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Trayvick J, Barkley SB, McGowan A, Srivastava A, Peters AW, Cecchi GA, Foss-Feig JH, Corcoran CM. Speech and language patterns in autism: Towards natural language processing as a research and clinical tool. Psychiatry Res 2024; 340:116109. [PMID: 39106814 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2024] [Revised: 07/22/2024] [Accepted: 07/26/2024] [Indexed: 08/09/2024]
Abstract
Speech and language differences have long been described as important characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Linguistic abnormalities range from prosodic differences in pitch, intensity, and rate of speech, to language idiosyncrasies and difficulties with pragmatics and reciprocal conversation. Heterogeneity of findings and a reliance on qualitative, subjective ratings, however, limit a full understanding of linguistic phenotypes in autism. This review summarizes evidence of both speech and language differences in ASD. We also describe recent advances in linguistic research, aided by automated methods and software like natural language processing (NLP) and speech analytic software. Such approaches allow for objective, quantitative measurement of speech and language patterns that may be more tractable and unbiased. Future research integrating both speech and language features and capturing "natural language" samples may yield a more comprehensive understanding of language differences in autism, offering potential implications for diagnosis, intervention, and research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jadyn Trayvick
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Sarah B Barkley
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Alessia McGowan
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Agrima Srivastava
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Arabella W Peters
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Guillermo A Cecchi
- Computational Biology Center-Neuroscience, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
| | - Jennifer H Foss-Feig
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029, USA; Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Cheryl M Corcoran
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029, USA; James J. Peters Veterans Administration, 130 W Kingsbridge Rd, Bronx, NY 10468, USA.
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2
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Palmer SJ, Fanucci-Kiss A, Kipervassar E, Jalnapurkar I, Hodge SM, Frazier JA, Cochran D. Effect of Emotional Valence on Emotion Recognition in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2024; 54:1494-1506. [PMID: 36637588 PMCID: PMC10981587 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05831-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated how emotional valence of a perceived emotional state impacted performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task (RMET) in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) controls. Valence of items on the RMET, Adult (RMET-A) and Child (RMET-C) versions, was first classified in a survey of 113 medical students. Adolescents with ASD (N = 33) and TD adolescents (N = 30) were administered both RMET versions. Individuals with ASD made more errors than TD controls on positive and negative, but not neutral, valence items. The difference in performance was accentuated on the RMET-A compared to the RMET-C. Both emotional valence and complexity of language contribute to RMET performance in individuals with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah J Palmer
- Department of Psychiatry, UMASS Chan Medical School, 55 N Lake Ave, Worcester, MA, United States.
| | | | - Ella Kipervassar
- Department of Radiology, Mount Auburn Hospital, 777 Concord Ave, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Isha Jalnapurkar
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, UMass Chan Medical School, 55 N Lake Ave Worcester, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Steven M Hodge
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, UMass Chan Medical School, 55 N Lake Ave Worcester, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Jean A Frazier
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, UMass Chan Medical School, 55 N Lake Ave Worcester, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - David Cochran
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, UMass Chan Medical School, 55 N Lake Ave Worcester, Worcester, MA, United States
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3
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Day TC, Malik I, Boateng S, Hauschild KM, Lerner MD. Vocal Emotion Recognition in Autism: Behavioral Performance and Event-Related Potential (ERP) Response. J Autism Dev Disord 2024; 54:1235-1248. [PMID: 36694007 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-05898-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Autistic youth display difficulties in emotion recognition, yet little research has examined behavioral and neural indices of vocal emotion recognition (VER). The current study examines behavioral and event-related potential (N100, P200, Late Positive Potential [LPP]) indices of VER in autistic and non-autistic youth. Participants (N = 164) completed an emotion recognition task, the Diagnostic Analyses of Nonverbal Accuracy (DANVA-2) which included VER, during EEG recording. The LPP amplitude was larger in response to high intensity VER, and social cognition predicted VER errors. Verbal IQ, not autism, was related to VER errors. An interaction between VER intensity and social communication impairments revealed these impairments were related to larger LPP amplitudes during low intensity VER. Taken together, differences in VER may be due to higher order cognitive processes, not basic, early perception (N100, P200), and verbal cognitive abilities may underlie behavioral, yet occlude neural, differences in VER processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talena C Day
- Psychology Department, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, Psychology B-354, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-2500, USA
| | - Isha Malik
- Psychology Department, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, Psychology B-354, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-2500, USA
| | - Sydney Boateng
- Psychology Department, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, Psychology B-354, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-2500, USA
| | | | - Matthew D Lerner
- Psychology Department, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, Psychology B-354, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-2500, USA.
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4
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Shipkova M, Butera CD, Flores GD, Kilroy E, Jayashankar A, Harrison L, Cermak SA, Aziz-Zadeh L. Caregiver and youth inter-rater assessment agreement in autism spectrum disorder, developmental coordination disorder, and typical development. Autism Res 2024; 17:610-625. [PMID: 38450955 PMCID: PMC11022856 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) are at heightened risk for co-occurring mental health diagnoses, especially anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, caregiver-child agreement on presence of related symptoms in populations with neurodevelopmental conditions is not well understood. Here, we examine the extent to which 37 ASD, 26 DCD, and 40 typically developing children and their caregivers agree on the degree of the child's symptoms of anxiety and ADHD. All caregiver-child dyads completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and Conners 3 ADHD Index. Across groups, intraclass correlations indicated generally poor agreement on anxiety and ADHD symptomatology. Although youth generally reported greater internalizing symptoms (i.e., anxiety), caregivers tended to report more observable externalizing behaviors (i.e., ADHD). Together, the results of this study support the need for a multi-informant approach in assessments of anxiety and ADHD in youth with neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Shipkova
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Christiana D Butera
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Genesis D Flores
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Emily Kilroy
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Aditya Jayashankar
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Laura Harrison
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Sharon A Cermak
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Zhang Z, Peng Y, Jiang Y, Chen T. The pictorial set of Emotional Social Interactive Scenarios between Chinese Adults (ESISCA): Development and validation. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:2581-2594. [PMID: 37528294 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02168-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Abstract
Affective picture databases with a single facial expression or body posture in one image have been widely applied to investigate emotion. However, to date, there was no standardized database containing the stimuli which involve multiple emotional signals in social interactive scenarios. The current study thus developed a pictorial set comprising 274 images depicting two Chinese adults' interactive scenarios conveying emotions of happiness, anger, sadness, fear, disgust, and neutral. The data of the valence and arousal ratings of the scenes and the emotional categories of the scenes and the faces in the images were provided in the present study. Analyses of the data collected from 70 undergraduate students suggested high reliabilities of the valence and arousal ratings of the scenes and high judgmental agreements in categorizing the scene and facial emotions. The findings suggested that the present dataset is well constructed and could be useful for future studies to investigate the emotion recognition or empathy in social interactions in both healthy and clinical (e.g., ASD) populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziyu Zhang
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Yanqin Peng
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Yiyao Jiang
- College of Arts and Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA
| | - Tingji Chen
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China.
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Labusch M, Perea M, Sahuquillo-Leal R, Bofill-Moscardó I, Carrasco-Tornero Á, Cañada-Pérez A, García-Blanco A. Development of Moral Judgments in Impersonal and Personal Dilemmas in Autistic Spectrum Disorders from Childhood to Late Adolescence. J Autism Dev Disord 2024; 54:691-703. [PMID: 36436146 PMCID: PMC10821967 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05795-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
A potential underlying mechanism associated with the difficulties in social interactions in Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) concerns the abnormal development of moral reasoning. The present study examined utilitarian and deontological judgments in impersonal and personal moral dilemmas, comparing 66 individuals with ASD and 61 typically developing (TD) individuals between 6 and 18 years. Utilitarian judgments decreased with age. This decline was much more gradual for personal dilemmas in the ASD than in the TD group. ASD individuals rated utilitarian judgments as more appropriate but felt less calm, consistent with the Empathy Imbalance hypothesis. Utilitarian judgments were associated with social interaction difficulties in ASD. These findings identify possible social therapeutic targets for more efficient coping strategies in individuals with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Labusch
- Center for Research in Cognition, Nebrija University, Madrid, Spain
| | - Manuel Perea
- Center for Research in Cognition, Nebrija University, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Methodology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Rosa Sahuquillo-Leal
- Neonatal Research Unit, Health Research Institute La Fe, Avda de Fernando Abril Martorell, 106, 46026, Valencia, Spain
| | - Isabel Bofill-Moscardó
- Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, University and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe, Valencia, Spain
| | - Ángel Carrasco-Tornero
- Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, University and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe, Valencia, Spain
| | - Antonio Cañada-Pérez
- Biostatistics and Data Science Unit, Health Research Institute La Fe, Valencia, Spain
| | - Ana García-Blanco
- Neonatal Research Unit, Health Research Institute La Fe, Avda de Fernando Abril Martorell, 106, 46026, Valencia, Spain.
- Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, University and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe, Valencia, Spain.
- Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment, Valencia, Spain.
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Ross LA, Molholm S, Butler JS, Del Bene VA, Brima T, Foxe JJ. Neural correlates of audiovisual narrative speech perception in children and adults on the autism spectrum: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Autism Res 2024; 17:280-310. [PMID: 38334251 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Autistic individuals show substantially reduced benefit from observing visual articulations during audiovisual speech perception, a multisensory integration deficit that is particularly relevant to social communication. This has mostly been studied using simple syllabic or word-level stimuli and it remains unclear how altered lower-level multisensory integration translates to the processing of more complex natural multisensory stimulus environments in autism. Here, functional neuroimaging was used to examine neural correlates of audiovisual gain (AV-gain) in 41 autistic individuals to those of 41 age-matched non-autistic controls when presented with a complex audiovisual narrative. Participants were presented with continuous narration of a story in auditory-alone, visual-alone, and both synchronous and asynchronous audiovisual speech conditions. We hypothesized that previously identified differences in audiovisual speech processing in autism would be characterized by activation differences in brain regions well known to be associated with audiovisual enhancement in neurotypicals. However, our results did not provide evidence for altered processing of auditory alone, visual alone, audiovisual conditions or AV- gain in regions associated with the respective task when comparing activation patterns between groups. Instead, we found that autistic individuals responded with higher activations in mostly frontal regions where the activation to the experimental conditions was below baseline (de-activations) in the control group. These frontal effects were observed in both unisensory and audiovisual conditions, suggesting that these altered activations were not specific to multisensory processing but reflective of more general mechanisms such as an altered disengagement of Default Mode Network processes during the observation of the language stimulus across conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars A Ross
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
- Department of Imaging Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Sophie Molholm
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - John S Butler
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Technological University Dublin, City Campus, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Victor A Del Bene
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
- Heersink School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Tufikameni Brima
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
| | - John J Foxe
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
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Walter A, Martz E, Weibel S, Weiner L. Tackling emotional processing in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder + autism spectrum disorder using emotional and action verbal fluency tasks. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1098210. [PMID: 36816409 PMCID: PMC9928945 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1098210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are two neurodevelopmental conditions with neuropsychological, social, emotional, and psychopathological similarities. Both are characterized by executive dysfunction, emotion dysregulation (ED), and psychiatric comorbidities. By focusing on emotions and embodied cognition, this study aims to improve the understanding of overlapping symptoms between ADHD and ASD through the use of verbal fluency tasks. Methods Fifty-two adults with ADHD, 13 adults with ADHD + ASD and 24 neurotypical (NT) participants were recruited in this study. A neuropsychological evaluation, including different verbal fluency conditions (e.g. emotional and action), was proposed. Subjects also completed several self-report questionnaires, such as scales measuring symptoms of ED. Results Compared to NT controls, adults with ADHD + ASD produced fewer anger-related emotions. Symptoms of emotion dysregulation were associated with an increased number of actions verbs and emotions produced in ADHD. Discussion The association between affective language of adults with ADHD and symptoms of emotion dysregulation may reflect their social maladjustment. Moreover, the addition of ADHD + ASD conditions may reflect more severe affective dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amélia Walter
- Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (UPR 3212), Strasbourg University, Strasbourg, France
| | - Emilie Martz
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U1114, Strasbourg, France
| | - Sébastien Weibel
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U1114, Strasbourg, France
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Luisa Weiner
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
- Laboratoire de Psychologie des Cognitions, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
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Sturrock A, Freed J. Preliminary data on the development of emotion vocabulary in typically developing children (5-13 years) using an experimental psycholinguistic measure. Front Psychol 2023; 13:982676. [PMID: 36798644 PMCID: PMC9928212 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.982676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Vocabulary of emotion is integral to emotional development and emotional intelligence is associated with improved mental health outcomes. Many language disordered groups experience emotional difficulties; Developmental Language Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and autism. However, (as in the case of autism) research tends to focus on assessing recognition of emotional states, rather than exploring labeling skills. Where labeling is assessed, measures have focused on early-acquired vocabulary (happy, sad, angry) or self/parent reporting. To date, no objective assessment has been made of vocabulary of emotion across childhood. Methods This study uses an experimental psycholinguistic measure, The Emotion Vocabulary: Expressive and Receptive ability measure (EVER) which includes two tasks (receptive vocabulary and word generation/expressive vocabulary). This measure has capacity to demonstrate vocabulary growth across age groups. 171 participants (5.0-13.11 years) completed The EVER Measure, alongside two closely matched standardized measures of basic language: BPVS (receptive vocabulary task) and CELF (word-association task). Assessments were completed online and en vivo (COVID testing restrictions dependent). Results As predicted, children's accuracy increased on both receptive and expressive emotion vocabulary tasks, in line with age at time of testing. EVER scores were significantly predicted by age and correlated with matched basic language scores. Secondary analysis provided preliminary findings on age of acquisition for specific emotion vocabulary items. Discussion The findings consequently demonstrate proof of concept for the use of The EVER Measure in assessing emotional vocabulary across childhood. This study provides important preliminary data on generating and recognizing emotion labels across typical child development. Critically, it extends current knowledge on emotion vocabulary acquisition into middle childhood, where linguistic ability is relatively mature. As such, findings have implications for research with potential clinical application in the assessment of older children, with either language or emotional differences or both. Findings demonstrate the need for a standardized tool, and its potential application in research and clinical practice is explored. A large-scale study offering proof of concept and reliability of The EVER Measure is indicated.
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Olivito G, Siciliano L, Clausi S, Lupo M, Baiocco R, Gragnani A, Saettoni M, Delle Chiaie R, Laghi F, Leggio M. The Cerebellum Gets Social: Evidence from an Exploratory Study of Cerebellar, Neurodevelopmental, and Psychiatric Disorders. Biomedicines 2023; 11:309. [PMID: 36830846 PMCID: PMC9953169 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11020309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Revised: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Social prediction is a key feature of social cognition (SC), a function in which the modulating role of the cerebellum is recognized. Accordingly, cerebellar alterations are reported in cerebellar pathologies, neurodevelopmental disorders, and psychiatric conditions that show SC deficits. Nevertheless, to date, no study has directly compared populations representative of these three conditions with respect to SC and cerebellar alterations. Therefore, the present exploratory study aimed to compare the SC profiles of individuals with cerebellar neurodegenerative disorders (CB), autism (ASD), bipolar disorder type 2 (BD2), or healthy subjects (HS) using a battery of social tests requiring different degrees of prediction processing. The patterns of cerebellar gray matter (GM) alterations were compared among the groups using voxel-based morphometry. Compared to HS, the clinical groups showed common SC deficits in tasks involving a moderate to high level of prediction. The behavioral results of the clinical groups are consistent with the presence of overlapping GM reduction in cerebellar right Crus II, an area notably involved in complex social processing and prediction. Although exploratory and preliminary, these results deepen the cerebellar role in social prediction and highlight the transdiagnostic value of the cerebellum in social functioning and prediction in pathologies of different aetiologies, forecasting novel possibilities for shared interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giusy Olivito
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
- Ataxia Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Libera Siciliano
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
- Ataxia Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Silvia Clausi
- Ataxia Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Klinikos Center for Psychodiagnostics and Psychotherapy, Viale delle Milizie 38, 00192 Roma, Italy
| | - Michela Lupo
- Servizio di Tutela della Salute Mentale e Riabilitazione dell’Età Evolutiva ASL, Roma 2, 00145 Rome, Italy
| | - Roberto Baiocco
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy
| | - Andrea Gragnani
- Scuola di Psicoterapia Cognitiva SPC, 58100 Grosseto, Italy
- Associazione Psicologia Cognitiva (APC)/Scuola di Psicoterapia Cognitiva (SPC), 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Saettoni
- Scuola di Psicoterapia Cognitiva SPC, 58100 Grosseto, Italy
- Unità Funzionale Salute Mentale Adulti ASL Toscana Nord-Ovest Valle del Serchio, 56121 Pisa, Italy
| | - Roberto Delle Chiaie
- Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health–Policlinico Umberto I Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Fiorenzo Laghi
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy
| | - Maria Leggio
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
- Ataxia Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
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11
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Teh EJ, Yap MJ. Short report: Social processing in non-emotional contexts by children with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD). PLoS One 2023; 18:e0285972. [PMID: 37200344 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/07/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been reported to show social-processing deficits in forced-choice social judgment or story interpretation tasks. However, these methods may limit examination of social-processing within a set of acceptable answers. In this pilot study, we propose a novel method predicated on the premise that language carries social information and validate this method to measure social perception in ASD. METHOD 20 children with ASD and 20 typically developing (TD) children matched-pairwise on age (5-12 years), gender, and non-verbal IQ, described pictures of people in everyday situations varying on extent of social engagement. Their social language production was examined in high- and low-social picture conditions. RESULTS The TD group produced significantly more social language in high-social than low-social picture conditions, with a large effect size (d = 3.15). The TD group produced significantly more social language than the ASD group under high-social conditions (p< .001, η2p = 0.24), but were not significantly different under low-social conditions (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The study presents proof-of-concept that expressed language carries social information. The findings indicate that social language may be used to measure social perception and examine differences in ASD, with potential applications for other clinical groups with social-processing challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth J Teh
- Department of Otolaryngology/Division of Graduate Medical Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Melvin J Yap
- Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
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12
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Oakley BFM, Jones EJH, Crawley D, Charman T, Buitelaar J, Tillmann J, Murphy DG, Loth E. Alexithymia in autism: cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with social-communication difficulties, anxiety and depression symptoms. Psychol Med 2022; 52:1458-1470. [PMID: 33028432 PMCID: PMC9226426 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291720003244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2019] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alexithymia (difficulties in identifying and describing emotion) is a transdiagnostic trait implicated in social-emotional and mental health problems in the general population. Many autistic individuals experience significant social-communication difficulties and elevated anxiety/depression and alexithymia. Nevertheless, the role of alexithymia in explaining individual variability in the quality/severity of social-communication difficulties and/or anxiety and depression symptoms in autism remains poorly understood. METHODS In total, 337 adolescents and adults (autism N = 179) were assessed for alexithymia on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and for social-communication difficulties, anxiety and depression symptoms. A total of 135 individuals (autism N = 76) were followed up 12-24 months later. We used regression models to establish cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between alexithymia, social-communication difficulties, anxiety and depression symptoms. RESULTS Autistic individuals reported significantly higher alexithymia than comparison individuals (p < 0.001, r effect size = 0.48), with 47.3% of autistic females and 21.0% of autistic males meeting cut-off for clinically relevant alexithymia (score ⩾61). Difficulties in describing feelings were particularly associated with current self-reported social-communication difficulties [p < 0.001, β = 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.44-0.67] and predicted later social-communication difficulties (p = 0.02, β = 0.43, 95% CI 0.07-0.82). Difficulties in identifying feelings were particularly associated with current anxiety symptom severity (p < 0.001, β = 0.54, 95% CI 0.41-0.77) and predicted later anxiety (p = 0.01; β = 0.31, 95% CI 0.08-0.62). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that difficulties in identifying v. describing emotion are associated with differential clinical outcomes in autism. Psychological therapies targeting emotional awareness may improve social-communication and anxiety symptoms in autism, potentially conferring long-term benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bethany F. M. Oakley
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
- Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Emily J. H. Jones
- Centre for Brain & Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - Daisy Crawley
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Tony Charman
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), London, UK
| | - Jan Buitelaar
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Kapittelweg 29, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Center, Reiner Postlaan 12, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Julian Tillmann
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement, and Intervention, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Declan G. Murphy
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
- Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), London, UK
| | - Eva Loth
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
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13
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Ma M, Wang X, Qi P, Wang T. Affect, Behaviors of Children With Intellectual Disabilities and Parents' Coping Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:822908. [PMID: 35669262 PMCID: PMC9163408 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.822908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. To prevent the spread of the virus, China implemented restrictions on going out and ensured that people stayed at home. This study aims to investigate the affect and behaviors of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) during the lockdown. The informal coping strategies adopted by parents and their effects were further evaluated. Methods In this study, a total of 457 parents of children (mean age: 14.82 years ± 1.96) with ID in 12 provincial administrative regions across China were surveyed online using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale and our own questionnaire on daily behaviors, problem behaviors and informal coping strategies. Results During the COVID-19 pandemic, the positive affect (PA) score was significantly higher than that of negative affect (NA) (p < 0.001). Some children experienced mostly positive changes in sleep (16.63%), communication (14.66%), and diet (5.69%). However, more than one-third (39.39%) exhibited problem behaviors such as hyperactivity. A significant correlation was found between affect and behavior. The informal coping measures adopted by parents were generally effective among affect and the relationship with problem behaviors. Conclusions The affect of the children with ID at home was mainly positive. The overall behaviors (diet, sleep, and communication) were good, but there were problem behaviors. Effective coping strategies are associated with higher PA, lower NA, and fewer problem behaviors. The greater the number of effective coping strategies, the lesser the problem behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minjie Ma
- Department of Special Education, School of Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
- Xi'an Mangya School, Xi'an, China
| | - Xiao Wang
- Department of Special Education, School of Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
- Xi'an Mangya School, Xi'an, China
| | - Peiyu Qi
- Department of Special Education, School of Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
- School of Education and Psychology, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China
| | - Tingzhao Wang
- Department of Special Education, School of Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
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14
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An eye-tracking study on autistic children’s visual attention: The use of spatial-progression, time-sequence, colours and shape-patterns in picture book designs. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03091-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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15
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Li TS, Gau SSF, Chou TL. Exploring social emotion processing in autism: evaluating the reading the mind in the eyes test using network analysis. BMC Psychiatry 2022; 22:161. [PMID: 35241030 PMCID: PMC8892759 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-022-03773-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) include difficulties in processing and interpreting socioemotional information. The "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test (RMET) is a validated measurement for processing socioemotional ability. However, previous RMET studies did not explore patterns of incorrect answers and the emotional valence of the test items. This study used the Taiwanese version of the RMET and the network analysis methods to examine the differences in underlying mechanisms of socioemotional processes between 30 males with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (mean age = 18 years) and 30 healthy control males (mean age = 17 years). For each test item, a picture of a person's eyes and partial face was shown with four words describing the emotional status on picture corners. Participants were instructed to choose one of the four words that best matched the person's thinking or feeling. We further classified the words into three valences of emotional categories to examine socioemotional processes. RESULTS Our results showed that ASD males performed poorer on the RMET than the controls. ASD males had higher network density and in-degree scores, especially in negative words, than control males. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that males with ASD might have deficits in mapping the best emotional concept words to the target item, especially for processing negative emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tai-Shan Li
- grid.19188.390000 0004 0546 0241Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 106 Taiwan
| | - Susan Shur-Fen Gau
- Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, No 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, 10002, Taiwan.
| | - Tai-Li Chou
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 106, Taiwan.
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16
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Silver K, Parsons S. Perspectives of autistic adults on the strategies that help or hinder successful conversations. AUTISM & DEVELOPMENTAL LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENTS 2022; 7:23969415221101113. [PMID: 36382069 PMCID: PMC9620675 DOI: 10.1177/23969415221101113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Background & aims There is increasing recognition of the importance of challenging deficit-focused, medical model approaches to supporting autistic people in daily life, however there is a lack of inclusion of autistic perspectives to inform approaches that may empower autistic people in conversations. Methods This multiple case study used a participatory approach to explore the conversation experiences and exchange in dyads of five autistic and five non-autistic adults over four to 12 months. The study was grounded in the perspectives of autistic people through a series of semi-structured interviews, observations, reflective conversations, and diary records. Results The findings focus on autistic participants' existing knowledge of conversations that they reported could be useful to them, including the communication environment, and type and structure of talk. The study also helped participants to identify and use previously unrecognised metacognitive abilities (what they already knew about conversations) within naturalistic interactive contexts. Conclusions These findings provide novel insights as to how the 'interactional expertise' of non-autistic people could be strengthened to enable the effective contribution of the voices of autistic people in everyday conversations. Implications The identification and use of successful conversation strategies identified by autistic adults gave them a greater sense of empowerment within the conversation based on their accounts of their experiences. Understanding these strategies has valuable implications for staff training, for working with families and for learning by autistic adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Silver
- The Autism Community Research Network @Southampton
[ACoRNS] and the Centre for Research in Inclusion, Southampton Education School, University of
Southampton, UK
| | - Sarah Parsons
- The Autism Community Research Network @Southampton
[ACoRNS] and the Centre for Research in Inclusion, Southampton Education School, University of
Southampton, UK
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17
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Vaiouli P, Panayiotou G. Alexithymia and Autistic Traits: Associations With Social and Emotional Challenges Among College Students. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:733775. [PMID: 34744608 PMCID: PMC8566745 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.733775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Alexithymia is a multifaceted personality construct defined by marked difficulties in identifying and describing feelings and in externally oriented thinking. Given its intrinsic role in social-emotional processing, alexithymia is now recognized as a trans-diagnostic trait in a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. Research has pinpointed to the co-occurrence of autism with characteristics typical of alexithymic normative samples, such as social-communication difficulties and decreased emotion regulation abilities. Nonetheless, the role of individual facets of alexithymia in predicting challenges in social communication functioning is still understudied. Methods: In total, 275 young adults completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Autism Spectrum Quotient (short form), the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale self-reported questionnaires for assessing alexithymic and autistic traits, social-communication abilities, and emotion regulation difficulties. We used regression models to establish cross-sectional associations between autism, alexithymia, and social-emotional difficulties. Also, we ran a parallel mediation analysis to determine whether the relationship between autistic traits and emotion regulations challenges are mediated by Alexithymia facets. Results: Analysis showed a significant positive association between autistic traits and alexithymic traits and between autistic traits and emotion regulation difficulties while, as expected, autistic traits were negatively correlated with social skills. A significant relationship was found among the participants' levels of alexithymia and their interpersonal skills with two of three alexithymic subscales significantly contributing to the model. Similarly, a significant relationship was found among alexithymia subscales and emotion regulation difficulties with all three alexithymia subscales being statistically significant. Finally, analysis on two mediator models indicated a significant effect of autistic traits on social skills mediated by alexithymic traits as well as a significant indirect effect of autistic traits on emotion regulation difficulties mediated by alexithymic traits. Conclusion: The results of this study provide evidence of the influence of different alexithymic facets on the relationship between autistic traits and social-emotional challenges in young adults. Longitudinal studies may explore further alexithymia and its associations with social-emotional difficulties in autism as well as the potential implications of these findings in intervention and treatment programs.
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18
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Zamami Y, Shinzato H, Kurihara K, Koda M, Nakamura A, Kondo T. Prevalence and profile of depressive mixed state in patients with autism spectrum disorder. Psychiatry Res 2021; 300:113932. [PMID: 33887519 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE The present study aimed to clarify prevalence and profile of depressive mixed state (DMX) in depressed individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). PATIENTS AND METHODS The Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self-Report Japanese version (QIDS-SR-J) and global assessment of functioning (GAF) were administered to 182 consecutive patients (36 ASD and 146 non-ASD subjects) with a major depressive episode (MDE). DMX was categorically diagnosed according to the criteria for mixed depression (MD) by Benazzi and mixed features (MF) specifier by DSM-5. Severity of DMX was assessed by the self-administered 12-item questionnaire for DMX (DMX-12). Clinical backgrounds and incidence/severity of DMX were compared between the ASD and non-ASD groups. RESULTS ASD patients showed higher prevalence of MD than non-ASD patients (36.1% versus 18.5%). Mood lability, distractibility, impulsivity, aggression, irritability, dysphoria and risk-taking behavior as mixed symptoms were more prevalent in ASD patients than those in non-ASD patients, together with higher scores of total DMX-12 and its disruptive emotion/behavior cluster. Multiple regression analysis revealed significant contribution of ASD to the disruptive emotion/behavior symptoms. CONCLUSION Careful monitoring and management of potential DMX are warranted in depressed ASD individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Zamami
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Hotaka Shinzato
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan; Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
| | - Kazuhiro Kurihara
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Munenaga Koda
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan; Graduate School of Technology, Industrial and Social Sciences, Tokushima University, Japan
| | - Akifumi Nakamura
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, Akari Clinic, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Tsuyoshi Kondo
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan
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19
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Sylvester T, Liebig J, Jacobs AM. Neuroimaging of valence decisions in children and adults. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2021; 48:100925. [PMID: 33517110 PMCID: PMC7848765 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Revised: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
To date, the neural underpinnings of affective components in language processing in children remain largely unknown. To fill this gap, the present study examined behavioural and neural correlates of children and adults performing the same auditory valence decision task with an event-related fMRI paradigm. Based on previous findings in adults, activations in anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and left inferior frontal gyrus were expected for both positive and negative valence categories. Recent behavioural findings on valence decisions showed similar ratings and reaction time patterns in children and adults. This finding was successfully replicated in the present study. On a neural level, our analysis of affective language processing showed activations in regions associated with both semantic (superior and middle temporal and frontal) and affective (anterior and posterior cingulate, orbitofrontal and inferior frontal, insula and amygdala) processing. Neural activations in children and adults were systematically different in explicit affective word processing. In particular, adults showed a more distributed semantic network activation while children recruited additional subcortical structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Sylvester
- Department of Neurocognitive Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Johanna Liebig
- Department of Neurocognitive Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Arthur M Jacobs
- Department of Neurocognitive Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
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20
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Zhang M, Xu S, Chen Y, Lin Y, Ding H, Zhang Y. Recognition of affective prosody in autism spectrum conditions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2021; 26:798-813. [PMID: 33722094 DOI: 10.1177/1362361321995725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT Differences in understanding others' emotions and attitudes through features in speech (e.g. intonation) have been observed in individuals with autism spectrum conditions, which contribute greatly to their social communication challenges. However, some studies reported that individuals with autism spectrum condition performed comparably to typically developing individuals on affective prosody recognition. Here, we provide a comprehensive review with statistical analysis of 23 existing studies on this topic to examine potential factors that could explain the discrepancies. Compared with typically developing individuals, autism spectrum condition participants generally appeared to encounter more difficulties in affective prosody recognition. But this finding was likely due to the tendency of the existing research to overly focus on deficits in autism. The affective prosody recognition performance in individuals with autism spectrum condition was closely related to the number of answer options offered to them. Moreover, the degree of difficulty in affective prosody recognition encountered by individuals with autism spectrum condition varied across emotions. The findings of this systematic review highlighted the need for further research on affective prosody recognition in autism (e.g. studies that include tonal language speakers and autism spectrum condition individuals with lower cognitive or verbal abilities).
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Affiliation(s)
- Minyue Zhang
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Suyun Xu
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yu Chen
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yi Lin
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Hongwei Ding
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yang Zhang
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and Center for Neurobehavioral Development, The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN, USA
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21
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Wong TYQ, Yap MJ, Obana T, Asplund CL, Teh EJ. Brief Report: Emotional Picture and Language Processing in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2021; 52:435-446. [PMID: 33660139 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-021-04920-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
There is currently limited research and a lack of consensus on emotional processing impairments among adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present pilot study sought to characterize the extent to which adults with ASD are impaired in processing emotions in both words and pictures. Ten adults with ASD rated word and picture stimuli on emotional valence and arousal. Their ratings were compared to normative data for both stimuli sets using item-level correlations. Adults with ASD rank-ordered stimuli similarly to typically developing individuals, demonstrating relatively typical understanding of emotional words and pictures. However, they used a narrower range of the scales which suggests more subtle impairments affecting emotion-processing. Future directions arising from the findings of this pilot study are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tammy Y Q Wong
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Melvin J Yap
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Takashi Obana
- Division of Social Sciences, Yale-NUS College, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.,N.1 Institute for Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Christopher L Asplund
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.,Division of Social Sciences, Yale-NUS College, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.,N.1 Institute for Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Elizabeth J Teh
- Department of Otolaryngology, Division of Graduate Medical Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, MD3, Level 2, 16 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117600, Singapore.
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22
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Duville MM, Alonso-Valerdi LM, Ibarra-Zarate DI. Electroencephalographic Correlate of Mexican Spanish Emotional Speech Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder: To a Social Story and Robot-Based Intervention. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:626146. [PMID: 33716696 PMCID: PMC7952538 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.626146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Socio-emotional impairments are key symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders. This work proposes to analyze the neuronal activity related to the discrimination of emotional prosodies in autistic children (aged 9 to 11-year-old) as follows. Firstly, a database for single words uttered in Mexican Spanish by males, females, and children will be created. Then, optimal acoustic features for emotion characterization will be extracted, followed of a cubic kernel function Support Vector Machine (SVM) in order to validate the speech corpus. As a result, human-specific acoustic properties of emotional voice signals will be identified. Secondly, those identified acoustic properties will be modified to synthesize the recorded human emotional voices. Thirdly, both human and synthesized utterances will be used to study the electroencephalographic correlate of affective prosody processing in typically developed and autistic children. Finally, and on the basis of the outcomes, synthesized voice-enhanced environments will be created to develop an intervention based on social-robot and Social StoryTM for autistic children to improve affective prosodies discrimination. This protocol has been registered at BioMed Central under the following number: ISRCTN18117434.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Marie Duville
- Neuroengineering and Neuroacoustics Research Group, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Monterrey, Mexico
| | - Luz Maria Alonso-Valerdi
- Neuroengineering and Neuroacoustics Research Group, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Monterrey, Mexico
| | - David I Ibarra-Zarate
- Neuroengineering and Neuroacoustics Research Group, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Monterrey, Mexico
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23
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Brief Report: Predicting Social Skills from Semantic, Syntactic, and Pragmatic Language Among Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2020; 50:4165-4175. [PMID: 32215820 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04445-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The language and social skill deficits associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) warrant further study. Existing research has focused on the contributions of pragmatic language to social skills, with little attention to other aspects of language. We examined the associations across three language domains (semantics, syntax, and pragmatics) and their relations to parent- and teacher-rated social skills among children with ASD. When parent-reported language skills were considered simultaneously, only semantics significantly predicted children's social skills. For teacher-reported language skills, all three language domains predicted children's social skills, but none made unique contributions above and beyond one another. Further research should consider the impact of social context on language expectations and interventions targeting semantic language on children's development of social skills.
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24
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A Pilot Study of Responses to Interparental Conflict in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2020; 51:3280-3290. [PMID: 33219432 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04802-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Research supports that parents of children with ASD experience higher rates of marital conflict compared to parents of neurotypically developing (NT) children; however, no known research examining reactions to interparental conflict in children with ASD exists. This study compared emotional, behavioral, and physiological responses to interparental conflict in ASD (n = 21) and NT children (n = 29). Children were presented with videotaped interactions (constructive vs. destructive conflict) of actors and their reactions were measured. Children with ASD reported higher levels of negative emotions following constructive conflict compared to NT children. Parents of children with ASD rated their child's emotional and behavioral responses to interparental conflict more negatively than parents of NT children. Comparable levels of physiological reactivity were found across both groups.
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Sturrock A, Yau N, Freed J, Adams C. Speaking the Same Language? A Preliminary Investigation, Comparing the Language and Communication Skills of Females and Males with High-Functioning Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 2020; 50:1639-1656. [PMID: 30830491 PMCID: PMC7211208 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-03920-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the nature of language and communication disorders in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HFASD) populations may provide insight into why females are more likely than males to go undiagnosed. Language and communication skills were compared between 13 females and 13 males (aged 8.11–11.06) with HFASD. Gender-normative data was also ascertained from 26 typically developing children (TD) matched for age and gender. All children had typical range PIQ, slight variation here was controlled for in analysis. Results show females outperforming males in pragmatic and semantic tasks and in certain language-of-emotion tasks. TDs outperformed HFASDs in above-sentence level tasks, but not in basic vocabulary or sentence level tasks. This study highlights specific strengths/weaknesses in language and communication for female HFASD, which could aid more accurate identification of the female autistic phenotype. It indicates the need for larger follow up studies in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Sturrock
- School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. .,Department of Human Communication, Development and Hearing, The University of Manchester, Ellen Wilkinson Building, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
| | - Natalie Yau
- School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Jenny Freed
- School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Catherine Adams
- School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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Lefter R, Ciobica A, Antioch I, Ababei DC, Hritcu L, Luca AC. Oxytocin Differentiated Effects According to the Administration Route in a Prenatal Valproic Acid-Induced Rat Model of Autism. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020; 56:medicina56060267. [PMID: 32485966 PMCID: PMC7353871 DOI: 10.3390/medicina56060267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Revised: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Background and objectives: The hormone oxytocin (OXT) has already been reported in both human and animal studies for its promising therapeutic potential in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the comparative effectiveness of various administration routes, whether central or peripheral has been insufficiently studied. In the present study, we examined the effects of intranasal (IN) vs. intraperitoneal (IP) oxytocin in a valproic-acid (VPA) autistic rat model, focusing on cognitive and mood behavioral disturbances, gastrointestinal transit and central oxidative stress status. Materials and Methods: VPA prenatally-exposed rats (500 mg/kg; age 90 days) in small groups of 5 (n = 20 total) were given OXT by IP injection (10 mg/kg) for 8 days consecutively or by an adapted IN pipetting protocol (12 IU/kg, 20 μL/day) for 4 consecutive days. Behavioral tests were performed during the last three days of OXT treatment, and OXT was administrated 20 minutes before each behavioral testing for each rat. Biochemical determination of oxidative stress markers in the temporal area included superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and malondialdehyde (MDA). A brief quantitative assessment of fecal discharge over a period of 24 hours was performed at the end of the OXT treatment to determine differences in intestinal transit. Results: OXT improved behavioral and oxidative stress status in both routes of administration, but IN treatment had significantly better outcome in improving short-term memory, alleviating depressive manifestations and mitigating lipid peroxidation in the temporal lobes. Significant correlations were also found between behavioral parameters and oxidative stress status in rats after OXT administration. The quantitative evaluation of the gastrointestinal (GI) transit indicated lower fecal pellet counts in the VPA group and homogenous average values for the control and both OXT treated groups. Conclusions: The data from the present study suggest OXT IN administration to be more efficient than IP injections in alleviating autistic cognitive and mood dysfunctions in a VPA-induced rat model. OXT effects on the cognitive and mood behavior of autistic rats may be associated with its effects on oxidative stress. Additionally, present results provide preliminary evidence that OXT may have a balancing effect on gastrointestinal motility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Radu Lefter
- Center of Biomedical Research, Romanian Academy, B dul Carol I, No 8, 700505 Iasi, Romania;
| | - Alin Ciobica
- Department of Research, Faculty of Biology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, B dul Carol I, No 11, 700506 Iasi, Romania;
- Correspondence: (A.C.); (L.H.)
| | - Iulia Antioch
- Department of Research, Faculty of Biology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, B dul Carol I, No 11, 700506 Iasi, Romania;
| | - Daniela Carmen Ababei
- “Grigore T.Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania; (D.C.A.); (A.-C.L.)
| | - Luminita Hritcu
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciencies and Veterinary Medicine “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” of Iasi, 3rd Mihail Sadoveanu Alley, 700490 Iasi, Romania
- Correspondence: (A.C.); (L.H.)
| | - Alina-Costina Luca
- “Grigore T.Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16, Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania; (D.C.A.); (A.-C.L.)
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Santiesteban I, Gibbard C, Drucks H, Clayton N, Banissy MJ, Bird G. Individuals with Autism Share Others’ Emotions: Evidence from the Continuous Affective Rating and Empathic Responses (CARER) Task. J Autism Dev Disord 2020; 51:391-404. [DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04535-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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Yaxu Y, Ren Z, Ward J, Jiang Q. Atypical Brain Structures as a Function of Gray Matter Volume (GMV) and Gray Matter Density (GMD) in Young Adults Relating to Autism Spectrum Traits. Front Psychol 2020; 11:523. [PMID: 32322224 PMCID: PMC7158890 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with autistic traits are those who present in the normal population with characteristics of social, communication, personality, and cognitive impairments but do not meet the clinical threshold for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Most studies have focused on the abnormalities in ASD patients rather than on individuals with autistic traits. In this study, we focused on the behaviors of a large sample (N = 401) of Chinese individuals with different levels of autistic traits, measured using the Autism Spectrum Quotient, and applied voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to determine their association to differences in brain structure. The results mainly showed that the correlation between gray matter volume (GMV) and gray matter density of the brain and the Autism Spectrum Quotient was significant in these regions: the right middle frontal gyrus, which are involved in social processing and social reasoning; the left parahippocampal gyrus, which is involved in socioemotional behaviors and unconscious relational memory encoding; and the right superior parietal lobule, which are involved in cognitive control and the ability to show attention to detail. These findings reveal that people with autistic traits in the normal population have atypical development in GMV and gray matter density, which may affect their social functioning and communication ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Yaxu
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China
| | - Zhiting Ren
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China
| | - Jamie Ward
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Qiu Jiang
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China
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Mazzoni N, Landi I, Ricciardelli P, Actis-Grosso R, Venuti P. "Motion or Emotion? Recognition of Emotional Bodily Expressions in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder With and Without Intellectual Disability". Front Psychol 2020; 11:478. [PMID: 32269539 PMCID: PMC7109394 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2019] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The recognition of emotional body movement (BM) is impaired in individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder ASD, yet it is not clear whether the difficulty is related to the encoding of body motion, emotions, or both. Besides, BM recognition has been traditionally studied using point-light displays stimuli (PLDs) and is still underexplored in individuals with ASD and intellectual disability (ID). In the present study, we investigated the recognition of happy, fearful, and neutral BM in children with ASD with and without ID. In a non-verbal recognition task, participants were asked to recognize pure-body-motion and visible-body-form stimuli (by means of point-light displays-PLDs and full-light displays-FLDs, respectively). We found that the children with ASD were less accurate than TD children in recognizing both the emotional and neutral BM, either when presented as FLDs or PLDs. These results suggest that the difficulty in understanding the observed BM may rely on atypical processing of BM information rather than emotion. Moreover, we found that the accuracy improved with age and IQ only in children with ASD without ID, suggesting that high level of cognitive resources can mediate the acquisition of compensatory mechanisms which develop with age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noemi Mazzoni
- ODFLab - Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Isotta Landi
- ODFLab - Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.,MPBA, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy
| | - Paola Ricciardelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano - Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,Milan Centre for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Rossana Actis-Grosso
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano - Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,Milan Centre for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Paola Venuti
- ODFLab - Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
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Giannotti M, de Falco S, Venuti P. Alexithymia, Not Autism Spectrum Disorder, Predicts Perceived Attachment to Parents in School-Age Children. Front Psychol 2020; 11:332. [PMID: 32256425 PMCID: PMC7090142 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Alexithymia is defined as a limited ability in the cognitive processing of emotions. Literature suggested its negative influence on interpersonal relationship, documenting elevated alexithymia in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) compared to control groups. However, the study of alexithymia in school-age children with ASD remains largely unexplored as well as its effect on specific child socioemotional outcomes such as quality of attachment relationships. This study examines alexithymia and perceived attachment to parents in twenty-four children with ASD (without intellectual disability) and 24 typically developing (TD) children (mean age 10 years) using the self-reported Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children (AQC) and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA). Measures of family SES as well as child intelligence were collected. Data revealed that ASD children showed higher levels of Alexithymia compared to TD group. In addition, 21% of participants with ASD exceed alexithymia categorical cut-off. By contrast, no difference emerged in the perception of attachment to parents. Moreover, alexithymia, but not ASD status, was found to predictive of child perception of attachment to parents. We observed no significant effect of child age and verbal IQ. Our findings showed that alexithymia was more common in children with ASD, whereas attachment was similar between groups. Difficulties in identifying and describing one's own feelings may hinder the construction of a positive representation of parent-child attachment relationship regardless of child clinical status. Thus, alexithymia seems to play a key role on the way school-age children with and without ASD perceive their relationship with their parents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Giannotti
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
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31
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Zhang S, Xia X, Li S, Shen L, Liu J, Zhao L, Chen C. Using technology-based learning tool to train facial expression recognition and emotion understanding skills of Chinese pre-schoolers with autism spectrum disorder. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2019; 65:378-386. [PMID: 34141361 PMCID: PMC8115469 DOI: 10.1080/20473869.2019.1656384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2019] [Revised: 08/08/2019] [Accepted: 08/09/2019] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Objectives: Given the pervasiveness of emotional and behavioral deficits of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), there is a pressing need for effective interventions to address their difficulties on Facial Expression Recognition and Emotion Understanding (FER/EU). Qunatiandi, a structured, app-based intervention program that is designed for Chinese children with ASD was utilized in this study. Three young children (two girls and one boy; age M = 4.94 years) completed an 8-week one-on-one intervention in a rehabilitation center setting. It was hypothesized that the three children would show greater progress in their FER/EU. Methods: In this study, a modified multiple probe across the program phases design was used; the dependent variable was the percentage of unprompted correct receptive identification responses for FER/EU tests during instruction and probes. Data were taken during baseline, the endpoint of instruction sessions, and a maintenance stage followed by intervention termination. Results: Findings of the study revealed that all participants demonstrated significant improvements in social acuity, gains were mostly achieved on emotion distinguishing and understanding (above 80% of accuracy). A similar scoring pattern was also found in the maintenance probe phase. Conclusion: The study is one of only a few early intervention projects to improve FER/EU skills for children with ASD using an app-based intervention. The results demonstrated that children with ASD can experience increases in emotion distinguishing and understanding skills. Maintenance probe results showed that the interventional effect can be maintained for a period of time after intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shudong Zhang
- Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xuenan Xia
- Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Simeng Li
- Special Education, Disability, and Risk Studies Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Lili Shen
- Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Junli Liu
- Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Libo Zhao
- Department of Psychology, BeiHang University, Beijing, China
| | - Chunhui Chen
- National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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32
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Genetic Correlation between Child Callous-Unemotional Behaviors and Fear Recognition Deficit: Evidence for a Neurocognitive Endophenotype. JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 2019; 47:1483-1493. [DOI: 10.1007/s10802-019-00529-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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33
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Kinnaird E, Stewart C, Tchanturia K. Investigating alexithymia in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Psychiatry 2019; 55:80-89. [PMID: 30399531 PMCID: PMC6331035 DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 184] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2018] [Revised: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND New research suggests that, rather than representing a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), emotional processing difficulties reflect co-occurring alexithymia. Autistic individuals with alexithymia could therefore represent a specific subgroup of autism who may benefit from tailored interventions. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to explore the nature and prevalence of alexithymia in autism using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). METHODS Online scientific databases were searched systematically for studies on ASD popu lations using the TAS. Meta-analyses were performed to evaluate differences in scores between the ASD and neurotypical groups, and to determine the prevalence of alexithymia in these populations. RESULTS 15 articles comparing autistic and neurotypical (NT) groups were identified. Autistic people scored significantly higher on all scores compared to the NT group. There was also a higher prevalence of alexithymia in the ASD group (49.93% compared to 4.89%), with a significantly increased risk of alexithymia in autistic participants. CONCLUSIONS This review highlights that alexithymia is common, rather than universal, in ASD, supporting a growing body of evidence that co-occurring autism and alexithymia represents a specific subgroup in the ASD population that may have specific clinical needs. More research is needed to understand the nature and implications of co-occurring ASD and alexithymia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Kinnaird
- King's College London, London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Psychological Medicine, UK
| | - Catherine Stewart
- King's College London, London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Psychological Medicine, UK; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Kate Tchanturia
- King's College London, London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Psychological Medicine, UK; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Illia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
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Schelinski S, von Kriegstein K. The Relation Between Vocal Pitch and Vocal Emotion Recognition Abilities in People with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 49:68-82. [PMID: 30022285 PMCID: PMC6331502 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3681-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
We tested the relation between vocal emotion and vocal pitch perception abilities in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and pairwise matched adults with typical development. The ASD group had impaired vocal but typical non-vocal pitch and vocal timbre perception abilities. The ASD group showed less accurate vocal emotion perception than the comparison group and vocal emotion perception abilities were correlated with traits and symptoms associated with ASD. Vocal pitch and vocal emotion perception abilities were significantly correlated in the comparison group only. Our results suggest that vocal emotion recognition difficulties in ASD might not only be based on difficulties with complex social tasks, but also on difficulties with processing of basic sensory features, such as vocal pitch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Schelinski
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Technische Universität Dresden, Faculty of Psychology, Bamberger Straße 7, 01187 Dresden, Germany
| | - Katharina von Kriegstein
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Technische Universität Dresden, Faculty of Psychology, Bamberger Straße 7, 01187 Dresden, Germany
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35
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Brooks PJ, Gaggi NL, Ploog BO. Generalization of content and emotional prosody across speakers varying in gender in youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2018; 83:57-68. [PMID: 30142574 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2018.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2018] [Revised: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 08/08/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
AIMS We employed a discrimination-choice procedure, embedded in a custom-made videogame, to evaluate whether youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), including nonverbal individuals, distinguish sentences on the basis of emotional tone-of-voice and generalize linguistic information across speaker gender. METHODS AND PROCEDURES Thirteen youth with ASD (7-21 years) and 13 age-matched typical controls heard pairs of pre-recorded sentences varying in lexical content and prosody (e.g., enthusiastic "Dave rode a bike'' vs. grouchy "Mark held a key''). After training to select a target sentence, participants heard test probes comprising re-combinations of the content and prosodic features of the sentences. Interspersed generalization trials used a voice opposite in gender to the voice used in training. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS Youth with ASD were less accurate than controls in discriminating sentences based on emotional tone-of-voice. Nonverbal and verbal youth did not differ in this regard. The ASD group showed only slight decrements in generalizing to the opposite-gender voice. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The finding of intact generalization of linguistic information across male/female speakers contrasts with the widely held view that autism is characterized by deficits in generalization. This suggests the need to test generalization under varying task demands to identify limits on performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia J Brooks
- College of Staten Island and The Graduate Center, CUNY, United States.
| | - Naomi L Gaggi
- College of Staten Island and The Graduate Center, CUNY, United States
| | - Bertram O Ploog
- College of Staten Island and The Graduate Center, CUNY, United States
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36
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Teh EJ, Yap MJ, Rickard Liow SJ. Emotional Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Effects of Age, Emotional Valence, and Social Engagement on Emotional Language Use. J Autism Dev Disord 2018; 48:4138-4154. [DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3659-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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37
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Mazefsky CA, Day TN, Siegel M, White SW, Yu L, Pilkonis PA. Development of the Emotion Dysregulation Inventory: A PROMIS®ing Method for Creating Sensitive and Unbiased Questionnaires for Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2018; 48:3736-3746. [PMID: 27699685 PMCID: PMC5378674 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2907-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The lack of sensitive measures suitable for use across the range of functioning in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a barrier to treatment development and monitoring. The Emotion Dysregulation Inventory (EDI) is a caregiver-report questionnaire designed to capture emotional distress and problems with emotion regulation in both minimally verbal and verbal individuals. The first two phases of the EDI's development are described, including: (1) utilizing methods from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) project to develop the item pool and response options; and (2) assessment of the EDI in psychiatric inpatients with ASD. The results suggest that the EDI captures a wide range of emotion dysregulation, is sensitive to change, and is not biased by verbal or intellectual ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla A Mazefsky
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O'Hara Street, Webster Hall Suite 300, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
| | - Taylor N Day
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O'Hara Street, Webster Hall Suite 300, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | - Matthew Siegel
- Department of Psychiatry, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Scarborough, ME, USA
| | - Susan W White
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Lan Yu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O'Hara Street, Webster Hall Suite 300, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
| | - Paul A Pilkonis
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O'Hara Street, Webster Hall Suite 300, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
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Lui M, So WC, Tsang YK. Neural evidence for reduced automaticity in processing emotional prosody among men with high levels of autistic traits. Physiol Behav 2018; 196:47-58. [PMID: 30157447 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2018] [Revised: 08/21/2018] [Accepted: 08/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This study aimed to examine individual differences in the integration of emotional prosody when processing semantic meaning in speech among men with high and low levels of autistic traits, as measured by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). The behavioral and neural responses of high- and low-AQ men during semantic valence judgment were compared. The stimuli were positive or negative words spoken with either happy or sad prosody; in other words, the prosody was either congruous or incongruous to the valence of meaning. Participants were required to judge the (positive vs. negative) valence of word meaning as accurately and as quickly as possible while ignoring emotional prosody. Behavioral results showed that high-AQ men responded significantly more slowly than low-AQ men in all stimulus conditions, indicating lower automaticity in processing emotional speech. Neural data revealed that low-AQ men (but not high-AQ men) had significantly increased N200 and N400 amplitudes for incongruous (compared to congruous) stimuli spoken with happy prosody. Our findings supported our hypotheses that high levels of autistic traits are associated with reduced behavioral automaticity and less differential neural resources allocated to processing emotional speech stimuli with different cognitive demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Lui
- Department of Education Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Wing-Chee So
- Department of Educational Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yiu-Kei Tsang
- Department of Education Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
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Poquérusse J, Pastore L, Dellantonio S, Esposito G. Alexithymia and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Complex Relationship. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1196. [PMID: 30065681 PMCID: PMC6056680 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2017] [Accepted: 06/20/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by altered emotional awareness which has been gaining diagnostic prevalence in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, with notably high rates of overlap with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the nature of its role in ASD symptomatology remains elusive. Here, we distill research at the intersection of alexithymia and ASD. After a brief synopsis of the studies that plaid a pioneering role in the identification of the overlapping fields between alexithymia and ASD, we comb the literature for evidence of its overlap with ASD in terms of prevalence, etiology, and behaviors. Through a formalized framework of the process of emotional interpretation and expression, we explore evidence for where and how deficits arise in this complex network of events. We portray how these relate to the dynamic interplay between alexithymic and autistic traits and find emerging evidence that alexithymia is both a cause and consequence of autistic behaviors. We end with a strategic proposal for future research and interventions to dampen the impacts of alexithymia in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessie Poquérusse
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Luigi Pastore
- Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari, Bari, Italy
| | - Sara Dellantonio
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
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40
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Carrick FR, Pagnacco G, Hankir A, Abdulrahman M, Zaman R, Kalambaheti ER, Barton DA, Link PE, Oggero E. The Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder With Auditory Neurofeedback: A Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial Using the Mente Autism Device. Front Neurol 2018; 9:537. [PMID: 30026726 PMCID: PMC6041407 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2018.00537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2018] [Accepted: 06/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Children affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have impairment of social interaction and demonstrate difficulty with emotional communication, display of posture and facial expression, with recognized relationships between postural control mechanisms and cognitive functions. Beside standard biomedical interventions and psychopharmacological treatments, there is increasing interest in the use of alternative non-invasive treatments such as neurofeedback (NFB) that could potentially modulate brain activity resulting in behavioral modification. Methods: Eighty-three ASD subjects were randomized to an Active group receiving NFB using the Mente device and a Control group using a Sham device. Both groups used the device each morning for 45 minutes over a 12 week home based trial without any other clinical interventions. Pre and Post standard ASD questionnaires, qEEG and posturography were used to measure the effectiveness of the treatment. Results: Thirty-four subjects (17 Active and 17 Control) completed the study. Statistically and substantively significant changes were found in several outcome measures for subjects that received the treatment. Similar changes were not detected in the Control group. Conclusions: Our results show that a short 12 week course of NFB using the Mente Autism device can lead to significant changes in brain activity (qEEG), sensorimotor behavior (posturography), and behavior (standardized questionnaires) in ASD children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick R Carrick
- Neurology, Carrick Institute, Cape Canaveral, FL, United States.,Bedfordshire Centre for Mental Health Research in Association with University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Harvard Macy Institute and MGH Institute of Health Professions, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Guido Pagnacco
- Bioengineering, Carrick Institute, Cape Canaveral, FL, United States.,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States
| | - Ahmed Hankir
- Bedfordshire Centre for Mental Health Research in Association with University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Psychiatry, Carrick Institute, Cape Canaveral, FL, United States.,Leeds York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Mahera Abdulrahman
- Department of Medical Education, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.,Department of Primary Health Care, Dubai Medical College, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
| | - Rashid Zaman
- Bedfordshire Centre for Mental Health Research in Association with University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | - Derek A Barton
- Neurology, Carrick Institute, Cape Canaveral, FL, United States.,Neurology, Plasticity Brain Center, Orlando, FL, United States
| | - Paul E Link
- Neurology, Plasticity Brain Center, Orlando, FL, United States
| | - Elena Oggero
- Bioengineering, Carrick Institute, Cape Canaveral, FL, United States.,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States
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41
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The Relationship Between Executive Functions and Sensory Processing with Emotional Recognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.5812/intjssh.74071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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42
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Kelly JR, Minuto C, Cryan JF, Clarke G, Dinan TG. Cross Talk: The Microbiota and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:490. [PMID: 28966571 PMCID: PMC5605633 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 152] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Accepted: 08/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans evolved within a microbial ecosystem resulting in an interlinked physiology. The gut microbiota can signal to the brain via the immune system, the vagus nerve or other host-microbe interactions facilitated by gut hormones, regulation of tryptophan metabolism and microbial metabolites such as short chain fatty acids (SCFA), to influence brain development, function and behavior. Emerging evidence suggests that the gut microbiota may play a role in shaping cognitive networks encompassing emotional and social domains in neurodevelopmental disorders. Drawing upon pre-clinical and clinical evidence, we review the potential role of the gut microbiota in the origins and development of social and emotional domains related to Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia. Small preliminary clinical studies have demonstrated gut microbiota alterations in both ASD and schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. However, we await the further development of mechanistic insights, together with large scale longitudinal clinical trials, that encompass a systems level dimensional approach, to investigate whether promising pre-clinical and initial clinical findings lead to clinical relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- John R Kelly
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioural Science, University College CorkCork, Ireland.,APC Microbiome Institute, University College CorkCork, Ireland
| | - Chiara Minuto
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioural Science, University College CorkCork, Ireland.,APC Microbiome Institute, University College CorkCork, Ireland
| | - John F Cryan
- APC Microbiome Institute, University College CorkCork, Ireland.,Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University College CorkCork, Ireland
| | - Gerard Clarke
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioural Science, University College CorkCork, Ireland.,APC Microbiome Institute, University College CorkCork, Ireland
| | - Timothy G Dinan
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioural Science, University College CorkCork, Ireland.,APC Microbiome Institute, University College CorkCork, Ireland
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43
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PiSCES: Pictures with social context and emotional scenes with norms for emotional valence, intensity, and social engagement. Behav Res Methods 2017; 50:1793-1805. [PMID: 28842854 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-017-0947-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Picture databases are commonly used in experimental work on various aspects of emotion processing. However, existing standardized facial databases, typically used to explore emotion recognition, can be augmented with more contextual information for studying emotion and social perception. Moreover, the perception of social engagement, i.e., the degree of interaction or engagement inferred between the people in target pictures, has not been measured. In this paper, we describe the development of a database comprising 203 black-and-white line drawings depicting people within various situational contexts, and normed on perceived emotional valence, intensity, and social engagement, a new construct. Analyses of ratings collected from 62 young adults (30 females, 32 males; mean age 22 years) revealed the typical quadratic relationship between valence and intensity, i.e., stimuli that are more emotionally charged, whether positively or negatively valenced, are more intense than emotionally-neutral stimuli. Moreover, the results showed significant linear and quadratic relationships between valence and social engagement ratings, indicating that emotionally-charged social scenes were perceived as more engaging than emotionally-neutral social scenes. This new database will facilitate investigations of how people perceive and interpret social and emotional information in everyday interactions, and is offered as a resource to experimenters involved in social and/or emotional processing research.
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44
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McDonnell CG, Valentino K, Diehl JJ. A developmental psychopathology perspective on autobiographical memory in autism spectrum disorder. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2017.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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45
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Lohr WD, Daniels K, Wiemken T, Williams PG, Kelley RR, Kuravackel G, Sears L. The Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders Is Sensitive but Not Specific in Identifying Anxiety in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Comparison to the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment Scales. Front Psychiatry 2017; 8:138. [PMID: 28824469 PMCID: PMC5539181 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2017] [Accepted: 07/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Validated brief screening instruments are needed to improve the detection of anxiety disorders in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), a 41-item parent- and self-reported scale measuring anxiety, was compared to the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) scales. One hundred participants with a clinical diagnosis of high-functioning ASD, aged 8-18 years, and their parents completed the above scales. We hypothesized that the SCARED would be useful in screening for anxiety and its results for total scores of anxiety would converge with ASEBA syndrome scales for anxiety and internalizing disorders. Significant correlations were shown between the SCARED and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self-Report (YSR) across a broad spectrum of scales. The CBCL syndrome scale for anxious/depressed showed the highest correlation and predicted anxiety scores on the SCARED. While many of the YSR scales significantly correlated with child ratings of anxiety, none of the scales predicted the SCARED child scores. Differences in self and parent reports suggest that parents interpret externalizing behaviors as signs of anxiety in ASD, whereas youth may describe internalized symptoms as anxiety. Females were more likely to self-report anxiety than males. Results support the use of the SCARED as a screening tool for anxiety in high-functioning ASD, but it should be supplemented with other tools to increase the specificity of its results.
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Affiliation(s)
- W David Lohr
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, United States
| | - Katherine Daniels
- School of Psychology, Spalding University, Louisville, KY, United States
| | - Tim Wiemken
- University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences, Louisville, KY, United States
| | - P Gail Williams
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, United States
| | - Robert R Kelley
- St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's City, MD, United States
| | - Grace Kuravackel
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, United States
| | - Lonnie Sears
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, United States
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46
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Cabibihan JJ, Javed H, Aldosari M, Frazier TW, Elbashir H. Sensing Technologies for Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening and Intervention. SENSORS 2016; 17:s17010046. [PMID: 28036004 PMCID: PMC5298619 DOI: 10.3390/s17010046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2016] [Revised: 12/15/2016] [Accepted: 12/16/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in sensing technologies that are relevant for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) screening and therapy. This disorder is characterized by difficulties in social communication, social interactions, and repetitive behaviors. It is diagnosed during the first three years of life. Early and intensive interventions have been shown to improve the developmental trajectory of the affected children. The earlier the diagnosis, the sooner the intervention therapy can begin, thus, making early diagnosis an important research goal. Technological innovations have tremendous potential to assist with early diagnosis and improve intervention programs. The need for careful and methodological evaluation of such emerging technologies becomes important in order to assist not only the therapists and clinicians in their selection of suitable tools, but to also guide the developers of the technologies in improving hardware and software. In this paper, we survey the literatures on sensing technologies for ASD and we categorize them into eye trackers, movement trackers, electrodermal activity monitors, tactile sensors, vocal prosody and speech detectors, and sleep quality assessment devices. We assess their effectiveness and study their limitations. We also examine the challenges faced by this growing field that need to be addressed before these technologies can perform up to their theoretical potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- John-John Cabibihan
- Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar.
| | - Hifza Javed
- Biomedical Engineering Department, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
| | - Mohammed Aldosari
- Center for Pediatric Neurology, Cleveland Clinic, and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
| | - Thomas W Frazier
- Center for Autism Pediatric Institute, Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
| | - Haitham Elbashir
- Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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47
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Matsumoto K, Sugiyama T, Saito C, Kato S, Kuriyama K, Kanemoto K, Nakamura A. Behavioral Study on Emotional Voice Perception in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC NEUROPSYCHOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s40817-016-0021-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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48
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Schelinski S, Roswandowitz C, von Kriegstein K. Voice identity processing in autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res 2016; 10:155-168. [PMID: 27404447 DOI: 10.1002/aur.1639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2015] [Revised: 04/01/2016] [Accepted: 04/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties in identifying another person by face and voice. This might contribute considerably to the development of social cognition and interaction difficulties. The characteristics of the voice recognition deficit in ASD are unknown. Here, we used a comprehensive behavioral test battery to systematically investigate voice processing in high-functioning ASD (n = 16) and typically developed pair-wise matched controls (n = 16). The ASD group had particular difficulties with discriminating, learning, and recognizing unfamiliar voices, while recognizing famous voices was relatively intact. Tests on acoustic processing abilities showed that the ASD group had a specific deficit in vocal pitch perception that was dissociable from otherwise intact acoustic processing (i.e., musical pitch, musical, and vocal timbre perception). Our results allow a characterization of the voice recognition deficit in ASD: The findings indicate that in high-functioning ASD, the difficulty to recognize voices is particularly pronounced for learning novel voices and the recognition of unfamiliar peoples' voices. This pattern might be indicative of difficulties with integrating the acoustic characteristics of the voice into a coherent percept-a function that has been previously associated with voice-selective regions in the posterior superior temporal sulcus/gyrus of the human brain. Autism Res 2017, 10: 155-168. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Schelinski
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication, Leipzig, Germany.,Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Claudia Roswandowitz
- International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication, Leipzig, Germany
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