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

Thirty normal children (aged 3--68 months) and 16 autistic children (aged 36--62 months) were recorded during nonmedicated sleep and data pertaining to rapid eye movements (REM) were measured during the first three REM periods of the night. When time of night from which data were gathered was held constant, normal children showed a significant relationship between age and the organization of eye movements into discrete bursts. When autistic children were compared to age-matched normal controls, they showed an immaturity in this phenomena, their results being similar to those found in children less than 18 months of age. Such an immaturity could result from dysfunction at a number of diverse levels and sites in the central nervous system.
J Autism Child Schizophr 1976 Sep
PMID:Rapid eye movement (REM) activity in normal and autistic children during REM sleep. 18 48

Alpha rhythm is classically described as a bilateral posterior rhythm of substantially constant frequency in the range of 8-13 Hz which is enhanced by mental relaxation and blocked by attention. Since the full expression of alpha rhythm has been shown to occur coincident with puberty, it is possible that the establishment of alpha rhythm is subject to neuroendocrine influences which govern psychosexual maturation. There is ample evidence to indicate that the pineal gland is implicated in cerebral maturation and psychosexual development. Nocturnal plasma melatonin levels have been shown to decline progressively throughout childhood reaching a nadir at puberty. Since administration of melatonin has been reported to block alpha rhythm, it is proposed that the progressive decline in melatonin secretion during childhood facilitates the maturation of the alpha rhythm. Consequently, the presence of alpha rhythm could be used as a neurophysiological marker for the activity of the pineal gland and disorders associated with absent or delayed maturation of the alpha rhythm such as autism, dyslexia, personality disorders, epilepsy, Tourette's syndrome, and schizophrenia might be related to disturbances of pineal melatonin functions in early life. Moreover, since the EEG patterns associated with cerebral immaturity (i.e., slowing, absence of alpha activity) are more pronounced in the left hemisphere, this hypothesis implies differential influence of the pineal gland on hemispheric maturation potentially accounting for the vulnerability of the left hemisphere to cerebral insults.
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PMID:Alpha rhythm and the pineal gland. 130 57

This article examines speech and language impairment in relation to several common childhood psychiatric disorders. Similarities among disorders can be found in the associated language impairments, family histories, and certain language outcomes. The article describes prevalence surveys of speech and language disorders and the correlates of language impairment, such as IQ, socioeconomic status, and birth order. The association between language impairment and childhood psychiatric disorders (i.e., hyperactivity, autism) is investigated, and the outcomes of language impairment are discussed. Finally, the hypothesis that a common underlying neurolinguistic diathesis may be present for certain subgroups of psychiatrically disordered children is presented. In some groups, psychiatric disorder (i.e., hyperactivity) and linguistic impairment may develop in parallel as a function of an underlying neurodevelopmental immaturity. The relation between the linguistic impairment and neurodevelopmental immaturity requires clarification so as to disentangle their specific associations with the various disorders discussed.
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PMID:The continuum of linguistic dysfunction from pervasive developmental disorders to dyslexia. 204 35

Contrary to the standard assumption that psychopathology stems from developmental immaturity (retardation, fixation, regression), people diagnosed with psychopathology typically develop along distinctive pathways in which they build complex, advanced skills. These pathways are based on adaptation to trauma, such as maltreatment, or to problems in affective-cognitive regulation, such as those in autism. They do not fit normative developmental frameworks. Research has characterized several types of distinctive pathways, especially those arising from maltreatment; they are marked by normal developmental complexity but distinctive affective-cognitive organization. In one study sexually abused depressed adolescent girls admitted for treatment in a mental hospital described themselves-in-relationships with age-appropriate, complex developmental levels equal to those of both nonabused depressed girls and other adolescents. At the same time, they showed a powerful negativity bias contrasting with the positivity biases of other girls. Many of them produced dramatic switches in affective-cognitive organization across assessments contrasting with the similar organization showed by other girls. In another study toddlers from maltreating families showed a consistent negativity bias in play and representations of interactions. We show how to portray these distinctive developmental pathways through the example of Hidden Family Violence, in which people dissociate their private violent world from their public, good-citizen world.
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PMID:Psychopathology as adaptive development along distinctive pathways. 944 4

The present study examined the performance on a false belief task of atypical autistic children, i.e., children with a pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (n = 50), socially immature children (n = 50), and normal children (n = 50). Children were shown a chocolate box and its unexpected content, i.e., a pencil, and then required to indicate what a friend would say about the content of the box. Results can be summarized: (1) over-all, 3-year-old children performed less well than children of 6 years. (2) Responses of 3-year-old atypical autistic and socially immature children did not differ significantly from those of normal children of the same age. (3) At age 6, normal children performed better than atypical autistic and socially immature children. (4) In general, no differences in performance between atypical autistic and socially immature children were found, and (5) their performance was linked to intelligence. The results support prior findings that atypical autistic children find it difficult to understand false beliefs; however, this difficulty does not seem to be specific for (atypical) autism, but might be a common feature of social immaturity in general.
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PMID:Difficulties in the understanding of false belief: specific to autism and other pervasive developmental disorders? 952 May 35

To evaluate brain dysfunction in autism, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was performed for 29 autistic patients (5-15 y.o.) and 19 normal children (6-14 y.o.). We obtained magnetic resonance (MR) spectra of the left and right amygdaloid-hippocampal regions and the left cerebellar hemisphere with a STEAM sequence (TR = 5000 ms, TE = 18 ms). In addition to the evaluation of signal intensity ratios, the absolute concentration of three major metabolites (N-acetylaspartate [NAA], creatine/phosphocreatine [Cr] and choline-containing substances [Cho]) was quantified by an internal reference method using unsuppressed tissue water. Although no abnormal MR images were found in the three regions examined, the signal intensity and the concentration of NAA in the left amygdaloid-hippocampal region and the left cerebellar hemisphere were reduced significantly in autistic patients compared to normal children. We speculated that this decrease in NAA reflected neuronal loss, immaturity or hypofunction in these regions. The results of our study were in agreement with those of previous studies on autism, one by neuropathological methods and the other using a single photon emission computed tomography with 99mTc HMPAO. Disorders of the amygdaloid-hippocampal region and cerebellum are considered to play an important role in the characteristic cognitive and emotional dysfunction in autism. 1H-MRS is a valuable tool to clarify the pathophysiology of autism.
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PMID:[Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the autistic brain]. 1149 76

The recognition of facial immaturity and emotional expression by children with autism, language disorders, mental retardation, and non-disabled controls was studied in two experiments. Children identified immaturity and expression in upright and inverted faces. The autism group identified fewer immature faces and expressions than control (Exp. 1 & 2), language disordered (Exp. 1), and mental retardation (Exp. 2) groups. Facial inversion interfered with all groups' recognition of facial immaturity and with control and language disordered groups' recognition of expression. Error analyses (Exp. 1 & 2) showed similarities between autism and other groups' perception of immaturity but differences in perception of expressions. Reasons for similarities and differences between children with and without autism when perceiving facial immaturity and expression are discussed.
J Autism Dev Disord 2008 Feb
PMID:Recognition of immaturity and emotional expressions in blended faces by children with autism and other developmental disabilities. 1754 17

In addition to aberrant features in the speech, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may present unusual responses to sensory stimuli, especially to auditory stimuli. We investigated the auditory ability of children with ASD by using Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABR) as they can directly judge both hearing status and the integrity of auditory brainstem pathways. One hundred twenty-one children (71: ASD; M 58/ F 13, mean age; 41.8 months, 50: control group; M 41/ F 9, mean age; 38 months) were included in the study. As compared with the values in the control group, the latency of wave V, wave I-V, and wave III-V inter-peak latencies were significantly prolonged (p<0.05) in the ASD group. The findings indicate that children with ASD have a dysfunction or immaturity of the central auditory nervous system. We suggest any children with prolonged III-V inter-peak latencies, especially high functioning children should be further evaluated for central auditory processing to set up a more appropriate treatment plan.
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PMID:Electrophysiologic assessment of central auditory processing by auditory brainstem responses in children with autism spectrum disorders. 1772 5

Emerging hypotheses suggest a causal role for prenatal androgen exposure in some cases of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The ratios of the lengths of the bones of the 2nd to the 4th digit (2D:4D) are purported to be markers for prenatal androgen exposure and to be established early in gestation. Elongation of the 4th digit in response to testosterone is said to reduce 2D:4D in males versus females. We examined the ratios of bones from the left hand radiographs of 75 boys and 6 girls 4-8 years of age, diagnosed with ASD, to evaluate digit ratio as a marker for gestational androgen exposure. Contrary to our expectations, girls had reduced 2D:4D compared to boys but the difference was not significant (Cohen's D 0.51-0.66, P>0.05). The limited sample size for this study and the absence of a referent group precluded providing robust estimates for girls and identifying possible statistical differences between the sexes. Tanner-Whitehouse 3 (TW3) rating of finger bone growth suggested relative immaturity of the 4th relative to the 2nd digits. Positive correlations were detected for 2D:4D ratios, body mass index (r=0.23, P=0.039), chronologic age (r=0.35, P=0.001), and skeletal age (r=0.42, P<0.0001). The TW3 ratings and associations between 2D:4D ratios and indicators of growth suggest that digits develop at different rates. This asynchronous development may produce differences in 2D:4D over time which could lead to erroneous interpretation of androgen exposure in utero among young ASD children.
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PMID:Finger bone immaturity and 2D:4D ratio measurement error in the assessment of the hyperandrogenic hypothesis for the etiology of autism spectrum disorders. 2009 35

The prefrontal cortex is crucial for the ability to regulate thought and control behavior. The development of the human cerebral cortex is characterized by an extended period of maturation during which young children exhibit marked deficits in cognitive control. We contend that prolonged prefrontal immaturity is, on balance, advantageous and that the positive consequences of this developmental trajectory outweigh the negative. Particularly, we argue that cognitive control impedes convention learning, and that delayed prefrontal maturation is a necessary adaptation for human learning of social and linguistic conventions. We conclude with a discussion of recent observations that are relevant to this claim of evolutionary tradeoffs in a wide-range of research areas, including attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder, autism spectrum disorders, creativity, and sleep.
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PMID:Cognition without control: When a little frontal lobe goes a long way. 2040 41


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