- Identifying neurodevelopmental disabilities from nationalised preschool health check. [Journal Article]Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2023 Feb 06 [Online ahead of print]AN
- CONCLUSIONS: Combination of B4SC screening measures using composite modelling could lead to significantly improved identification of preschool children with NDDs when compared with surveillance that rely on individual psychometric test results alone. This may optimise access to academic, personal and family support for children with NDDs.
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- Atypical cognitive training-induced learning and brain plasticity and their relation to insistence on sameness in children with autism. [Preprint]bioRxiv. 2023 Jan 26B
- Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often display atypical learning styles, however little is known regarding learning-related brain plasticity and its relation to clinical phenotypic features. Here, we investigate cognitive learning and neural plasticity using functional brain imaging and a novel numerical problem-solving training protocol. Children with ASD showed comparable learning …
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- The neurodevelopmental and facial phenotype in individuals with a TRIP12 variant. [Journal Article]Eur J Hum Genet. 2023 Feb 07 [Online ahead of print]EJ
- Haploinsufficiency of TRIP12 causes a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by intellectual disability associated with epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder and dysmorphic features, also named Clark-Baraitser syndrome. Only a limited number of cases have been reported to date. We aimed to further delineate the TRIP12-associated phenotype and objectify characteristic facial traits through Gestalt…
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- "He Sees his Autism as a Strength, Not a Deficit Now": A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study Investigating the Impact of Strengths-Based Programs on Autistic Adolescents. [Journal Article]J Autism Dev Disord. 2023 Feb 06 [Online ahead of print]JA
- Recent studies have reported that strengths-based programs, leveraging autistic adolescents' abilities and interests, could improve their skills and facilitate social engagement. However, little is known about the long-term impact of strengths-based approaches. This study aimed to explore the long-term outcomes of community strengths-based programs designed to support autistic adolescents in deve…
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- Importance of a multi-tiered treatment approach for intellectually and developmentally disabled patients with hidradenitis suppurativa. [Journal Article]Arch Dermatol Res. 2023 Feb 06 [Online ahead of print]AD
- Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, debilitating skin condition that is characterized by painful pustules, nodules, abscesses, and sinus tracts. The complicated and fast-evolving treatment of HS consists of a multi-tiered approach that includes, antibacterial, antihormonal, anti-inflammatory, and surgical options. Studies have demonstrated an earlier age of onset and increased prevalence …
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- Perinatal Anesthesia Exposure and Autism Spectrum Disorders. [Journal Article]J Neurosurg Anesthesiol. 2023 Jan 01; 35(1):127-129.JN
- Epidural analgesia is frequently used during labor among pregnant people in the United States. Different factors have been associated with the development of autism spectrum disorder in the epidemiological literature: maternal health, infectious and pharmacological etiologies, social factors, and environmental exposures. Current data indicates no clear association between the use of epidural labo…
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- [As early as birth, oxytocin plays a key role in both food and social behavior]. [Journal Article]Biol Aujourdhui. 2022; 216(3-4):131-143.BA
- Oxytocin (OT) is a neurohormone that regulates the so-called "social brain" and is mainly studied in adulthood. During postnatal development, the mechanisms by which the OT system structures various behaviors are little studied. Here we present the dynamic process of postnatal development of the OT system as well as the OT functions in the perinatal period that are essential for shaping social be…
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- Alteration of resting-state network dynamics in autism spectrum disorder based on leading eigenvector dynamics analysis. [Journal Article]Front Integr Neurosci. 2022; 16:922577.FI
- CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that the temporal reorganization of brain discrete networks was closely linked to sensory to cognitive systems of the brain. Our study provides new insights into the dynamics of brain networks and contributes to a deeper understanding of the neurological mechanisms of ASD.
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- Prioritizing choice and assent in the assessment and treatment of food selectivity. [Journal Article]Int J Dev Disabil. 2023; 69(1):53-65.IJ
- Food selectivity affects up to 72% and 45% of individuals with and without disabilities, respectively, and there is a need for interventions that rely on positive, unrestrictive strategies. We evaluated an assessment and treatment package for food selectivity for young children with developmental disabilities that prioritized caregiver collaboration, client autonomy, and did not rely on restricti…
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- Characterizing microRNA editing and mutation sites in Autism Spectrum Disorder. [Journal Article]Front Mol Neurosci. 2022; 15:1105278.FM
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder whose pathogenesis is still unclear. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a kind of endogenous small non-coding RNAs that play important roles in the post-transcriptional regulation of genes. Recent researches show that miRNAs are edited in multiple ways especially in central nervous systems. A-to-I editing of RNA catalyzed by Adenosine deaminases…
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- Dendritic spine and synapse pathology in chromatin modifier-associated autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability. [Review]Front Mol Neurosci. 2022; 15:1048713.FM
- Formation of dendritic spine and synapse is an essential final step of brain wiring to establish functional communication in the developing brain. Recent findings have displayed altered dendritic spine and synapse morphogenesis, plasticity, and related molecular mechanisms in animal models and post-mortem human brains of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). Many genes…
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- Maternal Infection during Pregnancy and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. [Review]Iran J Public Health. 2022 Dec; 51(12):2674-2687.IJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Maternal infections during pregnancy might be associated with an increased risk of ADHD in children.
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- Emotion Regulation and Executive Function: Associations with Depression and Anxiety in Autism. [Journal Article]Res Autism Spectr Disord. 2023 Mar; 101RA
- CONCLUSIONS: Although preliminary, findings suggest that inflexibility and regulatory impairment should be considered in depression remediation approaches. Improving ER, on the other hand, may have broader transdiagnostic impact across both mood and anxiety symptoms in ASD.
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- Altered task induced functional brain networks and small-world properties in autism. [Journal Article]Front Psychiatry. 2022; 13:1039820.FP
- Facial emotion recognition (FER) requires the integration of multi-dimensional information across various brain regions. Autistic individuals commonly experience difficulties in FER, a phenomenon often attributed to differences in brain connectivity. The nature of task-induced functional brain networks could provide insight into the neuromechanisms underlying FER difficulties in autism, however, …
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- Examining shortened versions of the Social Responsiveness Scale for use in autism spectrum disorder prediction and as a quantitative trait measure: Results from a validation study of 3-5 year old children. [Journal Article]JCPP Adv. 2022 Dec; 2(4):e12106.JA
- CONCLUSIONS: Our findings broadly support the construct validity and performance of shortened SRS versions examined here, though the full measure may be needed to more accurately assess traits consistent with ASD diagnosis in females. This work suggests opportunities for collection of ASD-related phenotype in settings where participant burden or feasibility considerations may have otherwise prohibited such measurement.
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- Bibliometric study of neuroinflammation in autism spectrum disorder. [Systematic Review]Front Psychiatry. 2023; 14:1086068.FP
- CONCLUSIONS: This bibliometric study describes the basic framework for the development in the field of neuroinflammation and ASD through an exploration of key indicators (countries, institutions, journals, authors, and keywords). We found that the key role of neuroinflammation in the development of ASD is attracting more and more researchers' attention. Future studies can investigate the changes in cytokines and glial cells and their related pathways in ASD neuroinflammation. Immunotherapy to inhibit neuroinflammation may be intensively studied as a direction for ASD treatment or intervention.
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- Barriers to service and unmet need among autistic adolescents and young adults. [Journal Article]Autism. 2023 Feb 05 [Online ahead of print]A
- Prior studies have described the roadblocks, or barriers, to needed services experienced by families with young autistic children, but less research has focused on those faced by autistic adolescents and young adults. In this study, we wished to understand the barriers to service experienced by autistic adolescents and young adults and their families. We surveyed 174 caregivers of autistic youth …
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- Autism and gambling: a systematic review, focusing on neurocognition. [Review]Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2023 Feb 02 [Online ahead of print]NB
- Autism spectrum disorders (hereafter autism) are prevalent and often associated with elevated rates of substance use disorders. A subset of people who gamble develop gambling disorder, which is functionally impairing. Characterization of relationships between autism and gambling, particularly as relates to cognition, may have important implications. We conducted a systematic review of the literat…
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- Shared genetics of psychiatric disorders and type 2 diabetes:a large-scale genome-wide cross-trait analysis. [Journal Article]J Psychiatr Res. 2023 Jan 28; 159:185-195.JP
- CONCLUSIONS: This large-scale genome-wide cross-trait analysis identified shared genetics andpotential causal links between type 2 diabetes and related psychiatric disorders, suggesting potential new biological functions in common among them.
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- Vasopressin, and not oxytocin, receptor gene methylation is associated with individual differences in receptive joint attention in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). [Journal Article]Autism Res. 2023 Feb 04 [Online ahead of print]AR
- Joint attention (JA) is an important milestone in human infant development and is predictive of the onset of language later in life. Clinically, it has been reported that children at risk for or with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) perform more poorly on measures of JA compared to neurotypical controls. JA is not unique to humans but has also been reported in great apes and to a les…
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- Brief Report: Local-Global Processing and Co-occurrence of Anxiety, Autistic and Obsessive-Compulsive Traits in a Non-clinical Sample. [Journal Article]J Autism Dev Disord. 2023 Feb 04 [Online ahead of print]JA
- CONCLUSIONS: The study found evidence for an overlap in autism, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive traits in a non-clinical sample. However, local-global processing, as measured by the Navon task, did not appear to underpin symptomatology in the sample and could not be considered a transdiagnostic marker. Future research should investigate the value of alternate metrics.
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- Linking autism spectrum disorders and parkinsonism: clinical and genetic association. [Review]Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2023 Feb 04 [Online ahead of print]AC
- CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of parkinsonism in ASD is substantially greater than in the general population or matched controls. Various PD-associated gene loci, especially PARK2, could confer susceptibility to ASD as well. Important future directions include conducting prospective cohort studies to understand how parkinsonian symptoms may progress, genetic studies to reveal relevant gene loci, and pathophysiologic studies to identify potential therapeutic targets.
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- NRXN1 depletion in the medial prefrontal cortex induces anxiety-like behaviors and abnormal social phenotypes along with impaired neurite outgrowth in rat. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirmed the association of NRXN1 with abnormal behaviors in NDDs and provided richer insights into specific prefrontal knockdown in adolescence, potentially expanding the NRXN1 interactome and contributing to human health.
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- Maternal brain reactive antibodies profile in autism spectrum disorder: an update. [Review]
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder with multifactorial etiologies involving both genetic and environmental factors. In the past two decades it has become clear that in utero exposure to toxins, inflammation, microbiome, and antibodies (Abs), may play a role in the etiology of ASD. Maternal brain-reactive Abs, present in 10-20% of mothers of a child with …
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- The contribution of copy number variants to psychiatric symptoms and cognitive ability. [Review]Mol Psychiatry. 2023 Feb 03 [Online ahead of print]MP
- Copy number variants (CNVs) are deletions and duplications of DNA sequence. The most frequently studied CNVs, which are described in this review, are recurrent CNVs that occur in the same locations on the genome. These CNVs have been strongly implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders, namely autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), and developmental delay (DD), but also in s…
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- A tablet-based game for the assessment of visual motor skills in autistic children. [Journal Article]
- Increasing evidence suggests that early motor impairments are a common feature of autism. Thus, scalable, quantitative methods for measuring motor behavior in young autistic children are needed. This work presents an engaging and scalable assessment of visual-motor abilities based on a bubble-popping game administered on a tablet. Participants are 233 children ranging from 1.5 to 10 years of age …
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- Autism Spectrum Disorders Across the Life Course and Occupational Therapy Services. [Journal Article]Am J Occup Ther. 2022 Nov 01; 76(Supplement_3)AJ
- The primary purpose of this position statement is to define the role of occupational therapy and the scope of occupational therapy services available for persons on the autism spectrum to audiences external to the occupational therapy profession. In addition, this document is intended to articulate for occupational therapy practitioners the role and support of the practice of occupational therapy…
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- Strength-based technology clubs for autistic adolescents: A feasibility study. [Journal Article]
- Strength-based technology clubs are thought to help autistic adolescents transition to adulthood by developing positive traits, enhancing technical skills, and creating supportive networks. A newly developed strength-based technology club was delivered to 25 autistic adolescents, with the feasibility tested via qualitative and quantitative methods. Autistic adolescents, their parents, and club fa…
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- Effect of Adding l-Carnitine to Risperidone on Behavioral, Cognitive, Social, and Physical Symptoms in Children and Adolescents With Autism: A Randomized Double-Blinded Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. [Journal Article]Clin Neuropharmacol. 2023 Feb 04 [Online ahead of print]CN
- CONCLUSIONS: According to the present study, adding l-carnitine to risperidone improves ASD symptoms.
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