Stop and change: inhibition and flexibility skills are related to repetitive behavior in children and young adults with autism spectrum disorders.

Cognitive control dysfunctions, like inhibitory and attentional flexibility deficits are assumed to underlie repetitive behavior in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In the present study, prepotent response inhibition and attentional flexibility were examined in 64 high-functioning individuals with ASD and 53 control participants. Performance under different task conditions were tested both in response to visual and auditory information, and requiring a motor or verbal response.

Characterization of a family with rare deletions in CNTNAP5 and DOCK4 suggests novel risk loci for autism and dyslexia.

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are characterized by social, communication, and behavioral deficits and complex genetic etiology. A recent study of 517 ASD families implicated DOCK4 by single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) association and a microdeletion in an affected sibling pair.

Methods: The DOCK4 microdeletion on 7q31.