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Query: UMLS:C0004352 (autism)
 32,579 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

For some time it has been known through the results of family, twin, and adoption studies that heredity appears to play a significant causal role in many mental disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other mood disorders, Alzheimer's Disease, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, autism, dyslexia, and Tourette's Syndrome. The precise patterns of inheritance of these complex disorders have not been determined, nor have the relevant genes been localized or cloned. Because the genetics are complex and because there is also clearly an environmental contribution to behavior, we expect the analysis of the genetics of mental illness to be arduous, and not quickly resolved. There are several compelling reasons to continue to focus our attention on uncovering the genetic factors for severe mental illness. Prominent among these are the implications for better treatment of mental disorders. The National Institute of Mental Health supports a wide range of studies on psychiatric genetic research.
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PMID:Psychiatric genetic research at the National Institute of Mental Health. 772 97

Many forms of psychopathology in higher animals and humans include the production of maladaptive, repetitive behaviour. Behaviour which is both repetitive and excessive in amount can be described as stereotyped whereas behaviour which represents a restriction of behavioural possibilities without excessive production can be described as perseverative. Both types of repetition can result from pathology in the neural mechanisms which control either the production of motor output or the organisation of behaviour at a higher level. A number of forms of repetitive behaviour can be induced environmentally. Confinement in adulthood results in a functional disorder which rapidly dissipates when normal conditions are restored but confinement in infancy may have a permanent effect on the organism's ability to interact in a flexible and creative way with its environment. The permanence of these disorders suggests that the environment can affect the way in which the nervous system develops. Repetitive behaviour is also a feature of mental illness including schizophrenia, autism, OCD, addiction and some neurological disorders including frontal lobe lesions, Tourette's syndrome and PD. In experimental studies in animals, stereotyped behaviour seems to be related mainly to excess dopaminergic activity in the basal ganglia while perserverative behaviour can be produced by lesions of the frontal lobes. It is supposed that the level of dopamine activity in the basal ganglia affects the baseline level of behavioural activation such that excess activation results in the excessive execution of the most probable response to the environment to the exclusion of other possibilities (i.e. stereotypy) while deficient activation results in the production of only a few responses which can exceed the necessary activation level (i.e. perseveration). In either case behaviour is 'stimulus-bound', being driven by only the most salient feature of the environment. The symptoms of PD result from inadequate levels of dopamine in the basal ganglia while the stimulant psychoses result from excessive availability of dopamine. The frontal lobes have a modulating effect on (i) the activation of motor activity by the basal ganglia, (ii) in the generation of self-initiated behaviour, i.e. volition, and (iii) in the neural mechanisms which permit different modes of neural function (e.g. perceiving, remembering or thinking) to be identified. Failures in these three functions could result in excessive and repetitive motor activity, stimulus-bound behaviour, the paucity of volitional and creative behaviour, and the perceptual and experiential symptoms of psychosis.
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PMID:The psychology of perserverative and stereotyped behaviour. 783 78

A hospital-based adult learning disabled population (n = 371) was screened for polydipsia with the help of a purpose-designed questionnaire. Polydipsia was defined as excessive drinking of more than 3 l of non-alcoholic fluid over a 24-h period. Altogether, 23 (6.2%) subjects were found to have polydipsia. The polydipsic group was compared with the whole hospital population on variables such as age and IQ distribution. A matched group of 23 individuals without a history of polydipsia was drawn from the same hospital population. The polydipsic and the matched group were compared using various biochemical and psychological measures. Thirty-five per cent of polydipsic patients, compared to 13% of the matched group, showed evidence of compensated hyponatraemia. This difference was not significant. There was no significant difference between the polydipsic and the matched group in the frequency of psychiatric illness, behavioural problems or autism. There also was no significant difference in the IQ levels of the polydipsic patients and the total hospital population. Polydipsia in this population is largely seen as part of an abnormal behavioural repertoire without any evidence of possible organic cause, except unidentified diabetes mellitus. Klein Levin syndrome and pica were represented in the polydipsic group, but not amongst the matched group.
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PMID:Polydipsia amongst adults with a learning disability in an institution. 794 88

In the world literature findings of morphological abnormalities in the area of the brain and cerebellum in children with pervasive developmental disorders are encountered. The authors of the present article describe in three case-records morphological abnormalities of the brain and cerebellum found in subjects with markedly expressed or only indicated signs of child autism. At the same time they draw attention to the possible determination of experience and behaviour of subjects with discrete morphological abnormalities, even when the pervasive developmental disorder was not diagnosed but where specific determination of premorbid experience and behaviour, as well as the clinical picture of a possible mental disorder or disease.
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PMID:[Does juvenile autism have a morphologic basis?]. 817 82

In addition to mental retardation (MR), fragile X[fra(X)] syndrome has been associated with a variety of other disorders. Despite earlier reports, it has been shown that MR fra(X) males are at no greater risk for autism than is any MR male. Therefore, studies in which fra(X) has been associated with behavioral, developmental, and psychopathological disabilities were examined to determine whether fra(X) individuals were at an increased risk for these dysfunctions as well. Psychiatric disorders among fra(X) individuals were found not to occur more frequently than in other individuals with cognitive deficits. It was also observed that hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder among MR fra(X) individuals do not occur more frequently than in other MR individuals. Pooled results from studies of cognitive profiles used to characterize fra(X) phenotypes also indicated that there are no consistent patterns in either males or females. Plausible explanations for a variable phenotype include allelic heterogeneity and pleitropy.
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PMID:What is associated with the fragile X syndrome? 836 27

Pauling's orthomolecular hypothesis appeared in 1968, stating that some forms of mental illness and disease are related to biochemical errors in the body. Vitamin therapy is believed to be a means of compensating for such errors. There have been few empirical studies on vitamin therapy in individuals with autism. This article presents a critical analysis of the 12 published studies located through an extensive computerized search. Studies were systematically evaluated to provide an objective assessment of empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of vitamin treatment. The majority of studies report a favorable response to vitamin treatment. However, interpretation of these positive findings needs to be tempered because of methodological shortcomings inherent in many of the studies. For example, a number of studies employed imprecise outcome measures, were based on small samples and possible repeat use of the same subjects in more than one study, did not adjust for regression effects in measuring improvement, and omitted collecting long-term follow-up data. Recommendations are offered to assist researchers in designing future investigations.
J Autism Dev Disord 1995 Oct
PMID:Efficacy of vitamin B6 and magnesium in the treatment of autism: a methodology review and summary of outcomes. 993 46

The manifestation of autistic behaviours in relation to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (1987) Revised Criteria for Autism was investigated among 18 mentally handicapped children. The Autistic Behaviour Checklist and the Behaviour Rating Instrument for Autistic (and other Atypical) Children were used to collect data. All the three major categories of the DSM III-R were observed in varying frequencies in the subjects. In addition other behaviours not described in the DSM III-R such as disturbances in perception and labile mood were also observed. Generally the DSM III-R categories are supported by empirical evidence as found in this and other studies. Consideration should be given to the inclusion of characteristics such as abnormal responses to sensory stimuli and disturbances in developmental rate in Category C of DSM III-R to make it more flexible to cater for non classical autism.
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PMID:Levels of autistic behaviour among the mentally handicapped children in Zimbabwe. 865 60

To assess head circumference in children with autism, 148 charts were retrospectively reviewed. All of the children met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III or DSM-III-R) criteria for autism and had no known underlying condition that might affect head circumference. In addition, data were collected regarding height, weight, brain imaging, cognitive development, adaptive behavior, and language. The children were divided into two groups: those with head circumference at or above the 98th percentile (Group 1) and those with head circumference below the 98th percentile (Group 2). Group 1 consisted of 27 (18.2%) of the children. Height measurements were significantly higher in Group 1 as compared with Group 2 (P = .0006) as were weight measurements (P = .0003). Group 1 had a significantly lower percentage of females (P = .04) and lower adaptive behavior scores (P = .0067) than Group 2. Routine brain imaging studies could not explain the macrocephaly in Group 1. The etiology of large head circumference and increased growth indices in children with autism is unclear.
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PMID:Head circumference measurements in children with autism. 887 7

Revised versions of diagnostic manuals, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) all operate with several subgroups in the autistic spectrum. Five of the subgroups are identical in the two manuals, but ICD-10 contains five in addition. 132 children were diagnosed using ICD-10, DSM-IV, DSM-III-R, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and the Autistic Behavior Checklist (ABC). Five out of ten alternative subgroups of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) were identified in a population of developmentally impaired children. These subgroups were the same in the two manuals; the additional ones in ICD-10 were not identified. With the exception of the groups Disintegrative Disorder and Rett syndrome, significant differences were found between all the subgroups within the PDD spectrum and between the PDD group and the non-PDD group. Some problems connected with the guidelines in the ICD-10 manual are discussed.
J Autism Dev Disord 1996 Oct
PMID:Changing criteria of autistic disorders: a comparison of the ICD-10 research criteria and DSM-IV with DSM-III-R, CARS, and ABC. 890 53

This study evaluates the safety and efficacy of buspirone hydrochloride for the treatment of a patient with autism and hyperactivity disorder and determines the effect of buspirone on the number of performance tasks completed by the patient at school. A 3-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study was performed in a private physician, office-based practice. A child with autism, which was diagnosed by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised, criteria, was studied. The child received placebo for 3 weeks and buspirone for 3 weeks; there was a 1-week interval between the 2 treatments. The outcome was measured by using Conners abbreviated parent and teacher questionnaires and by determining the number of daily performance tasks completed by the child at school. Statistical analysis was performed by linear models and standard F tests. Buspirone was found to be safe and efficacious, without side effects, for decreasing hyperactivity and increasing completed performance tasks. The beneficial effects of buspirone in helping this patient with autism in his natural daily settings suggest that buspirone may be an alternative to neuroleptic agents in the medical therapy of autism; further study in other patients is needed.
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PMID:Treatment with buspirone in a patient with autism. 922 10


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