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Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) Feb 2024Serious games represent a promising avenue for intervention with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by persistent... (Review)
Review
Serious games represent a promising avenue for intervention with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by persistent challenges in social communication and the presence of restricted, repetitive behaviors. Despite this potential, comprehensive reviews on this subject are scarce. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of serious games and their specific characteristics in enhancing social skills among children and adolescents with autism. Employing PICO strategies and adhering to PRISMA guidelines, we screened 149 studies initially identified through PubMed and EBSCOhost databases. Nine studies met inclusion criteria and found a positive influence of serious games on social skills and related domains, encompassing emotion recognition/encoding/decoding, emotional regulation, eye gaze, joint attention, and behavioral skills. Nevertheless, despite these promising results, the limited available evidence underscores the need for rigorous study designs to consolidate findings and integrate evidence-based intervention strategies.
PubMed: 38470619
DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12050508 -
Journal of Pediatric Health Care :... Mar 2024Nonimmersive virtual reality (NIVR), a computer-generated virtual reality experience wherein users are not fully immersed, has been increasingly used in pediatric...
INTRODUCTION
Nonimmersive virtual reality (NIVR), a computer-generated virtual reality experience wherein users are not fully immersed, has been increasingly used in pediatric healthcare. This study aimed to identify the effects of NIVR-based interventions for children.
METHOD
A mixed methods systematic review of relevant studies published until December 2023 was conducted. We included samples of healthy children and those with chronic conditions or disabilities, findings related to self-management or social skills, and the NIVR interventions applied. A convergent-integrated design was used for the synthesis.
RESULTS
This review included 22 studies, of which 15 examined children having autism spectrum disorders. Utilizing NIVR was found to be effective in enhancing social skills. Participating in virtual communities with peers having similar conditions was determined to facilitate social support and identity exploration.
DISCUSSION
Healthcare interventions using NIVR need to be explored further to improve self-management and social skills in children with various conditions.
PubMed: 38466243
DOI: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2024.01.008 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2024Interpersonal motor synchrony (IMS) is the spontaneous, voluntary, or instructed coordination of movements between interacting partners. Throughout the life cycle, it...
INTRODUCTION
Interpersonal motor synchrony (IMS) is the spontaneous, voluntary, or instructed coordination of movements between interacting partners. Throughout the life cycle, it shapes social exchanges and interplays with intra- and inter-individual characteristics that may diverge in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Here we perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the extant literature and quantify the evidence about reduced IMS in dyads including at least one participant with a diagnosis of ASD.
METHODS
Empirical evidence from sixteen experimental studies was systematically reviewed, encompassing spontaneous and instructed paradigms as well as a paucity of measures used to assess IMS. Of these, thirteen studies (n = 512 dyads) contributed measures of IMS with an in situ neurotypical partner (TD) for ASD and control groups, which could be used for meta-analyses.
RESULTS
Reduced synchronization in ASD-TD dyads emerged from both the systematic review and meta-analyses, although both small and large effect sizes (i.e., Hedge's g) in favor of the control group are consistent with the data (Hedge's g = .85, p < 0.001, 95% CI[.35, 1.35], 95% PI[-.89, 2.60]).
DISCUSSION
Uncertainty is discussed relative to the type of task, measures, and age range considered in each study. We further discuss that sharing similar experiences of the world might help to synchronize with one another. Future studies should not only assess whether reduced IMS is consistently observed in ASD-TD dyads and how this shapes social exchanges, but also explore whether and how ASD-ASD dyads synchronize during interpersonal exchanges.
PubMed: 38439792
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1355068 -
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence 2024Digital accessibility involves designing digital systems and services to enable access for individuals, including those with disabilities, including visual, auditory,...
INTRODUCTION
Digital accessibility involves designing digital systems and services to enable access for individuals, including those with disabilities, including visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to enhance accessibility for people with disabilities and improve their overall quality of life.
METHODS
This systematic review, covering academic articles from 2018 to 2023, focuses on AI applications for digital accessibility. Initially, 3,706 articles were screened from five scholarly databases-ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Springer.
RESULTS
The analysis narrowed down to 43 articles, presenting a classification framework based on applications, challenges, AI methodologies, and accessibility standards.
DISCUSSION
This research emphasizes the predominant focus on AI-driven digital accessibility for visual impairments, revealing a critical gap in addressing speech and hearing impairments, autism spectrum disorder, neurological disorders, and motor impairments. This highlights the need for a more balanced research distribution to ensure equitable support for all communities with disabilities. The study also pointed out a lack of adherence to accessibility standards in existing systems, stressing the urgency for a fundamental shift in designing solutions for people with disabilities. Overall, this research underscores the vital role of accessible AI in preventing exclusion and discrimination, urging a comprehensive approach to digital accessibility to cater to diverse disability needs.
PubMed: 38435800
DOI: 10.3389/frai.2024.1349668 -
Dementia & Neuropsychologia 2024Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is expressed with neurobehavioral symptoms of different degrees of intensity. It is estimated that, for every three cases detected, there... (Review)
Review
UNLABELLED
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is expressed with neurobehavioral symptoms of different degrees of intensity. It is estimated that, for every three cases detected, there are two cases that reach adulthood without treatment.
OBJECTIVE
To establish what challenges are still present in the implementation of early intervention (EI) and its effects on the prognosis of ASD.
METHODS
A systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (Prisma) methodology was carried out in the PubMed and ScienceDirect databases in January 2023. The search keywords were "autism spectrum disorder", "early intervention" and "prognosis".
RESULTS
Sixteen studies were included, two randomized and 14 non-randomized. Knowledge about the signs of ASD, diagnostic and therapeutic methods, age at the start of treatment, and socioeconomic factors were the main challenges encountered in the implementation of the EI.
CONCLUSION
EI is capable of modifying the prognosis of ASD and challenges in its implementation persist, especially in developing regions with low socioeconomic status.
PubMed: 38425700
DOI: 10.1590/1980-5764-DN-2023-0034 -
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 2024Motor Imagery (MI) is when an individual imagines performing an action without physically executing that action and is thought to involve similar neural processes used...
INTRODUCTION
Motor Imagery (MI) is when an individual imagines performing an action without physically executing that action and is thought to involve similar neural processes used for execution of physical movement. As motor coordination difficulties are common in autistic individuals it is possible that these may affect MI ability. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the current knowledge around MI ability in autistic individuals.
METHODS
A systematic search was conducted for articles published before September 2023, following PRISMA guidance. Search engines were PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Wiley Online Library and PsyArXiv. Inclusion criteria included: (a) Original peer-reviewed and pre-print publications; (b) Autistic and a non-autistic group (c) Implicit or explicit imagery tasks (d) Behavioral, neurophysiological or self-rating measures, (e) Written in the English language. Exclusion criteria were (a) Articles only about MI or autism (b) Articles where the autism data is not presented separately (c) Articles on action observation, recognition or imitation only (d) Review articles. A narrative synthesis of the evidence was conducted.
RESULTS
Sixteen studies across fourteen articles were included. Tasks were divided into implicit (unconscious) or explicit (conscious) MI. The implicit tasks used either hand (6) or body (4) rotation tasks. Explicit tasks consisted of perspective taking tasks (3), a questionnaire (1) and explicit instructions to imagine performing a movement (2). A MI strategy was apparent for the hand rotation task in autistic children, although may have been more challenging. Evidence was mixed and inconclusive for the remaining task types due to the varied range of different tasks and, measures conducted and design limitations. Further limitations included a sex bias toward males and the hand rotation task only being conducted in children.
DISCUSSION
There is currently an incomplete understanding of MI ability in autistic individuals. The field would benefit from a battery of fully described implicit and explicit MI tasks, conducted across the same groups of autistic children and adults. Improved knowledge around MI in autistic individuals is important for understanding whether MI techniques may benefit motor coordination in some autistic people.
PubMed: 38410719
DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2024.1335694 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024School refusal is considered a risk factor for academic, social, and personal situations, such as school dropouts. Studies have been carried out on school refusal for...
School refusal is considered a risk factor for academic, social, and personal situations, such as school dropouts. Studies have been carried out on school refusal for almost 50 years. However, general research trends have not been mapped yet. This study summarizes the bibliometric analysis of scientific collaborations and prevalence across locations by country and institution, leading researchers, journals, and trends (keywords) in school refusal research. The United States, Japan, Spain, and England are the countries that stand out in terms of school refusal. It can be said that the Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, and Frontiers in Psychology are important journals that publish on school refusal. Researchers named Christopher A. Kearney, Carolina Gonzálvez, Jose Manuel Garcia-Fernandez, David A. Heyne, and Brigit M. Van Widenfelt have been found to have more intensive studies and collaborations on school refusal. The authors keywords common use for school refusal; are truancy, school absenteeism, adolescence, school attendance, school phobia, autism spectrum disorder, and bullying. The findings show that school refusal is a current research area, and scientific collaborations continue to be established. The findings reveal all the details of the school refusal research.
PubMed: 38410402
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1265781 -
Clinical Child and Family Psychology... Mar 2024There is limited recent research on the association between parenting practices and externalizing behaviors in autistic children. To address this gap, the current... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
There is limited recent research on the association between parenting practices and externalizing behaviors in autistic children. To address this gap, the current systematic review examined the associations between parenting practices and externalizing behaviors in autistic children, along with the mediating and moderating effects of parent and child variables (PROSPERO registration number CRD42022268667). Study inclusion criteria were (1) Peer-reviewed journals, (2) Participants included parents of autistic children and their children, (3) Quantitative measures of both parenting practices or behaviors/style and child externalizing behaviors, (4) Cross-sectional or longitudinal studies only, and (5) Studies published in English. Study exclusion criteria were: (1) Qualitative studies, (2) Published in a language other than English, (3) Participants included non-human participants, (4) Participants that did not include parents and their autistic children as participants or did not report this group separately, (5) Systematic review and meta-analyses, and (6) No quantitative measures of parenting practices and/or child externalizing behaviors. Quality appraisal and risk of bias were conducted using the McMaster Tool and results were synthesized in Covidence and Excel. Thirty studies were included in the review. Results demonstrated that mindful parenting was associated with fewer or lower levels of externalizing behaviors; positive parenting practices had non-significant associations with externalizing behaviors; specific parenting practices had differing associations with externalizing behaviors; and negative parenting practices were associated with higher levels of externalizing behaviors. We are unable to draw causal relationships due to focus on cross-sectional and longitudinal articles only. The potential for future research to target specific parent practices to support children's externalizing behaviors is discussed.
Topics: Child; Humans; Parenting; Cross-Sectional Studies; Autistic Disorder; Parent-Child Relations; Child Rearing
PubMed: 38407761
DOI: 10.1007/s10567-024-00467-6 -
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2024Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that exhibits a widely heterogeneous range of social and cognitive symptoms. This feature has challenged...
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that exhibits a widely heterogeneous range of social and cognitive symptoms. This feature has challenged a broad comprehension of this neurodevelopmental disorder and therapeutic efforts to address its difficulties. Current therapeutic strategies have focused primarily on treating behavioral symptoms rather than on brain psychophysiology. During the past years, the emergence of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques (NIBS) has opened alternatives to the design of potential combined treatments focused on the neurophysiopathology of neuropsychiatric disorders like ASD. Such interventions require identifying the key brain mechanisms underlying the symptomatology and cognitive features. Evidence has shown alterations in oscillatory features of the neural ensembles associated with cognitive functions in ASD. In this line, we elaborated a systematic revision of the evidence of alterations in brain oscillations that underlie key cognitive processes that have been shown to be affected in ASD during childhood and adolescence, namely, social cognition, attention, working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. This knowledge could contribute to developing therapies based on NIBS to improve these processes in populations with ASD.
PubMed: 38384334
DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1320761 -
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 2024Neurexins, essential synaptic proteins, are linked to neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND
Neurexins, essential synaptic proteins, are linked to neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia.
OBJECTIVE
Through this systematic review, we aimed to shed light on the relationship between neurexin dysfunction and its implications in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric manifestations. Both animal and human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) models served as our primary investigative platforms.
METHODS
Utilizing the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, our search strategy involved scouring articles from the PubMed and Google Scholar databases covering a span of two decades (2003-2023). Of the initial collection, 27 rigorously evaluated studies formed the essence of our review.
RESULTS
Our review suggested the significant ties between neurexin anomalies and neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric outcomes, most notably ASD. Rodent-based investigations delineated pronounced ASD-associated behaviors, and hiPSC models derived from ASD-diagnosed patients revealed the disruptions in calcium dynamics and synaptic activities. Additionally, our review underlined the integral role of specific neurexin variants, primarily NRXN1, in the pathology of schizophrenia. It was also evident from our observation that neurexin malfunctions were implicated in a broader array of these disorders, including ADHD, intellectual challenges, and seizure disorders.
CONCLUSION
This review accentuates the cardinal role neurexins play in the pathological process of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. The findings underscore a critical need for standardized methodologies in developing animal and hiPSC models for future studies, aiming to minimize heterogeneity. Moreover, we highlight the need to expand research into less studied neurexin variants (i.e., NRXN2 and NRXN3), broadening the scope of our understanding in this field. Our observation also projects hiPSC models as potent tools for bridging research gaps, promoting translational research, and fostering the development of patient-specific therapeutic interventions.
PubMed: 38380150
DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1297374