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Pediatric Clinics of North America Apr 2024Profound autism refers to a subset of individuals with autism spectrum disorder who have an intellectual disability with an intelligence quotient less than 50 and... (Review)
Review
Profound autism refers to a subset of individuals with autism spectrum disorder who have an intellectual disability with an intelligence quotient less than 50 and minimal-to-no language and require 24-hour supervision and assistance with activities of daily living. The general pediatrician will invariably work with autistic children across the spectrum and will likely encounter youth with profound autism. Awareness of profound autism as a real entity describing autistic children with concomitant intellectual disability and language impairment who require 24-hour care is the first step in developing a solid pediatric home for these youth.
Topics: Adolescent; Humans; Child; Autistic Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Activities of Daily Living; Intellectual Disability
PubMed: 38423722
DOI: 10.1016/j.pcl.2023.12.005 -
Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical... May 2022Following the popularity of dual process models in social and cognitive psychology, there is major interest in the possibility that autism is associated with impaired...
Following the popularity of dual process models in social and cognitive psychology, there is major interest in the possibility that autism is associated with impaired "fast" intuitive thinking but enhanced "slow" or "rational" deliberative thinking. If correct, this has great potential to help understand various strengths and difficulties characteristic of autism. Previous empirical investigations of this phenomenon, however, are marred by concerns about the measurement of intuitive and deliberative processing, as well as broader problems in clinical psychological science (e.g., small underpowered studies, lack of replication). Making a step change, we conducted four large-scale studies to examine dual processing in autism, including a preregistered comparison of 200 autistic and nonautistic adults. Participants completed contemporary cognitive and self-report measures of intuitive and deliberative processing, as well as a psychometrically robust measure of general cognitive ability. Except for lower self-reported intuitive thinking, we found no unique contributions of autism to intuitive or deliberative thinking across all four studies, as evidenced by frequentist and Bayesian analyses. Overall, these studies indicate that intuitive and deliberative thinking is neither enhanced nor particularly impaired in relation to autism. We deliberate on the implications of these findings for theories of autism and future investigation of strengths and difficulties in autistic people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Adult; Autistic Disorder; Bayes Theorem; Humans; Mental Processes; Self Report
PubMed: 35357846
DOI: 10.1037/abn0000734 -
Medecine Sciences : M/S Feb 2021Autistic subjects frequently display sensory anomalies. Those regarding nociception and its potential outcome, pain, are of crucial interest. Indeed, because of numerous... (Review)
Review
Autistic subjects frequently display sensory anomalies. Those regarding nociception and its potential outcome, pain, are of crucial interest. Indeed, because of numerous comorbidities, autistic subjects are more often exposed to painful situation. Despite being often considered as less sensitive, experimental studies evaluating this point are failing to reach consensus. Using animal model can help reduce variability and bring, regarding autism, an overview of potential alterations of the nociceptive system at the cellular and molecular level.
Topics: Animals; Autistic Disorder; Disease Models, Animal; Humans; Nociception; Pain; Pain Measurement; Pain Threshold
PubMed: 33591257
DOI: 10.1051/medsci/2020280 -
Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B Jun 2015The controversies that have arisen in endeavoring to establish the nature of the relationships between autism and epilepsy might be summarized in a few simple questions,...
The controversies that have arisen in endeavoring to establish the nature of the relationships between autism and epilepsy might be summarized in a few simple questions, most of which do not yet have clear, complete answers. Does epilepsy cause autism? Does autism cause epilepsy? Are there underlying brain mechanisms that predispose to both conditions? What is the role of genetics in this regard? What is the importance of prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal environmental factors? Do any of the proposed relationships between autism and epilepsy provide insight into useful management or treatment? Is the prognosis of either autism or epilepsy different when the other condition is also present? What is the role of additional comorbidities, such as intellectual impairment or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in the relationship between the two conditions and in influencing treatment choices? From the evidence currently available, it would appear that epilepsy can rarely be the cause of autistic features but is not the cause of autism in most cases. There is currently no credible mechanism for suggesting that autism might cause epilepsy. There is strong evidence for an underlying predisposition for both conditions, particularly arising from genetic investigations. However, many issues remain unresolved. Considering the amount of research that has been published in this area, it is surprising that so few definitive answers have been established. The papers in this issue's special section provide additional insights into the relationships between autism and epilepsy; while they do not provide answers to all the questions, they represent considerable progress in this area and, at the very least, give some strong indication of what research might, in the future, provide such answers.
Topics: Adult; Autistic Disorder; Brain; Epilepsy; Female; Humans; Pregnancy
PubMed: 26091860
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2015.05.032 -
Neurological Sciences : Official... Aug 2017Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders typically diagnosed in childhood, characterized by core social dysfunction, rigid and repetitive... (Review)
Review
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders typically diagnosed in childhood, characterized by core social dysfunction, rigid and repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, and abnormal sensorial sensitivity. ASD belong to multifactorial diseases: both genetic and environmental factors have been considered as potential risk factors for their onset. ASD are often associated with neurological conditions: the co-occurrence of epilepsy is well documented and there is also evidence of a higher prevalence of EEG abnormalities with 4-86% of individuals with ASD presenting epileptiform or not epileptiform EEG abnormalities. The presence of epilepsy in people with ASD may be determined by several structural alterations, genetic conditions, or metabolic dysfunctions, known to play a role in the emergence of both epilepsy and autism. The purpose of this article is to discuss precisely such latter cause of the autism-epilepsy association, focusing specifically on those "synaptic genes," whose mutation predisposes to both the diseases.
Topics: Autistic Disorder; Electroencephalography; Epilepsy; Humans; Synapses
PubMed: 28455770
DOI: 10.1007/s10072-017-2974-x -
Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience Dec 2017In 2003, we proposed the hypersystemizing theory of autism. The theory proposes that the human mind possesses a systemizing mechanism (SM) that helps identify lawful... (Review)
Review
In 2003, we proposed the hypersystemizing theory of autism. The theory proposes that the human mind possesses a systemizing mechanism (SM) that helps identify lawful regularities (often causal) that govern the input-operation-output workings of a system. The SM can be tuned to different levels, from low to high, with a normal distribution of individual differences in how strongly people search for such input-operation-out-put regularities in any data that is systemizable. Evidence suggests that people with autism are on average hypersystemizers, scoring higher than average on the systemizing quotient and on performance tests of systemizing. In this article, we consider the neural basis behind the SM, since there has been little consideration of the brain basis of systemizing. Finally, we discuss directions for future work in this field.
Topics: Autistic Disorder; Brain; Brain Mapping; Cognition Disorders; Humans
PubMed: 29398930
DOI: 10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.4/sbaroncohen -
Autism : the International Journal of... Feb 2018
Topics: Autistic Disorder; Biomedical Research; Child; Humans; Periodicals as Topic; Research Support as Topic; United States
PubMed: 29369697
DOI: 10.1177/1362361317748556 -
Pediatric Clinics of North America Apr 2024
Topics: Child; Humans; Autistic Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder
PubMed: 38423727
DOI: 10.1016/j.pcl.2024.01.010 -
Pediatric Annals Jan 2024
Topics: Child; Humans; Autistic Disorder
PubMed: 38194656
DOI: 10.3928/19382359-20231204-01 -
Autism : the International Journal of... Apr 2020
Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autistic Disorder; Biomedical Research; Female; Gender Identity; Humans; Male; Phenotype; Sex Characteristics
PubMed: 32299242
DOI: 10.1177/1362361320913192