Associations between atypical intracortical myelin content and neuropsychological functions in middle to older aged adults with ASD.

Introduction: In vivo myeloarchitectonic mapping based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) provides a unique view of gray matter myelin content and offers information complementary to other morphological indices commonly employed in studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study sought to determine if intracortical myelin content (MC) and its age-related trajectories differ between middle aged to older adults with ASD and age-matched typical comparison participants.

Methods: Data from 30 individuals with ASD and 36 age-matched typical comparison participants aged 40-70 years were analyzed.

Brain-Computer Interface Training of mu EEG Rhythms in Intellectually Impaired Children with Autism: A Feasibility Case Series.

Prior studies show that neurofeedback training (NFT) of mu rhythms improves behavior and EEG mu rhythm suppression during action observation in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, intellectually impaired persons were excluded because of their behavioral challenges. We aimed to determine if intellectually impaired children with ASD, who were behaviorally prepared to take part in a mu-NFT study using conditioned auditory reinforcers, would show improvements in symptoms and mu suppression following mu-NFT.

The revised 2019 standards for psychopharmacological training: Model education and training program in psychopharmacology for prescriptive authority.

The American Psychological Association (APA), under the oversight of the Board of Educational Affairs, and the Board of Professional Affairs, is responsible for the education and training of psychologists in prescriptive authority. All APA standards and guidelines are required by Association Rule 30-8.3 to be revised at least every 10 years.

Impaired motor skills and atypical functional connectivity of the sensorimotor system in 40- to 65-year-old adults with autism spectrum disorders.

Impairments in fine and gross motor function, coordination, and balance in early development are common in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). It is unclear whether these deficits persist into adulthood and whether they may be exacerbated by additional motor problems that often emerge in typical aging. We assessed motor skills and used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to study intrinsic functional connectivity of the sensorimotor network in 40- to 65-year-old adults with ASDs (n = 17) and typically developing matched adults (n = 19).

Facilitating Neurofeedback in Children with Autism and Intellectual Impairments Using TAGteach.

Individuals with autism and intellectual impairments tend to be excluded from research due to their difficulties with methodological compliance. This study focuses on using Teaching with Acoustic Guidance-TAGteach-to behaviorally prepare children with autism and a IQ ≤ 80 to participate in a study on neurofeedback training (NFT). Seven children (ages 6-8) learned the prerequisite skills identified in a task analysis in an average of 5 h of TAGteach training, indicating that this is a feasible method of preparing intellectually-impaired children with autism to participate in NFT and task-dependent electroencephalography measures.

Under-reactive but easily distracted: An fMRI investigation of attentional capture in autism spectrum disorder.

For individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), salient behaviorally-relevant information often fails to capture attention, while subtle behaviorally-irrelevant details commonly induce a state of distraction. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neurocognitive networks underlying attentional capture in sixteen high-functioning children and adolescents with ASD and twenty-one typically developing (TD) individuals. Participants completed a rapid serial visual presentation paradigm designed to investigate activation of attentional networks to behaviorally-relevant targets and contingent attention capture by task-irrelevant distractors.

The Association of Intelligence, Visual-Motor Functioning, and Personality Characteristics With Adaptive Behavior in Individuals With Williams Syndrome.

Williams syndrome (WS) is associated with deficits in adaptive behavior and an uneven adaptive profile. This study investigated the association of intelligence, visual-motor functioning, and personality characteristics with the adaptive behavior in individuals with WS. One hundred individuals with WS and 25 individuals with developmental disabilities of other etiologies were included in this study.

Cerebro-cerebellar Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Background: The cerebellum plays important roles in sensori-motor and supramodal cognitive functions. Cellular, volumetric, and functional abnormalities of the cerebellum have been found in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but no comprehensive investigation of cerebro-cerebellar connectivity in ASD is available.

Methods: We used resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging in 56 children and adolescents (28 subjects with ASD, 28 typically developing subjects) 8-17 years old.

Sensory Symptoms and Processing of Nonverbal Auditory and Visual Stimuli in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Atypical sensory responses are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While evidence suggests impaired auditory-visual integration for verbal information, findings for nonverbal stimuli are inconsistent. We tested for sensory symptoms in children with ASD (using the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile) and examined unisensory and bisensory processing with a nonverbal auditory-visual paradigm, for which neurotypical adults show bisensory facilitation.

The Influence of Task Difficulty and Participant Age on Balance Control in ASD.

Impairments in sensorimotor integration are reported in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Poor control of balance in challenging balance tasks is one suggested manifestation of these impairments, and is potentially related to ASD symptom severity. Reported balance and symptom severity relationships disregard age as a potential covariate, however, despite its involvement in balance development.

Atypical cross talk between mentalizing and mirror neuron networks in autism spectrum disorder.

Importance: Converging evidence indicates that brain abnormalities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involve atypical network connectivity, but it is unclear whether altered connectivity is especially prominent in brain networks that participate in social cognition.

Objective: To investigate whether adolescents with ASD show altered functional connectivity in 2 brain networks putatively impaired in ASD and involved in social processing, theory of mind (ToM) and mirror neuron system (MNS).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cross-sectional study using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging involving 25 adolescents with ASD between the ages of 11 and 18 years and 25 typically developing adolescents matched for age, handedness, and nonverbal IQ.

Assessing bioenergetic compromise in autism spectrum disorder with 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy: preliminary report.

We sought to examine, via Phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((31)P-MRS) in a case-control design, whether bioenergetic deficits in autism spectrum disorders extend to the brain and muscle. Six cases with autism spectrum disorder with suspected mitochondrial dysfunction (age 6-18 years) and 6 age/sex-matched controls underwent (31)P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The outcomes of focus were muscle resting phosphocreatine and intracellular pH as well as postexercise phosphocreatine recovery time constant and frontal brain phosphocreatine.

The Coping Cat program for children with anxiety and autism spectrum disorder: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate whether a modified version of the Coping Cat program could be effective in reducing anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Twenty-two children (ages 8-14; IQ ≥ 70) with ASD and clinically significant anxiety were randomly assigned to 16 sessions of the Coping Cat program (cognitive-behavioral therapy; CBT) or a 16-week waitlist. Children in the CBT condition evidenced significantly larger reductions in anxiety than those in the waitlist.

Considerations for the effects of military deployment on children and families.

Children of deployed military personnel represent a unique subculture in the United States. While many children exhibit high levels of resiliency, others will struggle with the impact of a parent who has gone to war. This article looks at some of the stressors of deployment as experienced by children and offers three case examples as well as clinical considerations for those who work with the children and families of the deployed.

White matter compromise of callosal and subcortical fiber tracts in children with autism spectrum disorder: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

Objective: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasingly viewed as a disorder of functional networks, highlighting the importance of investigating white matter and interregional connectivity. We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine white matter integrity for the whole brain and for corpus callosum, internal capsule, and middle cerebellar peduncle in children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children.

Method: DTI data were obtained from 26 children with ASD and 24 matched TD children.

Attentional networks in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit lifelong abnormalities in the adaptive allocation of visual attention. The ubiquitous nature of attentional impairments in ASD has led some authors to hypothesize that atypical attentional modulation may be a factor in the development of higher-level sociocommunicative deficits.

Method: Participants were 20 children with ASD and 20 age- and Nonverbal IQ-matched typically developing (TD) children.

Impaired behavior regulation under conditions of concurrent variable schedules of reinforcement in children with ADHD.

Objective: To bridge theory of response inhibition and learning in children with ADHD.

Method: Thirty ADHD and 30 non-ADHD children (ages 9-12) were compared under concurrent variable interval (VI-15 sec., VI-30 sec.

Functional brain organization for visual search in ASD.

Although previous studies have shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) excel at visual search, underlying neural mechanisms remain unknown. This study investigated the neurofunctional correlates of visual search in children with ASD and matched typically developing (TD) children, using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging design. We used a visual search paradigm, manipulating search difficulty by varying set size (6, 12, or 24 items), distractor composition (heterogeneous or homogeneous) and target presence to identify brain regions associated with efficient and inefficient search.

Social stories: mechanisms of effectiveness in increasing game play skills in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder using a pretest posttest repeated measures randomized control group design.

An increasing body of literature has indicated that social stories are an effective way to teach individuals diagnosed with autism appropriate social behavior. This study compared two formats of a social story targeting the improvement of social skills during game play using a pretest posttest repeated measures randomized control group design. A total of 45 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) ages 7-14 were randomly assigned to standard, directive, or control story conditions.

Brief report: eye-movement patterns during an embedded figures test in children with ASD.

The present study examined fixation frequency and duration during an Embedded Figures Test (EFT) in an effort to better understand the attentional and perceptual processes by which individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) achieve accelerated EFT performance. In particular, we aimed to elucidate differences in the patterns of eye-movement in ASD and typically developing (TD) children, thus providing evidence relevant to the competing theories of weak central coherence (WCC) and enhanced perceptual functioning. Consistent with prior EFT studies, we found accelerated response time (RT) in children with ASD.

Social interaction behaviors discriminate young children with autism and Williams syndrome.

Objective: Autistic disorder (AD) and Williams syndrome (WS) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by contrasting abnormal social behavior (the former, socially avoidant; the latter, outwardly social); nonetheless, there are individuals with WS who display some behaviors that are characteristic of AD. We quantified the extent to which autism spectrum disorder (ASD) behaviors were present in children with WS.

Method: Twenty children with WS (27-58 months) and 26 age- and IQ-equivalent children with AD were administered the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS).

Orientation and affective expression effects on face recognition in Williams syndrome and autism.

We sought to clarify the nature of the face processing strength commonly observed in individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) by comparing the face recognition ability of persons with WS to that of persons with autism and to healthy controls under three conditions: Upright faces with neutral expressions, upright faces with varying affective expressions, and inverted faces with neutral expressions. No differences were observed under the upright/neutral expression condition. However, the WS group was more accurate than the autism group when discriminating upright faces with varying affective expressions, whereas the opposite pattern emerged when discriminating inverted faces.

Examining the relationship between executive functions and restricted, repetitive symptoms of Autistic Disorder.

The executive function theory was utilized to examine the relationship between cognitive process and the restricted, repetitive symptoms of Autistic Disorder (AD). Seventeen adults with AD were compared to 17 nonautistic controls on a new executive function battery (Delis-Kaplin Executive Function Scales). Restricted, repetitive symptoms were measured by a variety of instruments (i.

Outcome classification of preschool children with autism spectrum disorders using MRI brain measures.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that a combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain measures obtained during early childhood distinguish children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) from typically developing children and is associated with functional outcome.

Method: Quantitative MRI technology was used to measure gray and white matter volumes (cerebrum and cerebellum), total brain volume, and the area of the cerebellar vermis in 52 boys with a provisional diagnosis of autism (aged 1.9-5.

The relationship between age and IQ in adults with Williams syndrome.

The relationship between age and IQ was evaluated in a cross-sectional sample of 80 individuals with Williams syndrome (17 to 52 years). The relationship between age and WAIS-R subtest scores was such that increases and decreases in raw scores occurred at a rate sufficient to maintain stability of age-corrected scaled scores, indicating a developmental trajectory similar to that of the WAIS-R normative sample. Despite stability of age- corrected scaled scores with age, increased age was related to higher Performance IQ.