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Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health :... Apr 2021
Topics: Humans; Mental Health
PubMed: 33848028
DOI: 10.1002/cbm.2195 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2021Studies of brain-damaged patients revealed that amygdala lesions cause deficits in the processing and recognition of emotional faces. Patients with autism spectrum...
Studies of brain-damaged patients revealed that amygdala lesions cause deficits in the processing and recognition of emotional faces. Patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have similar deficits also related to dysfunctions of the limbic system including the amygdala. We investigated a male patient who had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. He also presented with a lesion of the right mesial temporal cortex, including the amygdala. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate neuronal processing during a passive viewing task of implicit and explicit emotional faces. Clinical assessment included a facial emotion recognition task. There was no amygdala activation on both sides during the presentation of masked emotional faces compared to the no-face control condition. Presentation of unmasked happy and angry faces activated the left amygdala compared to the no-face control condition. There was no amygdala activation in response to unmasked fearful faces on both sides. In the facial emotion recognition task, the patient biased positive and neutral expressions as negative. This case report describes a male patient with right amygdala damage and an ASD. He displayed a non-response of the amygdala to fearful faces and tended to misinterpret fearful expressions. Moreover, a non-reactivity of both amygdalae to emotional facial expressions at an implicit processing level was revealed. It is discussed whether the deficient implicit processing of facial emotional information and abnormalities in fear processing could contribute and aggravate the patient's impairments in social behavior and interaction.
PubMed: 34239482
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.677549 -
Psychology Research and Behavior... 2018The continued discussion about the meaning of Camus's famous novel, , provoked a re-reading, and this, in turn, led to its clinical analysis and further investigation....
The continued discussion about the meaning of Camus's famous novel, , provoked a re-reading, and this, in turn, led to its clinical analysis and further investigation. The book rests entirely on the thoughts, words and actions of its central character, Meursault, and these were found to show impairment of social relationships, communication and interaction, with other traits diagnostic of the Asperger's subgroup of the autism spectrum disorder. It was then found that Camus had based Meursault on his close friend Galindo, and a search was therefore made for evidence of Galindo's character; this revealed him to be an intelligent but odd person, who exhibited the characteristic impairment of social and personal behavior of Asperger's syndrome. Thus, Camus had recognized and understood his friend's strange behavior before Asperger's syndrome had been defined; his use of it for the creation of Meursault is therefore the first published account of a man with this disorder. Many of the interpretations and ideas developed from Meursault's words, thoughts and actions must now be reconsidered, as they are a misreading of the words and behavior of a man with Asperger's syndrome. The outcome of this clinical examination of is unique; it shows that a precise account of a person with a neurobehavioral disorder was made by a novelist before the disorder had been clinically defined.
PubMed: 29695940
DOI: 10.2147/PRBM.S157669 -
Journal of Autism and Developmental... Oct 2019Empathy is an essential component of human social life. It requires the ability to understand another's mental state and respond with an appropriate emotion or action....
Empathy is an essential component of human social life. It requires the ability to understand another's mental state and respond with an appropriate emotion or action. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been described to exhibit atypical empathic responses which limit communication and social interactions. This review highlights the clinical characteristics and mechanisms underlying empathy in ASD by summarizing 61 peer-reviewed articles. Studies characterized empathic differences due to sex, age, intelligence, and disorder severity and provided valuable insights into the roles that genetics, neural networks, and sensory processing have in eliciting empathy. This knowledge will lead to improved diagnostics and therapies to improve social cognition, emotional recognition, and the empathic response in patients with ASD.
Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Emotional Adjustment; Empathy; Female; Humans; Male; Social Behavior
PubMed: 31147901
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-04087-w -
Current Psychiatry Reports Mar 2018Neurodevelopmental disorders disproportionately affect males. The mechanisms underlying male vulnerability or female protection are not known and remain understudied.... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Neurodevelopmental disorders disproportionately affect males. The mechanisms underlying male vulnerability or female protection are not known and remain understudied. Determining the processes involved is crucial to understanding the etiology and advancing treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we review current findings and theories that contribute to male preponderance of neurodevelopmental disorders, with a focus on autism.
RECENT FINDINGS
Recent work on the biological basis of the male preponderance of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders includes discussion of a higher genetic burden in females and sex-specific gene mutations or epigenetic changes that differentially confer risk to males or protection to females. Other mechanisms discussed are sex chromosome and sex hormone involvement. Specifically, fetal testosterone is involved in many aspects of development and may interact with neurotransmitter, neuropeptide, or immune pathways to contribute to male vulnerability. Finally, the possibilities of female underdiagnosis and a multi-hit hypothesis are discussed. This review highlights current theories of male bias in developmental disorders. Topics include environmental, genetic, and epigenetic mechanisms; theories of sex chromosomes, hormones, neuroendocrine, and immune function; underdiagnosis of females; and a multi-hit hypothesis.
Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Epigenesis, Genetic; Female; Humans; Male; Protective Factors; Psychopathology; Sex Factors
PubMed: 29504047
DOI: 10.1007/s11920-018-0874-2 -
Praxis Oct 2014
Topics: Adult; Asperger Syndrome; Child; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diagnosis, Differential; Humans; Intelligence; Social Adjustment; Social Support; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 25270744
DOI: 10.1024/1661-8157/a001824 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2015First described in 1944 by Hans Asperger (1944), it was not before 1994 that Asperger Syndrome (AS) was included in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical... (Review)
Review
First described in 1944 by Hans Asperger (1944), it was not before 1994 that Asperger Syndrome (AS) was included in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, only to disappear in the Manual's fifth edition in 2013. During its brief existence as a diagnostic entity, AS aroused immense interest and controversy. Similar to patients with autism, AS patients show deficits in social interaction, inappropriate communication skills, and interest restriction, but also display a rich variety of subtle clinical characteristics that for many distinguish AS from autism. However, difficulties operationalising diagnostic criteria and differentiating AS from autism ultimately led to its merging into the unifying category of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Here we briefly review the short history of this fascinating condition.
PubMed: 26834663
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02024 -
Harvard Review of Psychiatry 2016For the past two decades, researchers have been using various approaches to investigate the relationship, if any, between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and violence.... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
For the past two decades, researchers have been using various approaches to investigate the relationship, if any, between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and violence. The need to clarify that relationship was reinforced by the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012 by an individual diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. The purpose of this article is (1) to provide an updated review of the literature on the association between ASD and violence, and (2) to examine implications for treating, and for preventing violence by, individuals with ASD.
METHOD
A review of all published literature regarding ASD and violence from 1943 to 2014 was conducted using electronic and paper searches.
RESULTS
Although some case reports have suggested an increased violence risk in individuals with ASD compared to the general population, prevalence studies have provided no conclusive evidence to support this suggestion. Among individuals with ASD, however, generative (e.g., comorbid psychopathology, social-cognition deficits, emotion-regulation problems) and associational (e.g., younger age, Asperger's syndrome diagnosis, repetitive behavior) risk factors have been identified or proposed for violent behavior.
CONCLUSIONS
While no conclusive evidence indicates that individuals with ASD are more violent than those without ASD, specific generative and associational risk factors may increase violence risk among individuals with ASD. Further research would help to clarify or confirm these findings, suggest potential directions for evaluation, treatment, and prevention, and potentially provide compelling empirical support for forensic testimony regarding defendants with ASD charged with violent crimes.
Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Child; Humans; Risk Factors; Violence
PubMed: 26735321
DOI: 10.1097/HRP.0000000000000087 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2023Mental health could worsen in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, their parents could be more at risk for...
Mental health could worsen in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, their parents could be more at risk for an increase in anxiety and depression symptomatology. This study aims to understand the adaptation and the psychosocial well-being in a sample of 16 males aged 10-21 years old with Asperger's syndrome after the quarantine for COVID-19 when they return to school and partially to their activities in September 2020. The adopted approach is multi-informant with a battery of questionnaires on psychological health and adaptation given by a secure online web data Qualtrics both to adolescents and also to their parents. Paralleling matched peers with typical developments were assessed by adopting the same methodology. The results evidenced several difficulties in psychological health in population with Asperger's syndrome, especially in anxiety and socialization. Adaptation is put in crisis, even if they reported a good comprehension and adoption of the right behaviors anti-COVID-19. Parents of children with Asperger's syndrome reported similar psychological difficulties and general health to those of the group of children typically developing. Some clinical indications could be discussed for psychologists who follow children and adolescents with Asperger's syndrome.
Topics: Male; Humans; Child; Adolescent; Young Adult; Adult; Asperger Syndrome; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Pandemics; COVID-19; Socialization
PubMed: 36767499
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20032132 -
The Journal of Nervous and Mental... May 2020We explored subjective well-being in two groups of young adult participants diagnosed with either schizotypal disorder (Sd) (n = 29) or Asperger syndrome/autism spectrum...
We explored subjective well-being in two groups of young adult participants diagnosed with either schizotypal disorder (Sd) (n = 29) or Asperger syndrome/autism spectrum disorder (As/ASD) (n = 22). Well-being was impaired in both groups and was lower in the Sd group than in the As/ASD group. Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between well-being and the presence of self-disorders. The negative effect of self-disorders on well-being was still significant when adjusted for diagnosis, age and gender, and level of function. The present findings point toward clinically important disorder-specific differences in the nature of impaired well-being between the Sd group and the As/ASD group, as there seems to be a self-disorder-driven additional contribution to impaired subjective well-being within the schizophrenia spectrum. These findings further nuance the understanding of fundamental and clinically important qualitative differences between the schizophrenia spectrum and the autism spectrum.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Asperger Syndrome; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression; Female; Humans; Linear Models; Male; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Quality of Life; Schizotypal Personality Disorder; Self-Assessment; Young Adult
PubMed: 31977719
DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001145