Autism spectrum disorders of patients with epilepsy: The to-be-determined face of the coin

Relationship of epilepsy on the linguistic-cognitive profile of children with ASD: A systematic review of the literature

Introduction

The prevalence of comorbidity between epilepsy and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the pediatric age increased significantly in recent years. The onset of epilepsy negatively influences the abilities of the user with ASD. Thus, epilepsy will be a disabling factor that will reduce the cognitive-linguistic skills of users with ASD. The main objective of this work is to review the current scientific literature and to compare the relationship of epilepsy on the development of cognitive and linguistic skills of children with ASD.

Methods

In this regard, a systematic search was carried out in the main sources (Medline, PubMed, WOS, ResearchGate and Google Scholar). 481 articles were identified, from which, after meeting the different inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 18 studies of relevance to the objectives of this work were selected.

Results

The results reflect that, at a global level, epilepsy significantly influences the performance of cognitive- linguistic skills in people with ASD.

Discussion

In conclusion, epilepsy in the ASD population leads to a reduction in cognitive and linguistic abilities, which respond to the different types of epilepsy and their location, significantly impacting the quality of life and basic activities of daily living of the user with ASD.

Knowledge Atlas of the Co-Occurrence of Epilepsy and Autism: A Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization Using VOSviewer and CiteSpace

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to analyze research on epilepsy in autism and autism in epilepsy using VOSviewer and CiteSpace to identify research hotspots and future directions.

METHODS

We searched the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) for relevant studies about epilepsy in autism and autism in epilepsy published from inception to 31 May 2022. VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used to analyze the authors, institutions, countries, publishing journals, reference co-citation patterns, keyword co-occurrence, keyword clustering, keywords with citation bursts, and other aspects to construct a knowledge atlas.

RESULTS

A total of 473 publications related to epilepsy/autism were retrieved. The number of publications about epilepsy/ASD has generally increased over time, with some fluctuations. The USA (202 papers) and University of California-Los Angeles (15 papers) were the leading country and institution, respectively, in this field. Frye, Richard E. was the most published author (9 papers). Notably, collaboration between institutions, countries, and authors does not appear to be active. Hot topics and research frontiers include intellectual disability and exploring the mechanism of epilepsy/ASD from a genetics perspective.

CONCLUSION

This analysis identified the most influential publications, authors, journals, institutions, and countries in the field of epilepsy/ASD research. Using co-occurrence and evolution analyses, the status of the field was identified and future trends were predicted.