Meditation as a potential therapy for autism: a review

Resilience and Coping Strategies in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Individuals with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are prone to stress and anxiety affecting their mental health. Although developing coping and resilience are key to cope with stressors of life, limited research exists. We aimed to explore stakeholders' experiences related to the coping and resilience of adults with ASD. We interviewed 22 participants, including 13 adults with ASD, five parents, and four service provides of adults with ASD from various Canadian provinces. Using thematic analysis, three themes emerged including: (a) societal expectations and conformity, (b) adjusting daily routines, and (c) learning overtime. This study highlights the importance of coping and informs the development of services to help enhance resilience among adults with ASD.

A Systematic Review of the MDMA Model to Address Social Impairment in Autism

BACKGROUND

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by repetitive behaviours, cognitive rigidity/inflexibility, and social-affective impairment. Unfortunately, no gold-standard treatments exist to alleviate the core socio-behavioural impairments of ASD. Meanwhile, the prosocial empathogen/entactogen 3,4-methylene-dioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) is known to enhance sociability and empathy in both humans and animal models of psychological disorders.

OBJECTIVE

We review the evidence obtained from behavioural tests across the current literature, showing how MDMA can induce prosocial effects in animals and humans, where controlled experiments were able to be performed.

METHODS

Six electronic databases were consulted. The search strategy was tailored to each database. Only English-language papers were reviewed. Behaviours not screened in this review may have affected the core ASD behaviours studied. Molecular analogues of MDMA have not been investigated.

RESULTS

We find that the social impairments may potentially be alleviated by postnatal administration of MDMA producing prosocial behaviours in mostly the animal model.

CONCLUSION

MDMA and/or MDMA-like molecules appear to be an effective pharmacological treatment for the social impairments of autism, at least in animal models. Notably, clinical trials based on MDMA use are now in progress. Nevertheless, larger and more extended clinical studies are warranted to prove the assumption that MDMA and MDMA-like molecules have a role in the management of the social impairments of autism.

Computational modeling of interventions for developmental disorders

We evaluate the potential of connectionist models of developmental disorders to offer insights into the efficacy of interventions. Based on a range of computational simulation results, we assess factors that influence the effectiveness of interventions for reading, language, and other cognitive developmental disorders. The analysis provides a level of mechanistic detail that is generally lacking in behavioral approaches to intervention. We review an extended program of modeling work in four sections. In the first, we consider long-term outcomes and the possibility of compensated outcomes and resolution of early delays. In the second section, we address methods to remediate atypical development in a single network. In the third section, we address interventions to encourage compensation via alternative pathways. In the final section, we consider the key issue of individual differences in response to intervention. Together with advances in understanding the neural basis of developmental disorders and neural responses to training, formal computational approaches can spur theoretical progress to narrow the gap between the theory and practice of intervention.

Mindfulness-Based Program for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Parents: Direct and Long-Term Improvements

A combined mindfulness-based program for children and their parents (MYmind) was beneficial for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, we investigated whether this program is also beneficial for younger children with ASD, whether effects last on the long-term, and whether it reduces common comorbid problems. Forty-five children referred with ASD aged 8 until 19 years old, and their parents participated. Repeated measures of children's and parents' social communication problems, emotional and behavioral functioning, mindful awareness, and of parenting were conducted pre-intervention, post intervention, 2-month follow-up, and 1-year follow-up. While children did not report significant changes in mindful awareness, their social communication problems decreased, and their emotional and behavioral functioning improved. Results were not consistent at each occasion; improvements reported by children were most substantial at a 2-month follow-up and only partly remained at a 1-year follow-up, while all children's improvements as reported by parents were present on all occasions. Parents themselves reported improved emotional and behavioral functioning, improved parenting, and increased mindful awareness on all occasions. Parents' social communication problems reduced only directly after the intervention. Most improvements were supported by the qualitative investigation of children's and parents' experienced change as reported on open-ended questions. This study suggests that children, including adolescents, with ASD and their parents can benefit from a mindfulness-based program with parallel sessions for children and parents.

Larger hippocampal dimensions in meditation practitioners: differential effects in women and men

On average, the human hippocampus shows structural differences between meditators and non-meditators as well as between men and women. However, there is a lack of research exploring possible sex effects on hippocampal anatomy in the framework of meditation. Thus, we obtained high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging data from 30 long-term meditation practitioners (15 men/15 women) and 30 well-matched control subjects (15 men/15 women) to assess if hippocampus-specific effects manifest differently in male and female brains. Hippocampal dimensions were enlarged both in male and in female meditators when compared to sex- and age-matched controls. However, meditation effects differed between men and women in magnitude, laterality, and location on the hippocampal surface. Such sex-divergent findings may be due to genetic (innate) or acquired differences between male and female brains in the areas involved in meditation and/or suggest that male and female hippocampi are differently receptive to mindfulness practices.