scholarly journals Self-reported social impairments predict depressive disorder in adults with autism spectrum disorder

Autism ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talena C Day ◽  
Kathryn A McNaughton ◽  
Adam J Naples ◽  
James C McPartland
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Adults With Autism ◽  
Social Impairments ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorder Group

In adults with autism spectrum disorder, co-occurring psychiatric conditions are prevalent, and depression is one of the most common co-occurring disorders. This study examined the relationship between depression and cognitive ability, autism symptom severity, and self-reported social impairments in autism spectrum disorder. A total of 33 adults with autism spectrum disorder and 28 adults with typical development completed a standardized psychiatric interview, cognitive test, measure of clinician-rated autism symptom severity, and self-report of social impairments. Nine participants with autism spectrum disorder (27%) met the criteria for a depressive disorder (autism spectrum disorder + depressive disorder). Relatively more females with autism spectrum disorder had a co-occurring depressive disorder. The typical development group had a higher intelligence quotient than the autism spectrum disorder group, but the autism spectrum disorder + depressive disorder group did not differ from the typical development or autism spectrum disorder group. While the autism spectrum disorder + depressive disorder group had lower clinician-rated autism symptom severity than the autism spectrum disorder group, the autism spectrum disorder + depressive disorder group reported more social impairments than the autism spectrum disorder group. Self-reported social impairments predicted depression in adults with autism spectrum disorder when accounting for symptom severity and cognitive ability. These findings suggest that more self-perceived social impairments are related to depressive disorders in autism spectrum disorder, and may help clinicians identify individuals who are vulnerable in developing a co-occurring depressive disorder. Future directions include follow-up studies with larger cohorts and longitudinal designs to support inferences regarding directionality of these relationships.

scholarly journals Motor anticipation failure in infants with autism: a retrospective analysis of feeding situations

Autism ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Brisson ◽  
Petra Warreyn ◽  
Josette Serres ◽  
Stephane Foussier ◽  
Jean Adrien-Louis
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Early Detection ◽  
Retrospective Analysis ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Adults With Autism ◽  
Home Movies ◽  
Family Home ◽  
Everyday Situation

Previous studies on autism have shown a lack of motor anticipation in children and adults with autism. As part of a programme of research into early detection of autism, we focussed on an everyday situation: spoon-feeding. We hypothesize that an anticipation deficit may be found very early on by observing whether the baby opens his or her mouth in anticipation of the spoon’s approach. The study is based on a retrospective analysis from family home movies. Observation of infants later diagnosed with autism or an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (n = 13) and infants with typical development (n = 14) between 4 and 6 months old show that the autism/ASD group has an early anticipation deficit.

Driving Comparisons Between Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 451-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina E. Patrick ◽  
Felicia Hurewitz ◽  
Mark D. McCurdy ◽  
Frederic Taylor Agate ◽  
Brian P. Daly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Adults With Autism ◽  
Young Adults With Autism

scholarly journals Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder of All Ages, Levels of Symptom Severity and General Cognitive Ability Display Low Processing Speed Index Scores Warranting Special Educational Assistance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Linnenbank ◽  
R. Feldmann ◽  
G. Schulte-Körne ◽  
S. Beimdiek ◽  
E. Strittmatter
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
School Children ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Children With Asd

AbstractThe processing speed index (PSI) of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children (WISC-IV) has been found to predict a child's level of academic functioning. The consistently reported PSI weakness in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) therefore warrants special assistance and attempts at compensation for the disadvantages associated with these children's low PSI. We investigated the association of PSI scores with age, general cognitive ability [as measured by full-scale IQ (FSIQ)], symptom severity and discrepancy between the WISC-IV indices verbal comprehension (VCI) and perceptual reasoning (PRI) in 101 school children with ASD. The PSI weakness in children with ASD was not related to age, FSIQ, VCI-PRI discrepancy or any of the symptom measures. These findings suggest that school children with ASD independent of their age, level of cognitive ability, VCI-PRI profile and most notably independent of their symptom severity should be entitled to special assistance and compensation in educational settings.

scholarly journals Thalamocortical connectivity is associated with autism symptoms in high-functioning adults with autism and typically developing adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafi Ayub ◽  
Kevin L. Sun ◽  
Ryan E. Flores ◽  
Vicky T. Lam ◽  
Booil Jo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Autism Symptoms ◽  
Adults With Autism ◽  
High Functioning ◽  
The Right

AbstractAlterations in sensorimotor functions are common in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Such aberrations suggest the involvement of the thalamus due to its key role in modulating sensorimotor signaling in the cortex. Although previous research has linked atypical thalamocortical connectivity with ASD, investigations of this association in high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) are lacking. Here, for the first time, we investigated the resting-state functional connectivity of the thalamus, medial prefrontal, posterior cingulate, and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortices and its association with symptom severity in two matched cohorts of HFASD. The principal cohort consisted of 23 HFASD (mean[SD] 27.1[8.9] years, 39.1% female) and 20 age- and sex-matched typically developing controls (25.1[7.2] years, 30.0% female). The secondary cohort was a subset of the ABIDE database consisting of 58 HFASD (25.4[7.8] years, 37.9% female) and 51 typically developing controls (24.4[6.7] years, 39.2% female). Using seed-based connectivity analysis, between-group differences were revealed as hyperconnectivity in HFASD in the principal cohort between the right thalamus and bilateral precentral/postcentral gyri and between the right thalamus and the right superior parietal lobule. The former was associated with autism-spectrum quotient in a sex-specific manner, and was further validated in the secondary ABIDE cohort. Altogether, we present converging evidence for thalamocortical hyperconnectivity in HFASD that is associated with symptom severity. Our results fill an important knowledge gap regarding atypical thalamocortical connectivity in HFASD, previously only reported in younger cohorts.

scholarly journals Atypical visual-auditory predictive coding in autism spectrum disorder: Electrophysiological evidence from stimulus omissions

Autism ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1849-1859
Author(s):  
Thijs van Laarhoven ◽  
Jeroen J Stekelenburg ◽  
Mart LJM Eussen ◽  
Jean Vroomen
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Sensory Stimulation ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorder Group

Autism spectrum disorder is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder that has been linked to a range of perceptual processing alterations, including hypo- and hyperresponsiveness to sensory stimulation. A recently proposed theory that attempts to account for these symptoms, states that autistic individuals have a decreased ability to anticipate upcoming sensory stimulation due to overly precise internal prediction models. Here, we tested this hypothesis by comparing the electrophysiological markers of prediction errors in auditory prediction by vision between a group of autistic individuals and a group of age-matched individuals with typical development. Between-group differences in prediction error signaling were assessed by comparing event-related potentials evoked by unexpected auditory omissions in a sequence of audiovisual recordings of a handclap in which the visual motion reliably predicted the onset and content of the sound. Unexpected auditory omissions induced an increased early negative omission response in the autism spectrum disorder group, indicating that violations of the prediction model produced larger prediction errors in the autism spectrum disorder group compared to the typical development group. The current results show that autistic individuals have alterations in visual-auditory predictive coding, and support the notion of impaired predictive coding as a core deficit underlying atypical sensory perception in autism spectrum disorder. Lay abstract Many autistic individuals experience difficulties in processing sensory information (e.g. increased sensitivity to sound). Here we show that these difficulties may be related to an inability to process unexpected sensory stimulation. In this study, 29 older adolescents and young adults with autism and 29 age-matched individuals with typical development participated in an electroencephalography study. The electroencephalography study measured the participants’ brain activity during unexpected silences in a sequence of videos of a handclap. The results showed that the brain activity of autistic individuals during these silences was increased compared to individuals with typical development. This increased activity indicates that autistic individuals may have difficulties in processing unexpected incoming sensory information, and might explain why autistic individuals are often overwhelmed by sensory stimulation. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the different sensory perception experienced by autistic individuals.

scholarly journals Computer vision analysis captures atypical attention in toddlers with autism

Autism ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Campbell ◽  
Kimberly LH Carpenter ◽  
Jordan Hashemi ◽  
Steven Espinosa ◽  
Samuel Marsan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Computer Vision ◽  
Quantitative Method ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Social Orienting ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorder Group ◽  
Automated Coding

To demonstrate the capability of computer vision analysis to detect atypical orienting and attention behaviors in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. One hundered and four toddlers of 16–31 months old (mean = 22) participated in this study. Twenty-two of the toddlers had autism spectrum disorder and 82 had typical development or developmental delay. Toddlers watched video stimuli on a tablet while the built-in camera recorded their head movement. Computer vision analysis measured participants’ attention and orienting in response to name calls. Reliability of the computer vision analysis algorithm was tested against a human rater. Differences in behavior were analyzed between the autism spectrum disorder group and the comparison group. Reliability between computer vision analysis and human coding for orienting to name was excellent (intra-class coefficient 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.67–0.91). Only 8% of toddlers with autism spectrum disorder oriented to name calling on >1 trial, compared to 63% of toddlers in the comparison group (p = 0.002). Mean latency to orient was significantly longer for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (2.02 vs 1.06 s, p = 0.04). Sensitivity for autism spectrum disorder of atypical orienting was 96% and specificity was 38%. Older toddlers with autism spectrum disorder showed less attention to the videos overall (p = 0.03). Automated coding offers a reliable, quantitative method for detecting atypical social orienting and reduced sustained attention in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder.

scholarly journals Problem-solving styles in autism spectrum disorder and the development of higher cognitive functions

Autism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 597-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A Constable ◽  
Melanie Ring ◽  
Sebastian B Gaigg ◽  
Dermot M Bowler
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Linguistic Context ◽  
Adults With Autism ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorder Group ◽  
Higher Cognitive Functions

The Vygotsky Blocks Test assesses problem-solving styles within a theoretical framework for the development of higher mental processes devised by Vygotsky. Because both the theory and the associated test situate cognitive development within the child’s social and linguistic context, they address conceptual issues around the developmental relation between language and thought that are pertinent to development in autism. Our aim was to document the performance of adults with autism spectrum disorder on the Vygotsky Blocks Test, and our results showed that they made more errors than the typically developing participants and that these errors correlated with performance IQ. The autism spectrum disorder group also required more cues than the typically developing group to discern the conceptual structure of the blocks, a pattern that correlated with Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule–Communication and Imagination/Creativity sub-scales. When asked to categorize the blocks in new ways, the autism spectrum disorder participants developed fewer principles on which to base new categorizations, which in contrast to the typically developing group correlated with verbal IQ and with the Imagination/Creativity sub-scale of the ADOS. These results are in line with a number of existing findings in the autism spectrum disorder literature and confirm that conceptualization in autism spectrum disorder seems to rely more on non-verbal and less on imaginative processes than in typically developing individuals. The findings represent first steps to the possibility of outlining a testable account of psychological development in autism spectrum disorder that integrates verbal, non-verbal and social factors into the transition from elementary to higher level processes.

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