Therapeutic responses to a frontal/executive programme in autism spectrum disorder: Comparison with schizophrenia.

Introduction: Studies on autism spectrum disorder in recent years have controversially indicated similarities with schizophrenia. Cognitive dysfunction is present in both disorders, and while there is a rich array of interventions for cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, there are few such treatments for autism spectrum disorder. In this study, we have investigated a potentially useful approach in autism spectrum disorder by comparing autism spectrum disorder with schizophrenia in regard to the characteristics of cognitive dysfunction and therapeutic response to cognitive remediation therapy.

Lethal Radiation from Nearby Supernovae Helps Explain the Small Cosmological Constant.

The observed value Λ of the cosmological constant Λ is extremely smaller than theoretical expectations, and the anthropic argument has been proposed as a solution to this problem because galaxies do not form when Λ ≫ Λ. However, the contemporary galaxy formation theory predicts that stars form even with a high value of Λ/Λ ∼ 50, which makes the anthropic argument less persuasive. Here we calculate the probability distribution of Λ using a model of cosmological galaxy formation, considering extinction of observers caused by radiation from nearby supernovae.

The effects of cognitive remediation therapy using the frontal/executive program for autism spectrum disorder.

Objective: The cognitive features and treatment of autism spectrum disorder have been the subject of much debate in recent years. Therapeutic approaches to date have focused on skills acquisition, support tailored to the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, and interventions in social cognitive functioning; there have been few reports describing interventions aimed at neurocognitive dysfunction. In this study, we focus on impairment of executive functioning in autism spectrum disorder patients and investigate improvements in executive functioning and their generalization to social functioning.