[Diagnostics and treatment of autism spectrum disorder in adulthood].

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition with unique characteristics of perception and neurocognition that begins in childhood and persists into adulthood. It significantly affects social integration and adaptation, and is a great challenge in terms of psychological coping. Intensive genetic and neurobiological research is focused at understanding the brain underpinnings of autism, and it is also at the forefront of pharmacological development.

Alterations in resting-state gamma-activity is adults with autism spectrum disorder: A High-Density EEG study.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a wide range of symptoms that include deficits in social cognition and difficulties with social interactions. Neural oscillations in the EEG gamma band have been proposed as an important candidate neurobiological marker of higher order cognitive processes and social interactions. We investigated resting-state gamma-activity of patients with ASD (n=23) in order to delineate alterations as compared to typically developing (TD) subjects (n=24).

Altered interpersonal distance regulation in autism spectrum disorder.

Interpersonal distance regulation is an essential element of social communication. Its impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is widely acknowledged among practitioners, but only a handful of studies reported empirical research in real-life settings, focusing mainly on children. Interpersonal distance in adults with ASD and related autonomic functions received less attention.

Intact fluency in autism? A comprehensive approach of verbal fluency task including word imageability and concreteness.

Verbal fluency is a cognitive function reflecting executive functions and the ability to retrieve the appropriate information from memory quickly. Previous studies reported conflicting results-impaired and intact verbal fluency-in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Most studies concentrate on overall word productivity, errors, perseverations, clustering, or switching.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Last in, first out - delayed brain maturation with an accelerated decline?

While early neurodevelopmental processes during the emergence of ADHD in childhood received considerable attention, the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the changes in ADHD in adulthood remain largely unaddressed. We wanted to delineate neurodevelopmental changes in adult ADHD using an electrophysiological measure, the fronto-central NoGo P3 event-related potential (ERP), which is an important neurophysiological index of brain functioning in ADHD, and biomarker for response inhibition and aging. ERPs were obtained from 45 ADHD and 41 healthy subjects using a 128-channel BioSemi recording-system, applying emotionally-valenced and neutral stimuli in a response inhibition task.

Functional impairment in adults positively screened for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: the role of symptom presentation and executive functioning.

Background: While the number of symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) decreases with age, a high proportion of adults with ADHD symptoms suffer from persistent functional impairment (Fi) linked to these symptoms. Our objective was to investigate the specific roles of two potentially important predictors of this Fi: the clinical symptom presentation and the deficit in executive functions (EFs).

Methods: A total of 158 subjects from a community sample positively screened for ADHD were classified into two groups: those with and without Fi.

Measurement of mental fatigability by task related spectral EEG. A pilot study.

Background: Task related EEG spectra are promising markers of mental activity. But the cooperation of the patients necessary for the registration limits its application in the neuro-psychiatry.

Methods: EEG difference spectra on counting (EDSC)--was developed to detect the effect of a short calculation task on the spectral EEG.