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Basic and Clinical Neuroscience 2017Asperger syndrome (AS) is a subtype of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) characterized by major problems in social and nonverbal communication, together with limited and... (Review)
Review
Asperger syndrome (AS) is a subtype of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) characterized by major problems in social and nonverbal communication, together with limited and repetitive forms of behavior and interests. The linguistic and cognitive development in AS is preserved which help us to differentiate it from other subtypes of ASD. However, significant effects of AS on cognitive abilities and brain functions still need to be researched. Although a clear cut pathology for Asperger has not been identified yet, recent studies have largely focused on brain imaging techniques to investigate AS. In this regard, we carried out a systematic review on behavioral, cognitive, and neural markers (specifically using MRI and fMRI) studies on AS. In this paper, behavior, motor skills and language capabilities of individuals with Asperger are compared to those in healthy controls. In addition, common findings across MRI and fMRI based studies associated with behavior and cognitive disabilities are highlighted.
PubMed: 29167722
DOI: 10.18869/nirp.bcn.8.5.349 -
International Journal of Molecular... Oct 2021Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an umbrella term encompassing several neurodevelopmental disorders such as Asperger syndrome or autism. It is characterised by the... (Review)
Review
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an umbrella term encompassing several neurodevelopmental disorders such as Asperger syndrome or autism. It is characterised by the occurrence of distinct deficits in social behaviour and communication and repetitive patterns of behaviour. The symptoms may be of different intensity and may vary in types. Risk factors for ASD include disturbed brain homeostasis, genetic predispositions, or inflammation during the prenatal period caused by viruses or bacteria. The number of diagnosed cases is growing, but the main cause and mechanism leading to ASD is still uncertain. Recent findings from animal models and human cases highlight the contribution of glia to the ASD pathophysiology. It is known that glia cells are not only "gluing" neurons together but are key players participating in different processes crucial for proper brain functioning, including neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, inflammation, myelination, proper glutamate processing and many others. Despite the prerequisites for the involvement of glia in the processes related to the onset of autism, there are far too little data regarding the engagement of these cells in the development of ASD.
Topics: Animals; Astrocytes; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Behavior, Animal; Calcium Signaling; Cell Shape; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Humans; Male; Microglia; Models, Neurological; Oligodendroglia; Sex Factors; Social Skills
PubMed: 34768975
DOI: 10.3390/ijms222111544 -
Deutsches Arzteblatt International Jan 2009Asperger's syndrome is one of the autism spectrum disorders. Affected individuals display considerably impaired capacity for social interaction, unusual special... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Asperger's syndrome is one of the autism spectrum disorders. Affected individuals display considerably impaired capacity for social interaction, unusual special interests, and a tendency towards ritualized behavior.
METHODS
The etiology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of Asperger's syndrome in adulthood are outlined on the basis of a selective literature review via Medline and information in relevant reference books. Furthermore, the authors report their personal experience at a special clinic for adults.
RESULTS
Asperger's syndrome in adulthood can be diagnosed by thorough anamnesis, heteroanamnesis-with emphasis on childhood-and painstaking clinical examination. The considerable psychosocial impairments affect the patients' professional, social, and private lives. The precise etiology is still unknown, but a multifactorial origin with genetic, neurobiological, and psychosocial components appears probable. Although no specific, empirically tested treatment concepts have yet been established, psychotherapeutic elements (structuring and directive interventions) seem to be helpful, together with pharmacotherapy-if indicated-in the presence of comorbidity.
CONCLUSIONS
Asperger's syndrome should be included in the differential diagnosis of adults who display the corresponding symptoms. The etiopathogenesis and treatment of Asperger's syndrome in adulthood should be further investigated.
Topics: Adult; Asperger Syndrome; Humans
PubMed: 19562011
DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2009.0059 -
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Aug 2015Parental immigration has been suggested as a possible risk factor for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but findings have been inconsistent. Very few studies have focused...
Parental immigration has been suggested as a possible risk factor for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but findings have been inconsistent. Very few studies have focused specifically on Asperger's syndrome. The aim of this study was to examine the association between maternal and paternal immigration and the diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome in offspring. The study was a nested case-control study based on a national birth cohort in Finland. Children born in 1987-2005 and diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome by the year 2007 were identified from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (N = 1,783). Four matched controls for each case were selected from the Finnish Medical Birth Register (N = 7,106). Information on maternal and paternal country of birth and mother tongue was collected from the Finnish Central Population Register. The study showed that children whose parents are both immigrants have a significantly lower likelihood of being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome than those with two Finnish parents [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.2, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.1-0.4]. No significant associations were found between having only one immigrant parent and the diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome. A regional analysis showed a significantly decreased likelihood of the diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome in children whose mother (aOR 0.1, 95 % CI 0.01-0.5) or father (aOR 0.2, 95 % CI 0.05-0.5) was born in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings may help in identifying risk factors for different ASD subtypes. On the other hand, they might reflect service use of immigrant families in Finland.
Topics: Adult; Asperger Syndrome; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Emigrants and Immigrants; Fathers; Female; Finland; Humans; Male; Mothers; Odds Ratio; Parents; Registries; Residence Characteristics; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors
PubMed: 25381114
DOI: 10.1007/s00787-014-0643-7 -
Ugeskrift For Laeger Jan 2023
Topics: Humans; Asperger Syndrome; Bipolar Disorder
PubMed: 36636938
DOI: No ID Found -
JMIR Formative Research Mar 2022On May 8, 2021, Elon Musk, a well-recognized entrepreneur and business magnate, revealed on a popular television show that he has Asperger syndrome. Research has shown...
BACKGROUND
On May 8, 2021, Elon Musk, a well-recognized entrepreneur and business magnate, revealed on a popular television show that he has Asperger syndrome. Research has shown that people's perceptions of a condition are modified when influential individuals in society publicly disclose their diagnoses. It was anticipated that Musk's disclosure would contribute to discussions on the internet about the syndrome, and also to a potential change in the perception of this condition.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to compare the types of information contained in popular tweets about Asperger syndrome as well as their engagement and sentiment before and after Musk's disclosure.
METHODS
We extracted tweets that were published 1 week before and after Musk's disclosure that had received >30 likes and included the terms "Aspergers" or "Aspie." The content of each post was classified by 2 independent coders as to whether the information provided was valid, contained misinformation, or was neutral. Furthermore, we analyzed the engagement on these posts and the expressed sentiment by using the AFINN sentiment analysis tool.
RESULTS
We extracted a total of 227 popular tweets (34 posted the week before Musk's announcement and 193 posted the week after). We classified 210 (92.5%) of the tweets as neutral, 13 (5.7%) tweets as informative, and 4 (1.8%) as containing misinformation. Both informative and misinformative tweets were posted after Musk's disclosure. Popular tweets posted before Musk's disclosure were significantly more engaging (received more comments, retweets, and likes) than the tweets posted the week after. We did not find a significant difference in the sentiment expressed in the tweets posted before and after the announcement.
CONCLUSIONS
The use of social media platforms by health authorities, autism associations, and other stakeholders has the potential to increase the awareness and acceptance of knowledge about autism and Asperger syndrome. When prominent figures disclose their diagnoses, the number of posts about their particular condition tends to increase and thus promote a potential opportunity for greater outreach to the general public about that condition.
PubMed: 35254265
DOI: 10.2196/32752 -
International Journal of Environmental... May 2021The purpose of this study was to examine Internet trends data and sentiment in tweets mentioning autism, Asperger syndrome, and Greta Thunberg during 2019. We used mixed...
The purpose of this study was to examine Internet trends data and sentiment in tweets mentioning autism, Asperger syndrome, and Greta Thunberg during 2019. We used mixed methods in analyzing sentiment and attitudes in viral tweets and collected 1074 viral tweets on autism that were published in 2019 (tweets that got more than 100 likes). The sample from Twitter was compared with search patterns on Google. In 2019, Asperger syndrome was closely connected to Greta Thunberg, as of the tweets specifically mentioning Asperger (from the total sample of viral tweets mentioning autism), 83% also mentioned Thunberg. In the sample of tweets about Thunberg, the positive sentiment expressed that Greta Thunberg was a role model, whereas the tweets that expressed the most negativity used her diagnosis against her and could be considered as cyberbullying. The Google Trends data also showed that Thunberg was closely connected to search patterns on Asperger syndrome in 2019. The study showed that being open about health information while being an active participant in controversial debates might be used against you but also help break stigmas and stereotypes.
Topics: Asperger Syndrome; Attitude; Autistic Disorder; Female; Humans; Information Seeking Behavior; Social Media
PubMed: 34067114
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18094981 -
Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria (Sao... Jun 2003This article provides an overview of the history and clinical features of Asperger syndrome, and considers guidelines for clinical assessment and treatment. A review of... (Review)
Review
This article provides an overview of the history and clinical features of Asperger syndrome, and considers guidelines for clinical assessment and treatment. A review of issues related to external validity is provided, which points out the limitations of current research, and lists several potentially beneficial areas of investigation into the nosologic status of the condition. It concludes with a discussion of the unequivocal need of individuals with severe social disabilities for comprehensive and adequate educational services and other treatments irrespective of the fact that the validity and the utility of this specific diagnostic concept is far from resolved.
Topics: Asperger Syndrome; Biomedical Research; Forecasting; Humans
PubMed: 12975708
DOI: 10.1590/s1516-44462003000200011 -
Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki 2017This article is an overview of the literature on Asperger's syndrome and schizophrenia and aim to discuss their similarities and differences. Eugen Bleuler who...
This article is an overview of the literature on Asperger's syndrome and schizophrenia and aim to discuss their similarities and differences. Eugen Bleuler who associated the terms "schizophrenia" and "autism" a century ago, viewed autism as a form of solitude of schizophrenic patients representing withdrawal from reality. Ever since, there has been confusion as to the boundaries between these conditions. Nowadays recent research, from a variety of perspectives-genomics, neurodevelopment, psychiatry, etc. has given new information on these conditions. It is easier to demarcate these two disorders at the extremes, but it is extremely difficult dissociating milder forms of both disorders. Asperger's syndrome (AS), is considered to be a continuous and lifelong disorder with strong heritability, present from early childhood. It is included within the category of autism spectrum disorders and it is usually diagnosed in childhood. Patients with Asperger syndrome are often diagnosed late or they are considered as having schizophrenia. Misdiagnosing Asperger syndrome creates severe problems by preventing effective therapy. A lot of clinical characteristics of Asperger's syndrome are also present in schizophrenia, such as impaired social interaction, disabilities in communication and restricted interests. On the other side some clinical features may facilitate the differential diagnosis, such as the younger age at onset, family history of pervasive developmental disorders, pragmatic aspects of language use, lack of imagination, ect. It is known that symptoms of Asperger's syndrome have some overlap with those of schizophrenia, but less is known about comorbidity between these two syndromes. It is still a question whether autism spectrum disorders in young children can increase the risk for the development of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, later in life. Both disorders are of neurodevelopmental origin and genetic factors are prominent. In both neurocognitive deficits as well as deficits in social cognition and social functioning are marked. The boundaries between AS and schizophrenia are still not clear even if this distinction is necessary for the appropriate treatment of the patient and his family. For the writing of the literature review, the following electronic databases were used: PubMed, Scopus, Psycinfo, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Google Scholar. The key words used were: Asperger's syndrome, schizophrenia, children and adolescents, differential diagnosis, autism spectrum disorders.
Topics: Adolescent; Asperger Syndrome; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Child; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Humans; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenic Psychology
PubMed: 28686564
DOI: 10.22365/jpsych.2017.282.175 -
Genes Jan 2022The current version of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) does not consider Asperger syndrome a...
The current version of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) does not consider Asperger syndrome a diagnostic category. This study was undertaken to see if there is evidence that this diagnosis should be reinstated. An online survey was conducted to examine symptoms and behaviors associated with the current diagnostic criteria of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (DSM-V), and those associated with Asperger syndrome based on the previous version (DSM-IV-TR). The study also examined other characteristics historically associated with autism, as well as impairments often reported in infancy/young childhood and medical comorbidities frequently associated with autism. The sample included 251 individuals who had received a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome and 1888 who were diagnosed with autism or ASD. Numerous similarities and differences were found between the two groups. The findings are discussed in relation to reestablishing Asperger syndrome as a valid diagnostic category as well as a subtype of ASD.
Topics: Asperger Syndrome; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autistic Disorder; Child; Comorbidity; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Humans; United States
PubMed: 35205319
DOI: 10.3390/genes13020274