 1.90; MIQ = 103.22, SDIQ = 15.80) participated in a 50-minute, minimally-structured, naturalistic peer interaction paradigm with activities of varying social demands: an incidental social demand (eating in a room with peers), a physical social demand (playing a physically-interactive game), and a verbal social demand (playing a verbal game). While autistic youth exhibited fewer overall interaction behaviors than non-autistic youth, the two groups did not differ in amount of positive, negative, and low-level interaction behaviors. Within activities, autistic and non-autistic youth only differed in positive interaction behaviors during the context of a verbal social demand. Youth who displayed more positive interaction behaviors during this same activity had less autism spectrum disorder symptomatology, controlling for nested group effects and relevant covariates. These results point toward subtle differences in social demands across naturalistic settings that can either support or impede prosocial interaction for autistic youth, providing a guidepost for identifying settings that best promote social success for neurodiverse populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan L McNair
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Elliot Gavin Keenan
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
- Department of Human Development & Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Abigail P Houck
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Matthew D Lerner
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
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24
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Fusar-Poli L, Rodolico A, Martinez M, Fichera C, Lin BD, Basadonne I, Concerto C, Aguglia E, Guloksuz S, Signorelli MS. The association between polygenic risk scores for mental disorders and social cognition: A scoping review. J Psychiatr Res 2023; 164:389-401. [PMID: 37418886 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.06.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
People with mental disorders, such as psychosis or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often present impairments in social cognition (SC), which may cause significant difficulties in real-world functioning. SC deficits are seen also in unaffected relatives, indicating a genetic substratum. The present review evaluated the evidence on the association between SC and the polygenic risk score (PRS), a single metric of the molecular genetic risk to develop a specific disorder. In July 2022, we conducted systematic searches in Scopus and PubMed following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. We selected original articles written in English reporting results on the association between PRSs for any mental disorder and domains of SC either in people with mental disorders or controls. The search yielded 244 papers, of which 13 were selected for inclusion. Studies tested mainly PRSs for schizophrenia, ASD, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Emotion recognition was the most investigated domain of SC. Overall, evidence revealed that currently available PRSs for mental disorders do not explain variation in SC performances. To enhance the understanding of mechanisms underlying SC in mental disorders, future research should focus on the development of transdiagnostic PRSs, study their interaction with environmental risk factors, and standardize outcome measurement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Fusar-Poli
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy; Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Catania, Italy.
| | - Alessandro Rodolico
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Catania, Italy
| | - Miriam Martinez
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Catania, Italy
| | - Clarissa Fichera
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Catania, Italy
| | - Bochao D Lin
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Ilaria Basadonne
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy
| | - Carmen Concerto
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Catania, Italy
| | - Eugenio Aguglia
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Catania, Italy
| | - Sinan Guloksuz
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
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25
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Kamalmaz N, Ben Bacha A, Alonazi M, Albasher G, Khayyat AIA, El-Ansary A. Unveiling sex-based differences in developing propionic acid-induced features in mice as a rodent model of ASD. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15488. [PMID: 37334116 PMCID: PMC10274690 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Males are more likely to develop autism as a neurodevelopmental disorder than females are, although the mechanisms underlying male vulnerability are not fully understood. Therefore, studying the role of autism etiologies considering sex differences in the propionic acid (PPA) rodent model of autism would build greater understanding of how females are protected from autism spectrum disorder, which may be used as a treatment strategy for males with autism. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the sex differences in oxidative stress, glutamate excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation, and gut microbiota impairment as etiological mechanisms for many neurological diseases, with specific reference to autism. Method Forty albino mice were divided into four groups of 10 animals each with two control and two treated groups of both sexes received only phosphate-buffered saline or a neurotoxic dose of PPA (250 mg/kg body weight) for 3 days, respectively. Biochemical markers of energy metabolism, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and excitotoxicity were measured in mouse brain homogenates, whereas the presence of pathogenic bacteria was assessed in mouse stool samples. Furthermore, the repetitive behavior, cognitive ability, and physical-neural coordination of the animals were examined. Results Collectively, selected variables related to oxidative stress, glutamate excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation, and gut bacteria were impaired concomitantly with altered behavior in PPA-induced rodent model, with males being more susceptible than females. Conclusion This study explains the role of sex in the higher vulnerability of males to develop autistic biochemical and behavioral features compared with females. Female sex hormones and the higher detoxification capacity and higher glycolytic flux in females serve as neuroprotective contributors in a rodent model of autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nasreen Kamalmaz
- Biochemistry Department, Science College, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abir Ben Bacha
- Biochemistry Department, Science College, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mona Alonazi
- Biochemistry Department, Science College, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Gadah Albasher
- Zoology Department, Science College, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Arwa Ishaq A. Khayyat
- Biochemistry Department, Science College, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Afaf El-Ansary
- Central Research Laboratory, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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26
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Bahri J, Abbes ZS, Ben Yahia H, Halayem S, Jelili S, Hajri M, Amado I, Medalia A, Bouden A. Toward an integrative socio-cognitive approach in autism spectrum disorder: NEAR method adaptation-study protocol. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:940066. [PMID: 37293399 PMCID: PMC10244578 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.940066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
BackgroundThe cognitive impairments exhibited by people with ASD, threaten the development of social skills that are essential for establishing and maintaining harmonious social relationships. Cognitive remediation and social skills training are now considered as crucial therapeutic approaches in the management of these disorders. Several programs have already been validated and have shown improvements in social skills or cognitive performance. However, the effects of these training methods seem to be difficult to generalize to other everyday life. The aim of our study is to alleviate cognitive and social deficiencies by using a socio-cognitive framework to adapt the Neuropsychological Educational Approach to Remediation (NEAR) method for adolescents with ASD.Methods/designAdolescents meeting the DSM-5 criteria for ASD, older than 13 years, and following a regular school curriculum will be recruited from clinical population at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Razi University Hospital-Manouba- Tunisia. Our study is an open and non-randomized controlled trial including 30 patients: NEAR group / control group. The NEAR method combines computerized cognitive exercises and bridging groups inspired from cognitive behavioral therapy. NEAR group will be divided into three groups of five patients each. The duration of the sessions will vary according to the capacities of the participants and the exchanges between them (about 60–120 min). In our study, bridging groups will be amended by adding other tasks including planning role plays and scenarios of problematic social situations in autism, taking into account cultural particularities in order to promote social skills. Computerized exercises will be enriched by adding other tasks aiming to improve the recognition and expression of facial emotions by using digital videos and photographs expressing the six basic emotions. The duration of the program will be about 6 months. All selected patients will have an assessment of cognitive function: social cognition, neurocognition and pragmatic skills, social skills, self-esteem and global functioning at baseline, 1 week after the end of the NEAR program and 6 months later.ConclusionThis adaptive program is a promising socio-cognitive intervention that create new perspectives for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jihene Bahri
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Zeineb S. Abbes
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Houda Ben Yahia
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
| | - Soumeyya Halayem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Selima Jelili
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Melek Hajri
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Isabelle Amado
- CH Sainte-Anne, C3RP & Services de Psychiatrie d'adultes HU & 75G17, Paris, France
| | - Alice Medalia
- Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, United States
| | - Asma Bouden
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
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Ortega J, Chen Z, Whitney D. Inferential Emotion Tracking reveals impaired context-based emotion processing in individuals with high Autism Quotient scores. Sci Rep 2023; 13:8093. [PMID: 37208368 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35371-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Emotion perception is essential for successful social interactions and maintaining long-term relationships with friends and family. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience social communication deficits and have reported difficulties in facial expression recognition. However, emotion recognition depends on more than just processing face expression; context is critically important to correctly infer the emotions of others. Whether context-based emotion processing is impacted in those with Autism remains unclear. Here, we used a recently developed context-based emotion perception task, called Inferential Emotion Tracking (IET), and investigated whether individuals who scored high on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) had deficits in context-based emotion perception. Using 34 videos (including Hollywood movies, home videos, and documentaries), we tested 102 participants as they continuously tracked the affect (valence and arousal) of a blurred-out, invisible character. We found that individual differences in Autism Quotient scores were more strongly correlated with IET task accuracy than they are with traditional face emotion perception tasks. This correlation remained significant even when controlling for potential covarying factors, general intelligence, and performance on traditional face perception tasks. These findings suggest that individuals with ASD may have impaired perception of contextual information, it reveals the importance of developing ecologically relevant emotion perception tasks in order to better assess and treat ASD, and it provides a new direction for further research on context-based emotion perception deficits in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jefferson Ortega
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
| | - Zhimin Chen
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - David Whitney
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- Vision Science Program, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
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28
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Baltariu IC, Enea V, Kaffenberger J, Duiverman LM, Aan Het Rot M. The acute effects of alcohol on social cognition: A systematic review of experimental studies. Drug Alcohol Depend 2023; 245:109830. [PMID: 36907121 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.109830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Alcohol effects on social cognition have been studied by measuring facial emotion recognition, empathy, Theory of Mind (ToM) and other forms of information processing. OBJECTIVES Using the PRISMA guidelines, we reviewed experimental studies that examined acute effects of alcohol on social cognition. METHODS Scopus, PsycInfo, PubMed, and Embase were searched between July 2020 - January 2023. The PICO strategy was used for identifying participants, interventions, comparators, and outcomes. Participants (N = 2330) were adult social alcohol users. Interventions consisted of acute alcohol administration. Comparators included placebo or the lowest alcohol dose. Outcome variables were grouped into three themes: facial processing, empathy and ToM, and perceptions of inappropriate sexual behavior. RESULTS A total of 32 studies were reviewed. Studies measuring facial processing (67%) often found no effects of alcohol on the recognition of specific emotions, facilitated emotion recognition at lower doses and worsened emotion recognition at higher doses. In studies measuring empathy or ToM (24%), lower doses were more likely to lead to improvements while higher doses were generally impairing. Within the third group of studies (9%), moderate to high alcohol doses made it more difficult to perceive sexual aggression accurately. CONCLUSIONS Lower alcohol doses might sometimes help facilitate social cognition, but most data were in line with the idea that alcohol tends to worsen social cognition, particularly at higher doses. Future studies might focus on examining other moderators of the effects of alcohol on social cognition, particularly interpersonal characteristics such as trait emotional empathy, and participant and target gender.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle Cristina Baltariu
- Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, the Netherlands; Department of Psychology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania.
| | - Violeta Enea
- Department of Psychology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania
| | - Jan Kaffenberger
- Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
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29
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE Disorders of social cognition, such as difficulties with emotion perception, alexithymia, Theory of Mind (ToM), empathy and disorders of emotion regulation, are prevalent and pervasive problems across many neurological, neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric conditions. Clinicians are familiar with how these difficulties present but assessment and treatment has lagged behind other traditional cognitive domains, such as memory, language and executive functioning. METHOD In this paper, we review the prevalence and degree of impairment associated with disorders of social cognition and emotion regulation across a range of clinical conditions, with particular emphasis on their relationship to cognitive deficits and also real-world functioning. We reported effects sizes from published meta-analyses for a range of clinical disorders and also review test usage and available tests. RESULTS In general, many clinical conditions are associated with impairments in social cognition and emotion regulation. Effect sizes range from small to very large and are comparable to effect sizes for impairments in nonsocial cognition. Socio-emotional impairments are also associated with social and adaptive functioning. In reviewing prior research, it is apparent that the standardized assessment of social cognition, in particular, is not routine in clinical practice. This is despite the fact that there are a range of tools available and accruing evidence for the efficacy of interventions for social cognitive impairments. CONCLUSION We are using this information to urge and call for clinicians to factor social cognition into their clinical assessments and treatment planning, as to provide rigorous, holistic and comprehensive person-centred care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Skye McDonald
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Travis Wearne
- School of Psychology, University of Western Sydney, Penrith South, Australia
| | - Michelle Kelly
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
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30
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Guo D, Yang X, Gao M, Chen X, Tang Y, Shen L, Li K, Shi L. Deficiency of Autism-Related Gene Dock4 Leads to Impaired Spatial Memory and Hippocampal Function in Mice at Late Middle Age. Cell Mol Neurobiol 2023; 43:1129-1146. [PMID: 35635601 DOI: 10.1007/s10571-022-01233-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that lasts lifelong and causes noticeably higher premature mortality. Although the core symptoms and other behavioral deficits of ASD can persist or be deteriorated from early development to old age, how aging affects the behaviors and brain anatomy in ASD is largely unknown. DOCK4 is an ASD risk gene highly expressed in the hippocampus, and Dock4 knockout (KO) mice display ASD-like behaviors in adulthood (4- to 6-month-old). In this study, we evaluated the behavioral and hippocampal pathological changes of late-middle-aged (15- to 17-month-old) Dock4 male KO mice. Aged Dock4 KO mice continuously showed similar social deficit, elevated anxiety, and disrupted object location memory as observed in the adulthood, when compared to their wild-type (WT) littermates. Notably, Dock4 KO mice displayed an age-related decline of hippocampal dependent spatial memory, showing decreased spatial memory in Barnes maze than their WT littermates at late middle age. Morphological analysis from WT and Dock4 KO littermates revealed that Dock4 deficiency led to decreased mature neurons and oligodendrocytes but increased astrocytes in the hippocampus of late-middle-aged mice. Together, we report that ASD-like behaviors mostly persist into late-middle age in Dock4 KO mice, with specific alterations of spatial memory and hippocampal anatomy by age, thus providing new evidence for understanding age differences in behavioral deficits of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daji Guo
- Clinical Neuroscience Institute, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China.
- JNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China.
- Department of Neurology and Stroke Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China.
| | - Xiaoman Yang
- JNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China
| | - Ming Gao
- Clinical Neuroscience Institute, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China
- JNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China
- Department of Neurology and Stroke Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaoqing Chen
- JNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China
| | - Yanping Tang
- JNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China
| | - Lingling Shen
- Clinical Neuroscience Institute, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China
- JNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China
- Department of Neurology and Stroke Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China
| | - Keshen Li
- Clinical Neuroscience Institute, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China.
- Department of Neurology and Stroke Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China.
| | - Lei Shi
- JNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China.
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Liu TL, Chen YL, Hsiao RC, Ni HC, Liang SHY, Lin CF, Chan HL, Hsieh YH, Wang LJ, Lee MJ, Chou WJ, Yen CF. Adolescent-Caregiver Agreement Regarding the School Bullying and Cyberbullying Involvement Experiences of Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:3733. [PMID: 36834428 PMCID: PMC9961965 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20043733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
School bullying and cyberbullying victimization and perpetration are prevalent in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (AASD). However, the levels of adolescent-caregiver agreement regarding the bullying involvement of AASD and the factors associated with these levels remain to be evaluated. In the present study, we evaluated the levels of adolescent-caregiver agreement on the school bullying and cyberbullying involvement experiences of AASD and the factors associated with the levels of agreement. This study included 219 dyads of AASD and their caregivers. The school bullying and cyberbullying involvement experiences of the participating AASD were assessed using the School Bullying Experience Questionnaire and the Cyberbullying Experiences Questionnaire, respectively. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), depressive and anxiety symptoms, and autistic social impairment were also assessed. AASD and their caregivers had poor to fair levels of agreement regarding the school bullying and cyberbullying victimization and perpetration experiences of AASD. Severe inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, ODD, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and autistic social impairment were associated with high levels of adolescent-caregiver agreement. When assessing the bullying involvement experiences of AASD, mental health professionals should obtain information from multiple sources. In addition, the factors influencing the levels of agreement should be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tai-Ling Liu
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
- Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Lung Chen
- Department of Psychology, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan
- Department of Healthcare Administration, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan
| | - Ray C. Hsiao
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Seattle Children’s, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Hsing-Chang Ni
- Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan City 33305, Taiwan
| | - Sophie Hsin-Yi Liang
- Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan City 33305, Taiwan
- School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City 33302, Taiwan
| | - Chiao-Fan Lin
- Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan City 33305, Taiwan
| | - Hsiang-Lin Chan
- Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan City 33305, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Hsuan Hsieh
- Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan City 33305, Taiwan
| | - Liang-Jen Wang
- School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City 33302, Taiwan
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan
| | - Min-Jing Lee
- School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City 33302, Taiwan
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi 61363, Taiwan
| | - Wen-Jiun Chou
- School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City 33302, Taiwan
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan
| | - Cheng-Fang Yen
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
- Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
- College of Professional Studies, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan
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32
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Bagnall R, Cadman A, Russell A, Brosnan M, Otte M, Maras KL. Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1117415. [PMID: 37034927 PMCID: PMC10074602 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1117415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 04/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Investigative interviews by police are socially and cognitively demanding encounters, likely presenting significant challenges to those on the autism spectrum. Behavioral and communication differences mean that autistic people may also be more likely to be perceived as deceptive in the context of an investigative interview. In the present study, 32 autistic and 33 (age and IQ-matched) non-autistic adults took part in a novel virtual burglary scenario in either an 'innocent' or 'guilty' condition. In a subsequent mock-police interview, innocent suspects were instructed to tell the truth about what they did, while guilty suspects were instructed to lie in order to convince the interviewer of their innocence. In the mock-interviews, innocent autistic mock-suspects reported fewer details that would support their innocence than non-autistic mock-suspects, although both innocent and guilty autistic and non-autistic mock-suspects reported similar levels of investigation-relevant information and had similar levels of statement-evidence consistency. In post-interview questionnaires, innocent and guilty autistic mock-suspects self-reported greater difficulty in understanding interview questions, higher anxiety and perceived the interview as less supportive than non-autistic participants. Implications for investigative interviewing with autistic suspects and cues to deception are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralph Bagnall
- Centre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Ralph Bagnall,
| | - Aimee Cadman
- Centre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Ailsa Russell
- Centre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Brosnan
- Centre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Marco Otte
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Katie L. Maras
- Centre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
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33
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Denisova K, Lin Z. The importance of low IQ to early diagnosis of autism. Autism Res 2023; 16:122-142. [PMID: 36373182 PMCID: PMC9839551 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Some individuals can flexibly adapt to life's changing demands while others, in particular those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), find it challenging. The origin of early individual differences in cognitive abilities, the putative tools with which to navigate novel information in life, including in infants later diagnosed with ASD remains unexplored. Moreover, the role of intelligence quotient (IQ) vis-à-vis core features of autism remains debated. We systematically investigate the contribution of early IQ in future autism outcomes in an extremely large, population-based study of 8000 newborns, infants, and toddlers from the US between 2 and 68 months with over 15,000 cross-sectional and longitudinal assessments, and for whom autism outcomes are ascertained or ruled out by about 2-4 years. This population is representative of subjects involved in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research, mainly on atypical development, in the US. Analyses using predetermined age bins showed that IQ scores are consistently lower in ASD relative to typically developing (TD) children at all ages (p < 0.001), and IQ significantly correlates with social, non-social, and total Calibrated Severity Scores (CSS) on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) (p<0.01). Lower IQ is associated with greater autistic impairments. Note, verbal IQ (VIQ) is no better than the full-scale IQ to predict ASD cases. These findings raise new, compelling questions about potential atypical brain circuitry affecting performance in both verbal and nonverbal abilities and preceding an ASD diagnosis. This study is the first to establish prospectively that low early IQ is a major feature of ASD in early childhood. LAY SUMMARY: The role of IQ scores in autism remains debated. We systematically investigate the contribution of early IQ in an extremely large study of 8,000 children between 2 and 68 months with autism outcomes by about 2-4 years. We show that IQ scores are consistently lower in ASD relative to TD children. This study is the first to establish prospectively that low early IQ is a predictor for ASD diagnosis in early childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina Denisova
- Laboratory of Autism Origins and Mind and Brain Development, Division of Math and Natural Sciences, Department of Psychology, Queens College and Graduate Center City University of New York New York New York USA
| | - Zhichun Lin
- Laboratory of Autism Origins and Mind and Brain Development, Division of Math and Natural Sciences, Department of Psychology, Queens College and Graduate Center City University of New York New York New York USA
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Hoffmann J, Travers-Podmaniczky G, Pelzl MA, Brück C, Jacob H, Hölz L, Martinelli A, Wildgruber D. Impairments in recognition of emotional facial expressions, affective prosody, and multisensory facilitation of response time in high-functioning autism. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1151665. [PMID: 37168084 PMCID: PMC10165112 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1151665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Deficits in emotional perception are common in autistic people, but it remains unclear to which extent these perceptual impairments are linked to specific sensory modalities, specific emotions or multisensory facilitation. Methods This study aimed to investigate uni- and bimodal perception of emotional cues as well as multisensory facilitation in autistic (n = 18, mean age: 36.72 years, SD: 11.36) compared to non-autistic (n = 18, mean age: 36.41 years, SD: 12.18) people using auditory, visual and audiovisual stimuli. Results Lower identification accuracy and longer response time were revealed in high-functioning autistic people. These differences were independent of modality and emotion and showed large effect sizes (Cohen's d 0.8-1.2). Furthermore, multisensory facilitation of response time was observed in non-autistic people that was absent in autistic people, whereas no differences were found in multisensory facilitation of accuracy between the two groups. Discussion These findings suggest that processing of auditory and visual components of audiovisual stimuli is carried out more separately in autistic individuals (with equivalent temporal demands required for processing of the respective unimodal cues), but still with similar relative improvement in accuracy, whereas earlier integrative multimodal merging of stimulus properties seems to occur in non-autistic individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonatan Hoffmann
- Department of General Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- *Correspondence: Jonatan Hoffmann,
| | | | - Michael Alexander Pelzl
- Department of General Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Carolin Brück
- Department of General Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Heike Jacob
- Department of General Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Lea Hölz
- Department of General Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Anne Martinelli
- School of Psychology, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Dirk Wildgruber
- Department of General Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Sivathasan S, Dahary H, Burack JA, Quintin EM. Basic emotion recognition of children on the autism spectrum is enhanced in music and typical for faces and voices. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0279002. [PMID: 36630376 PMCID: PMC9833514 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
In contrast with findings of reduced facial and vocal emotional recognition (ER) accuracy, children on the autism spectrum (AS) demonstrate comparable ER skills to those of typically-developing (TD) children using music. To understand the specificity of purported ER differences, the goal of this study was to examine ER from music compared with faces and voices among children on the AS and TD children. Twenty-five children on the AS and 23 TD children (6-13 years) completed an ER task, using categorical (happy, sad, fear) and dimensional (valence, arousal) ratings, of emotions presented via music, faces, or voices. Compared to the TD group, the AS group showed a relative ER strength from music, and comparable performance from faces and voices. Although both groups demonstrated greater vocal ER accuracy, the children on the AS performed equally well with music and faces, whereas the TD children performed better with faces than with music. Both groups performed comparably with dimensional ratings, except for greater variability by the children on the AS in valence ratings for happy emotions. These findings highlight a need to re-examine ER of children on the AS, and to consider how facilitating strengths-based approaches can re-shape our thinking about and support for persons on the AS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shalini Sivathasan
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Azrieli Centre for Autism Research, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Center for Research on Music, Brain, and Language, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Hadas Dahary
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Azrieli Centre for Autism Research, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Center for Research on Music, Brain, and Language, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Jacob A. Burack
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Azrieli Centre for Autism Research, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Eve-Marie Quintin
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Azrieli Centre for Autism Research, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Center for Research on Music, Brain, and Language, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- * E-mail:
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Ilioska I, Oldehinkel M, Llera A, Chopra S, Looden T, Chauvin R, Van Rooij D, Floris DL, Tillmann J, Moessnang C, Banaschewski T, Holt RJ, Loth E, Charman T, Murphy DGM, Ecker C, Mennes M, Beckmann CF, Fornito A, Buitelaar JK. Connectome-wide Mega-analysis Reveals Robust Patterns of Atypical Functional Connectivity in Autism. Biol Psychiatry 2022:S0006-3223(22)01852-2. [PMID: 36925414 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.12.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Revised: 11/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neuroimaging studies of functional connectivity (FC) in autism have been hampered by small sample sizes and inconsistent findings with regard to whether connectivity is increased or decreased in individuals with autism, whether these alterations affect focal systems or reflect a brain-wide pattern, and whether these are age and/or sex dependent. METHODS The study included resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and clinical data from the EU-AIMS LEAP (European Autism Interventions Longitudinal European Autism Project) and the ABIDE (Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange) 1 and 2 initiatives of 1824 (796 with autism) participants with an age range of 5-58 years. Between-group differences in FC were assessed, and associations between FC and clinical symptom ratings were investigated through canonical correlation analysis. RESULTS Autism was associated with a brainwide pattern of hypo- and hyperconnectivity. Hypoconnectivity predominantly affected sensory and higher-order attentional networks and correlated with social impairments, restrictive and repetitive behavior, and sensory processing. Hyperconnectivity was observed primarily between the default mode network and the rest of the brain and between cortical and subcortical systems. This pattern was strongly associated with social impairments and sensory processing. Interactions between diagnosis and age or sex were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS The FC alterations observed, which primarily involve hypoconnectivity of primary sensory and attention networks and hyperconnectivity of the default mode network and subcortex with the rest of the brain, do not appear to be age or sex dependent and correlate with clinical dimensions of social difficulties, restrictive and repetitive behaviors, and alterations in sensory processing. These findings suggest that the observed connectivity alterations are stable, trait-like features of autism that are related to the main symptom domains of the condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iva Ilioska
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Science, and Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Marianne Oldehinkel
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Science, and Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Alberto Llera
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Sidhant Chopra
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Science, and Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Tristan Looden
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Roselyne Chauvin
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Daan Van Rooij
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Dorothea L Floris
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Methods of Plasticity Research, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Julian Tillmann
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, Neuroscience and Rare Diseases, Roche Innovation Center Basel, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Basel, Switzerland
| | - Carolin Moessnang
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Tobias Banaschewski
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Rosemary J Holt
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Eva Loth
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tony Charman
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Declan G M Murphy
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Christine Ecker
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Maarten Mennes
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Christian F Beckmann
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Alex Fornito
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Science, and Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jan K Buitelaar
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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Autism traits and real-world executive functioning in parents of children with disabilities and undergraduates. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-04097-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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Chen Y, Tang E, Ding H, Zhang Y. Auditory Pitch Perception in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2022; 65:4866-4886. [PMID: 36450443 DOI: 10.1044/2022_jslhr-22-00254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Pitch plays an important role in auditory perception of music and language. This study provides a systematic review with meta-analysis to investigate whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have enhanced pitch processing ability and to identify the potential factors associated with processing differences between ASD and neurotypicals. METHOD We conducted a systematic search through six major electronic databases focusing on the studies that used nonspeech stimuli to provide a qualitative and quantitative assessment across existing studies on pitch perception in autism. We identified potential participant- and methodology-related moderators and conducted metaregression analyses using mixed-effects models. RESULTS On the basis of 22 studies with a total of 464 participants with ASD, we obtained a small-to-medium positive effect size (g = 0.26) in support of enhanced pitch perception in ASD. Moreover, the mean age and nonverbal IQ of participants were found to significantly moderate the between-studies heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides the first meta-analysis on auditory pitch perception in ASD and demonstrates the existence of different developmental trajectories between autistic individuals and neurotypicals. In addition to age, nonverbal ability is found to be a significant contributor to the lower level/local processing bias in ASD. We highlight the need for further investigation of pitch perception in ASD under challenging listening conditions. Future neurophysiological and brain imaging studies with a longitudinal design are also needed to better understand the underlying neural mechanisms of atypical pitch processing in ASD and to help guide auditory-based interventions for improving language and social functioning. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21614271.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Chen
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Enze Tang
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Hongwei Ding
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Yang Zhang
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
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Granerud G, Elvsåshagen T, Arntzen E, Juhasz K, Emilsen NM, Sønderby IE, Nærland T, Malt EA. A family study of symbolic learning and synaptic plasticity in autism spectrum disorder. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:950922. [PMID: 36504626 PMCID: PMC9730282 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.950922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The current study presents a male with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a 3q29 deletion, and three healthy first-degree relatives. Our magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dataset included a healthy control subset. We describe a comprehensive multimodal approach, including equivalence class formation, neurocognitive testing, MRI, and electroencephalography (EEG)-based cortical plasticity, which can provide new insights into socio-communicative and learning impairments and neural underpinnings in ASD. On neurocognitive testing, the proband showed reduced processing speed, attending behavior, and executive function. He required more training trials in equivalence class training compared with family members and exhibited impaired priming of words compared with priming with images. The proband had smaller intracranial volume and surface area and a larger visual evoked potential (VEP) C1 amplitude than family members and intact long-term potentiation (LTP)-like visual cortex plasticity. Together, these results suggest that 3q29 deletion-related ASD is associated with impaired problem-solving strategies in complex socio-communicative and learning tasks, smaller intracranial and surface area, altered VEP amplitude, and normal LTP-like visual cortex plasticity. Further studies are needed to clarify whether this multimodal approach can be used to identify ASD subgroups with distinct neurobiological alterations and to uncover mechanisms underlying socio-communicative and learning impairments. Lay Summary: We studied learning, brain activity, and brain structure in a person with autism and a genetic aberration, and his close relatives. Compared with relatives, the person with autism required more training for learning, and visual learning was better than verbal learning. This person had some changes in the activity of the visual cortex, and the size and the surface area of the brain were reduced. Knowledge about learning and brain mechanisms is valuable for the development of training programs for individuals with autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guro Granerud
- Department of Adult Habilitation, Akershus University Hospital, Oslo, Norway,Department of Behavioral Science, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway,KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway,*Correspondence: Guro Granerud
| | - Torbjørn Elvsåshagen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway,Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway,Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Erik Arntzen
- Department of Behavioral Science, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
| | - Katalin Juhasz
- Department of Adult Habilitation, Akershus University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Nina Merete Emilsen
- Department of Adult Habilitation, Akershus University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ida Elken Sønderby
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway,Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway,Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Terje Nærland
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway,NevSom Department of Rare Disorders and Disabilities, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Eva Albertsen Malt
- Department of Adult Habilitation, Akershus University Hospital, Oslo, Norway,Institute of Clinical Medicine, Campus Ahus, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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Seah C, Breen MS, Rusielewicz T, Bader HN, Xu C, Hunter CJ, McCarthy B, Deans PJM, Chattopadhyay M, Goldberg J, Desarnaud F, Makotkine I, Flory JD, Bierer LM, Staniskyte M, Noggle SA, Huckins LM, Paull D, Brennand KJ, Yehuda R. Modeling gene × environment interactions in PTSD using human neurons reveals diagnosis-specific glucocorticoid-induced gene expression. Nat Neurosci 2022; 25:1434-1445. [PMID: 36266471 PMCID: PMC9630117 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01161-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop following severe trauma, but the extent to which genetic and environmental risk factors contribute to individual clinical outcomes is unknown. Here, we compared transcriptional responses to hydrocortisone exposure in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived glutamatergic neurons and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from combat veterans with PTSD (n = 19 hiPSC and n = 20 PBMC donors) and controls (n = 20 hiPSC and n = 20 PBMC donors). In neurons only, we observed diagnosis-specific glucocorticoid-induced changes in gene expression corresponding with PTSD-specific transcriptomic patterns found in human postmortem brains. We observed glucocorticoid hypersensitivity in PTSD neurons, and identified genes that contribute to this PTSD-dependent glucocorticoid response. We find evidence of a coregulated network of transcription factors that mediates glucocorticoid hyper-responsivity in PTSD. These findings suggest that induced neurons represent a platform for examining the molecular mechanisms underlying PTSD, identifying biomarkers of stress response, and conducting drug screening to identify new therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Seah
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience or Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Departments of Psychiatry and Genetics, Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Michael S Breen
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Tom Rusielewicz
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Heather N Bader
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
- Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Changxin Xu
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
- Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Barry McCarthy
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - P J Michael Deans
- Departments of Psychiatry and Genetics, Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Mitali Chattopadhyay
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
- Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jordan Goldberg
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Frank Desarnaud
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
- Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Iouri Makotkine
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
- Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Janine D Flory
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
- Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Linda M Bierer
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
- Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Migle Staniskyte
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
- Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Scott A Noggle
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Laura M Huckins
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Departments of Psychiatry and Genetics, Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Daniel Paull
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Kristen J Brennand
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience or Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Departments of Psychiatry and Genetics, Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
| | - Rachel Yehuda
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Department of Psychiatry or Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience or Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
- Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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Isernia S, MacPherson SE, Baksh RA, Bergsland N, Marchetti A, Baglio F, Massaro D. Italian adaptation of the Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT): A new tool for the assessment of theory of mind and social norm understanding. Front Psychol 2022; 13:971187. [PMID: 36389515 PMCID: PMC9651931 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.971187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The relevance of social cognition assessment has been formally described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5. However, social cognition tools evaluating different socio-cognitive components for Italian-speaking populations are lacking. The Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT) is a new social cognition measure that uses animations of everyday social interactions to assess (i) cognitive theory of mind, (ii) affective theory of mind, (iii) interpersonal social norm understanding, and (iv) intrapersonal social norm understanding. Previous studies have shown that the ESCoT is a sensitive measure of social cognition in healthy and clinical populations in the United Kingdom. This work aimed to adapt and validate the ESCoT in an Italian population of healthy adults. A translation-back-translation procedure was followed to create and refine the Italian version. Then, 94 healthy adults (47 females, mean age 35 ± 15.9) completed the ESCoT, a battery of conventional social cognition tests (Yoni; Reading the Mind in the Eyes Strange Stories, and Social Norm Questionnaire, SNQ) and measures of intelligence and executive functions. Reliability, convergent validity, and predictors of performance on the ESCoT were examined. Results demonstrated good reliability of the ESCoT and an association between the ESCoT scores and some traditional social cognition tests (Yoni cognitive subscale, SNQ). Hierarchical regression results showed that the ESCoT total score was associated with age. Also, the ESCoT subscore (intrapersonal social norm understanding) was associated with education. These findings support the ESCoT as a valid tool testing social norm understanding, a reliable measure of social cognition for an adult Italian population, and provides further evidence that the ESCoT is sensitive to age- and education-related changes in social cognition, and it is a task not affected by general cognitive functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Isernia
- IRCCS Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation ONLUS, Milan, Italy
| | - Sarah E. MacPherson
- Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - R. Asaad Baksh
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Antonella Marchetti
- Research Unit on Theory of Mind, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Davide Massaro
- Research Unit on Theory of Mind, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
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DeGiosio RA, Grubisha MJ, MacDonald ML, McKinney BC, Camacho CJ, Sweet RA. More than a marker: potential pathogenic functions of MAP2. Front Mol Neurosci 2022; 15:974890. [PMID: 36187353 PMCID: PMC9525131 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.974890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) is the predominant cytoskeletal regulator within neuronal dendrites, abundant and specific enough to serve as a robust somatodendritic marker. It influences microtubule dynamics and microtubule/actin interactions to control neurite outgrowth and synaptic functions, similarly to the closely related MAP Tau. Though pathology of Tau has been well appreciated in the context of neurodegenerative disorders, the consequences of pathologically dysregulated MAP2 have been little explored, despite alterations in its immunoreactivity, expression, splicing and/or stability being observed in a variety of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders including Huntington’s disease, prion disease, schizophrenia, autism, major depression and bipolar disorder. Here we review the understood structure and functions of MAP2, including in neurite outgrowth, synaptic plasticity, and regulation of protein folding/transport. We also describe known and potential mechanisms by which MAP2 can be regulated via post-translational modification. Then, we assess existing evidence of its dysregulation in various brain disorders, including from immunohistochemical and (phospho) proteomic data. We propose pathways by which MAP2 pathology could contribute to endophenotypes which characterize these disorders, giving rise to the concept of a “MAP2opathy”—a series of disorders characterized by alterations in MAP2 function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca A. DeGiosio
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Melanie J. Grubisha
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Matthew L. MacDonald
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Brandon C. McKinney
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Carlos J. Camacho
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Robert A. Sweet
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- *Correspondence: Robert A. Sweet
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Tang E, Zhang M, Chen Y, Lin Y, Ding H. Recognition of affective prosody in bipolar and depressive conditions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord 2022; 313:126-136. [PMID: 35780961 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.06.065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Revised: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Inconsistent results have been reported about the affective prosody recognition (APR) ability in patients with bipolar (BD) and depressive (DD) disorders. We aimed to (i) evaluate the magnitude of APR dysfunction in BD and DD patients, (ii) identify moderators for heterogeneous results, and (iii) highlight research trends in this field. METHODS A computerized literature search was conducted in five electronic databases from the inception to May 9th, 2022 to identify behavioural experiments that studied APR in BD or DD patients. Effect sizes were calculated using a random-effect model and recalculated after removing outliers and adjusting publication bias. RESULTS Twelve eligible articles totalling 16 studies were included in the meta-analysis, aggregating 612 patients and 809 healthy controls. Individual r2 ranged from 0.008 to 0.355, six of which reached a medium-to-large association strength. A medium-to-large pooled effect size (Hedges g = -0.58, 95 % CI -0.75 to -0.40, p < 0.001) for overall APR impairment in BD and DD patients was obtained. The Beck Depression Inventory score and answer option number were significant moderators. Neuropsychological mechanisms, multi-modal interaction and comorbidity effects have become primary research concerns. LIMITATIONS Extant statistics were insufficient for disorder-specific analysis. CONCLUSIONS Current findings demonstrate deficits of overall APR in BD and DD patients at a medium-to-large magnitude. APR can clinically serve for early screening and prognosis, but the depression severity, task complexity and confounding variables influence patients' APR performance. Future studies should incorporate neuroimaging approaches and investigate the effects of tonal language stimuli and clinical interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enze Tang
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Minyue Zhang
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Yu Chen
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Yi Lin
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Hongwei Ding
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.
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Heleven E, Bylemans T, Ma Q, Baeken C, Baetens K. Impaired sequence generation: a preliminary comparison between high functioning autistic and neurotypical adults. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:946482. [PMID: 36147543 PMCID: PMC9486458 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.946482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Earlier research demonstrated robust cerebellar involvement in sequencing, including high-level social information sequencing that requires mental state attributions, termed mentalizing. Earlier research also found cerebellar deficiencies in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) which are characterized by social difficulties. However, studies on high-level social sequencing functionality by persons with ASD are almost non-existent. In this study, we, therefore, perform a comparison between behavioral performances of high-functioning ASD and neurotypical participants on the Picture and Verbal Sequencing Tasks. In these tasks, participants are requested to put separate events (depicted in cartoon-like pictures or behavioral sentences, respectively) in their correct chronological order. To do so, some of these events require understanding of high-level social beliefs, of social routines (i.e., scripts), or nonsocial mechanical functionality. As expected, on the Picture Sequencing task, we observed longer response times for persons with ASD (in comparison with neurotypical controls) when ordering sequences requiring an understanding of social beliefs and social scripts, but not when ordering nonsocial mechanical events. This confirms our hypotheses that social sequence processing is impaired in ASD. The verbal version of this task did not reveal differences between groups. Our results are the first step toward new theoretical insights for social impairments of persons with ASD. They highlight the importance of taking into account sequence processing, and indirectly the cerebellum when investigating ASD difficulties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elien Heleven
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
- *Correspondence: Elien Heleven
| | - Tom Bylemans
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Qianying Ma
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Chris Baeken
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
- Department of Head and Skin (UZGent), Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Kris Baetens
- Brain Body and Cognition, Department of Psychology, and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
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Stolte M, Trindade-Pons V, Vlaming P, Jakobi B, Franke B, Kroesbergen EH, Baas M, Hoogman M. Characterizing Creative Thinking and Creative Achievements in Relation to Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:909202. [PMID: 35845437 PMCID: PMC9283685 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.909202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research on ADHD and ASD has mainly focused on the deficits associated with these conditions, but there is also evidence for strengths. Unfortunately, our understanding of potential strengths in neurodevelopmental conditions is limited. One particular strength, creativity, has been associated with both ADHD and ASD. However, the distinct presentations of both conditions beg the question whether ADHD and ASD associate with the same or different aspects of creativity. Therefore, the current study investigated the links between ADHD and ASD symptoms, creative thinking abilities, and creative achievements. To investigate the spectrum of ADHD and ASD symptoms, self-reported ADHD and ASD symptoms, convergent (Remote Associations Test) and divergent thinking (Alternative Uses Task) and creative achievements (Creative Achievement Questionnaire) were assessed in a self-reportedly healthy sample of adults (n = 470). We performed correlation analysis to investigate the relation between ADHD/ASD symptoms and creativity measures. In a second phase of analysis, data from an adult ADHD case-control study (n = 151) were added to investigate the association between ADHD symptoms and divergent thinking in individuals with and without a diagnosis of ADHD. Our analysis revealed that having more ADHD symptoms in the general population was associated with higher scores on all the outcome measures for divergent thinking (fluency, flexibility, and originality), but not for convergent thinking. Individuals with an ADHD diagnosis in the case-control sample also scored higher on measures of divergent thinking. Combining data of the population based and case-control studies showed that ADHD symptoms predict divergent thinking up to a certain level of symptoms. No significant associations were found between the total number of ASD symptoms and any of the creativity measures. However, explorative analyses showed interesting links between the ASD subdomains of problems with imagination and symptoms that relate to social difficulties. Our findings showed a link between ADHD symptoms and divergent thinking abilities that plateaus in the clinical spectrum of symptoms. For ASD symptoms, no relation was found with creativity measures. Increasing the knowledge about positive phenotypes associated with neurodevelopmental conditions and their symptom dimensions might aid psychoeducation, decrease stigmatization and improve quality of life of individuals living with such conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marije Stolte
- Educational Consultancy and Professional Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Victoria Trindade-Pons
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Priscilla Vlaming
- Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Babette Jakobi
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Barbara Franke
- Department of Psychiatry and Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | | | - Matthijs Baas
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Martine Hoogman
- Department of Psychiatry and Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
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Jutla A, Donohue MR, Veenstra-VanderWeele J, Foss-Feig JH. Reported autism diagnosis is associated with psychotic-like symptoms in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development cohort. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2022; 31:1-10. [PMID: 33646417 PMCID: PMC8856839 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-021-01738-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Although the schizophrenia (SCZ) rate is increased in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is difficult to identify which ASD youth will develop psychosis. We explored the relationship between ASD and emerging psychotic-like experiences (PLS) in a sample of 9127 youth aged 9-11 from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) cohort. We predicted that parent-reported ASD would be associated with PLS severity, and that ASD youth with PLS (ASD+/PLS+) would differ from ASD youth without PLS (ASD+/PLS-) and youth with PLS but not ASD (ASD-/PLS+) in cognitive function. We fit regression models that included parent-reported ASD, family history of psychosis, lifetime trauma, executive function, processing speed, working memory, age, sex, race, ethnicity, and income-to-needs ratio as predictors of Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief Child (PQ-BC) distress score, a continuous index of PLS severity. We assessed cognitive differences using regression models with ASD/PLS status and relevant covariates as predictors of NIH Toolbox measures. ASD increased raw PQ-BC distress scores by 2.47 points (95% CI 1.33-3.61), an effect at least as large as Black race (1.27 points, 95% CI 0.75-1.78), family history of psychosis (1.05 points, 95% CI 0.56-1.54), and Latinx ethnicity (0.99 points, 95% CI 0.53-1.45. We did not identify differences in cognition for ASD+/PLS+ youth relative to other groups. Our finding of association between ASD and PLS in youth is consistent with previous literature and adds new information in suggesting that ASD may be a strong risk factor for PLS even compared to established SCZ risk factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amandeep Jutla
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Meghan Rose Donohue
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | | | - Jennifer H Foss-Feig
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
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Aguilar-Lacasaña S, Vilor-Tejedor N, Jansen PR, López-Vicente M, Bustamante M, Burgaleta M, Sunyer J, Alemany S. Polygenic risk for ADHD and ASD and their relation with cognitive measures in school children. Psychol Med 2022; 52:1356-1364. [PMID: 32924895 PMCID: PMC9157306 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291720003189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Revised: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 08/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are child-onset neurodevelopmental disorders frequently accompanied by cognitive difficulties. In the current study, we aim to examine the genetic overlap between ADHD and ASD and cognitive measures of working memory (WM) and attention performance among schoolchildren using a polygenic risk approach. METHODS A total of 1667 children from a population-based cohort aged 7-11 years with data available on genetics and cognition were included in the analyses. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) were calculated for ADHD and ASD using results from the largest GWAS to date (N = 55 374 and N = 46 351, respectively). The cognitive outcomes included verbal and numerical WM and the standard error of hit reaction time (HRTSE) as a measure of attention performance. These outcomes were repeatedly assessed over 1-year period using computerized version of the Attention Network Test and n-back task. Associations were estimated using linear mixed-effects models. RESULTS Higher polygenic risk for ADHD was associated with lower WM performance at baseline time but not over time. These findings remained significant after adjusting by multiple testing and excluding individuals with an ADHD diagnosis but were limited to boys. PRS for ASD was only nominally associated with an increased improvement on verbal WM over time, although this association did not survive multiple testing correction. No associations were observed for HRTSE. CONCLUSIONS Common genetic variants related to ADHD may contribute to worse WM performance among schoolchildren from the general population but not to the subsequent cognitive-developmental trajectory assessed over 1-year period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofía Aguilar-Lacasaña
- University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (UVIC-UCC), Vic, Spain
- Barcelona Research Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Natàlia Vilor-Tejedor
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Barcelona Beta Brain Research Center (BBBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Clinical Genetics, ERASMUS MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Philip R. Jansen
- Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, VU University and Department of Clinical Genetics, Amsterdam UMC - location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Mònica López-Vicente
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Mariona Bustamante
- Barcelona Research Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain
| | - Miguel Burgaleta
- Department of Technology, Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Roc Boronat 138, 08018 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jordi Sunyer
- Barcelona Research Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain
- IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Silvia Alemany
- Barcelona Research Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain
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Hajdúk M, Pinkham AE, Penn DL, Harvey PD, Sasson NJ. Heterogeneity of social cognitive performance in autism and schizophrenia. Autism Res 2022; 15:1522-1534. [PMID: 35460541 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Revised: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Autistic adults and those with schizophrenia (SCZ) demonstrate similar levels of reduced social cognitive performance at the group level, but it is unclear whether these patterns are relatively consistent or highly variable within and between the two conditions. Seventy-two adults with SCZ (52 male, Mage = 28.2 years) and 94 with diagnoses on the autism spectrum (83 male, Mage = 24.2 years) without intellectual disability completed a comprehensive social cognitive battery. Latent profile analysis identified four homogeneous subgroups that were compared on their diagnosis, independent living skills, neurocognition, and symptomatology. Two groups showed normative performance across most social cognitive tasks but were differentiated by one having significantly higher hostility and blaming biases. Autistic participants were more likely to demonstrate fully normative performance (46.8%) than participants with SCZ, whereas normative performance in SCZ was more likely to co-occur with increased hostility and blaming biases (36.1%). Approximately 43% of participants in the full sample were classified into the remaining two groups showing low or very low performance. These participants tended to perform worse on neurocognitive tests and have lower IQ and fewer independent living skills. The prevalence of low performance on social cognitive tasks was comparable across clinical groups. However, nearly half of autistic participants demonstrated normative social cognitive performance, challenging assumptions that reduced social cognitive performance is inherent to the condition. Subgrouping also revealed a meaningful distinction between the clinical groups: participants with SCZ were more likely to demonstrate hostility biases than autistic participants, even when social cognitive performance was otherwise in the typical range. LAY SUMMARY: Social cognition refers to the perception and interpretation of social information. Previous research has shown that both autistic people and those with schizophrenia demonstrate reduced performance on traditional social cognitive tasks, which we replicate here at the group level. However, we also found that almost half of autistic participants performed in the normal range. Over a third of participants with schizophrenia did as well, but for them this performance was accompanied by a hostility bias not commonly found in the autistic sample. Taken together, findings challenge assumptions that difficulties in social cognition are a uniform characteristic of these clinical conditions in those without intellectual disability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Hajdúk
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia.,Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia.,Science Park UK, Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Amy E Pinkham
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - David L Penn
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.,School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Philip D Harvey
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.,Research Service, Miami VA Healthcare System, Miami, Florida, USA
| | - Noah J Sasson
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USA
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Leung FYN, Sin J, Dawson C, Ong JH, Zhao C, Veić A, Liu F. Emotion recognition across visual and auditory modalities in autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2021.101000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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50
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Zhang X, Mei D, Li Y, You M, Wang D, Yao D, Xu Y, Zhai L, Wang Y. Arsenic exposure via drinking water during pregnancy and lactation induces autism-like behaviors in male offspring mice. CHEMOSPHERE 2022; 290:133338. [PMID: 34929279 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2021] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to arsenic (As), an environmental toxicant, causes damages to the central nervous system (CNS) structure and function. Emerging epidemiological studies support that exposure to As, especially during the critical periods of the CNS development, may act as an environmental risk factor of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which is characterized by behavioral changes, including abnormal social behaviors, restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. However, direct evidence supporting the cause-effect relationship between As exposure and the risk of ASD is still missing. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether As exposure during pregnancy and lactation led to autism-like behaviors in offspring mice in the present study. We established a mice model of exposure to As via drinking water during pregnancy and lactation and conducted a battery of behavioral tests to evaluate social behaviors, repetitive behaviors, anxiety behaviors and learning and memory ability in offspring mice. We found that perinatal exposure to As caused autism-like behaviors in male offspring, which demonstrated by abnormal social behaviors and repetitive behaviors. Anxiety-like behaviors, and learning and memory impairments, known as concomitant behavioral phenotypes in mice with autism-like behaviors, were also observed. Decreases of synaptic density, especially in cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum, are extensively observed in both ASD patients and animal models of ASD. Thus, immunofluorescence staining and western blotting were used to observe the expression of PSD-95 and SYP, well-known markers for presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes, to assess the synaptic density in offspring cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum. We found perinatal exposure to As decreased the expression of PSD-95 and SYP in these brain regions. This indicated that perinatal exposure to As caused decreases of synaptic density, a typical autism-like cellular alteration in brains, which may contribute to autism-like behaviors in offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xing Zhang
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Dongmeng Mei
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Yongfang Li
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Mingdan You
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Heath, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, China
| | - Da Wang
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Dianqi Yao
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Yuanyuan Xu
- Program of Environmental Toxicology, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China; Key Laboratory of Liaoning Province on Toxic and Biological Effects of Arsenic, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Lingling Zhai
- Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
| | - Yi Wang
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China; Key Laboratory of Liaoning Province on Toxic and Biological Effects of Arsenic, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
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