| 1. |
- Hadjikhani, Nouchine, 1966, et al.
(författare)
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Emotional contagion for pain is intact in autism spectrum disorders.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Translational psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2158-3188. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Perceiving others in pain generally leads to empathic concern, consisting of both emotional and cognitive processes. Empathy deficits have been considered as an element contributing to social difficulties in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and short video clips of facial expressions of people experiencing pain to examine the neural substrates underlying the spontaneous empathic response to pain in autism. Thirty-eight adolescents and adults of normal intelligence diagnosed with ASD and 35 matched controls participated in the study. In contrast to general assumptions, we found no significant differences in brain activation between ASD individuals and controls during the perception of pain experienced by others. Both groups showed similar levels of activation in areas associated with pain sharing, evidencing the presence of emotional empathy and emotional contagion in participants with autism as well as in controls. Differences between groups could be observed at a more liberal statistical threshold, and revealed increased activations in areas involved in cognitive reappraisal in ASD participants compared with controls. Scores of emotional empathy were positively correlated with brain activation in areas involved in embodiment of pain in ASD group only. Our findings show that simulation mechanisms involved in emotional empathy are preserved in high-functioning individuals with autism, and suggest that increased reappraisal may have a role in their apparent lack of caring behavior.
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| 2. |
- Allely, Clare S, et al.
(författare)
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Can psychopathology at age 7 be predicted from clinical observation at one year? Evidence from the ALSPAC cohort.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Research in Developmental Disabilities. - : Elsevier BV. - 0891-4222. ; 33:6, s. 2292-2300
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the challenges of developmental psychopathology is to determine whether identifiable pathways to developmental disorders exist in the first months or years of life. Early identification of such disorders poses a similar challenge for clinical services. Using data from a large contemporary birth cohort, we examined whether psychopathology at age seven can be predicted from clinician observation at one year. Two groups of clinical raters observed videos of caregiver-infant interaction. Neither group of raters could reliably identify any precursors of later development of psychopathology in the one-year-old infants in this setting.
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| 3. |
- Anckarsäter, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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The sociocommunicative deficit subgroup in anorexia nervosa: autism spectrum disorders and neurocognition in a community-based, longitudinal study
- 2012
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Ingår i: Psychological Medicine. - 1469-8978 .- 0033-2917. ; 42:9, s. 1957-1967
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: A subgroup of persons with anorexia nervosa (AN) have been proposed to have sociocommunicative problems corresponding to autism spectrum disorders [ASDs, i.e. DSM-IV pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs): autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, PDD not otherwise specified (NOS)]. Here, clinical problems, personality traits, cognitive test results and outcome are compared across 16 subjects (32%) with teenage-onset AN who meet or have met ASD criteria (AN+ASD), 34 ASD-negative AN subjects and matched controls from a longitudinal Swedish study including four waves of independent assessments from the teens to the early thirties.MethodThe fourth wave included the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID)-I and the SCID-II (cluster C, i.e. 'anxious' PDs) interviews, the Asperger Syndrome Diagnostic Interview, self-assessments by the Autism Spectrum Quotient and the Temperament and Character Inventory, neurocognitive tests by subscales from the Wechsler scales, continuous performance tests, Tower of London, and Happé's cartoons. RESULTS: The ASD assessments had substantial inter-rater reliability over time (Cohen's κ between 0.70 and 0.80 with previous assessments), even if only six subjects had been assigned a diagnosis of an ASD in all four waves of the study, including retrospective assessments of pre-AN neurodevelopmental problems. The AN+ASD group had the highest prevalence of personality disorders and the lowest Morgan-Russell scores. The non-ASD AN group also differed significantly from controls on personality traits related to poor interpersonal functioning and on neurocognitive tests. CONCLUSIONS: A subgroup of subjects with AN meet criteria for ASDs. They may represent the extreme of neurocognitive and personality problems to be found more generally in AN.
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| 4. |
- Billstedt, Eva, 1961, et al.
(författare)
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Aspects of quality of life in adults diagnosed with autism in childhood: a population-based study.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Autism. - : SAGE Publications. - 1362-3613 .- 1461-7005. ; 15:1, s. 7-20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study is a long-term prospective follow-up study of a population-based cohort of 120 individuals diagnosed with autism in childhood, followed into late adolescence/early adulthood. Specific aims of the study were to attempt to measure and study social aspects/quality of life in those 108 individuals with autism alive and available for study at the time of follow-up (13-22 years after original diagnosis). A newly constructed scale for rating 'autism-friendly environment'/quality of life was used alongside a structured parent/carer interview assessing current occupation, educational history, services provided, accommodation type, and recreational activities. The majority of the group with autism remained dependent on parents/caregivers for support in education, accommodation and occupational situations. In spite of this, the estimation of the study group's general quality of life was encouragingly positive. Nevertheless, there was an obvious need for improvements in the areas of occupation and recreational activities. Future studies need to look in more depth at the concept of an autism-friendly environment and develop more detailed quality of life assessment tools relevant for people in the autism spectrum.
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| 5. |
- Chaste, Pauline, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic variations of the melatonin pathway in patients with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorders.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Pineal Research. - 0742-3098 .- 1600-079X. ; 51:4, s. 394-399
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant and a synchronizer of many physiological processes. Alteration in melatonin signaling has been reported in a broad range of diseases, but little is known about the genetic variability of this pathway in humans. Here, we sequenced all the genes of the melatonin pathway -AA-NAT, ASMT, MTNR1A, MTNR1B and GPR50 - in 321 individuals from Sweden including 101 patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 220 controls from the general population. We could find several damaging mutations in patients with ADHD, but no significant enrichment compared with the general population. Among these variations, we found a splice site mutation in ASMT (IVS5+2T>C) and one stop mutation in MTNR1A (Y170X) - detected exclusively in patients with ADHD - for which biochemical analyses indicated that they abolish the activity of ASMT and MTNR1A. These genetic and functional results represent the first comprehensive ascertainment of melatonin signaling deficiency in ADHD.
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| 6. |
- Chaste, Pauline, et al.
(författare)
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Identification of pathway-biased and deleterious melatonin receptor mutants in autism spectrum disorders and in the general population.
- 2010
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Ingår i: PloS One. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 5:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant and a synchronizer of many physiological processes. Alteration of the melatonin pathway has been reported in circadian disorders, diabetes and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, very little is known about the genetic variability of melatonin receptors in humans. Here, we sequenced the melatonin receptor MTNR1A and MTNR1B, genes coding for MT1 and MT2 receptors, respectively, in a large panel of 941 individuals including 295 patients with ASD, 362 controls and 284 individuals from different ethnic backgrounds. We also sequenced GPR50, coding for the orphan melatonin-related receptor GPR50 in patients and controls. We identified six non-synonymous mutations for MTNR1A and ten for MTNR1B. The majority of these variations altered receptor function. Particularly interesting mutants are MT1-I49N, which is devoid of any melatonin binding and cell surface expression, and MT1-G166E and MT1-I212T, which showed severely impaired cell surface expression. Of note, several mutants possessed pathway-selective signaling properties, some preferentially inhibiting the adenylyl cyclase pathway, others preferentially activating the MAPK pathway. The prevalence of these deleterious mutations in cases and controls indicates that they do not represent major risk factor for ASD (MTNR1A case 3.6% vs controls 4.4%; MTNR1B case 4.7% vs 3% controls). Concerning GPR50, we detected a significant association between ASD and two variations, Delta502-505 and T532A, in affected males, but it did not hold up after Bonferonni correction for multiple testing. Our results represent the first functional ascertainment of melatonin receptors in humans and constitute a basis for future structure-function studies and for interpreting genetic data on the melatonin pathway in patients.
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| 7. |
- Gillberg, Christopher, 1950, et al.
(författare)
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Mortality in autism: a prospective longitudinal community-based study.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0162-3257 .- 1573-3432. ; 40:3, s. 352-357
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purposes of the present study were to establish the mortality rate in a representative group of individuals (n = 120) born in the years 1962-1984, diagnosed with autism/atypical autism in childhood and followed up at young adult age (>/=18 years of age), and examine the risk factors and causes of death. The study group, which constituted a total population sample of children with these diagnoses, were followed up in Swedish registers. Nine (7.5%) of the 120 individuals with autism had died at the time of follow-up, a rate 5.6 times higher than expected. The mortality rate was significantly higher among the females. Associated medical disorders (including epilepsy with cognitive impairment) and accidents accounted for most of the deaths, and it was not possible to determine whether autism "per se" actually carries an increased mortality risk.
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| 8. |
- Gillberg, Christopher, 1950, et al.
(författare)
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Overlap between ADHD and autism spectrum disorders in adults.
- 2011
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Ingår i: In J.K. Buitelaar, C.C. Kan & P. Asherson (Eds.), ADHD in Adults. Characterization, Diagnosis, and Treatment. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. - 9780521864312 ; , s. 157-167
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Autism was long considered to be a very rare disorder, the best defined in child psychiatry (Rutter & Schopler, 1992), and one that occurred in isolation, often with no comorbidity (except, possibly, mental retardation) and presumably with one etiology. It is now clear that autism in its classic variant is but part of a broader spectrum of disorders that include not only “autistic disorder” (as defined by DSM-IV) but also a number of conditions, including Asperger disorder and so-called pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified (PDDNOS)/atypical autism (Wing & Potter, 2002). It has also become generally accepted that these “autism spectrum disorders” (ASDs, including autistic disorder) are much more common than previously assumed, with overall childhood prevalence usually reported at just under 1% (Gillberg et al., 2006). To complicate things, genetic studies have shown that ASDs extend into “lesser variants” and “broader phenotypes” with some characteristic autism features but with little or no clinical impairment. Population studies suggest that such lesser variants or features of autism occur in several percent of children (Briskman, Happé, & Frith, 2001; Constantino & Todd, 2003; Posserud et al., 2006). The comorbidity issue in autism has not been resolved, and authorities in the field still argue about whether autism can be associated with other disorders, including ADHD. Both the DSM-IV and ICD-10 include a section of the diagnostic criteria that is difficult to interpret but that would tend to make researchers and clinicians loathe to diagnose coexisting/comorbid ADHD in ASD. Conversely, ADHD has long been agreed to be a common type of childhood behavior disorder and one that does blend into normality.
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| 9. |
- Gillberg, I Carina, 1949, et al.
(författare)
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Attention, executive functions, and mentalizing in anorexia nervosa eighteen years after onset of eating disorder
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1380-3395 .- 1744-411X. ; 32:4, s. 358-365
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Prospective study of attention, executive functions, and mentalizing abilities in a representative sample of teenage-onset anorexia nervosa (AN). METHOD: A total of 51 AN cases recruited after community screening were contrasted with 51 matched comparison cases 18 years after AN onset. Neuropsychological tests had been done at 21, 24, and 32 years (18 years after AN onset). RESULTS: The AN-group had more attention, executive function, and mentalizing problems. Some of these problems had been present at all three follow-up occasions. CONCLUSIONS: AN is associated with a range of neuropsychological problems that are present long after the eating disorder per se is no longer an important feature.
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| 10. |
- Hansson, Sara Lina, et al.
(författare)
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The Autism--Tics, AD/HD and other Comorbidities (A-TAC) telephone interview: convergence with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Psychiatry. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0803-9488 .- 1502-4725. ; 64:3, s. 218-224
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To compare telephone interview screening for child psychiatric/neuropsychiatric disorders using the inventory of Autism-Tics, Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and other Comorbidities (A-TAC) with results from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Background: The A-TAC is a parent telephone interview focusing on autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and co-existing problems, developed for lay interviewers. Subjects and methods: A-TAC telephone interviews and CBCL questionnaires were obtained from parents of 106 Swedish twin pairs aged 9 and 12 years. Results: Correlations between A-TAC modules and CBCL scales aimed at measuring similar concepts were generally significant albeit modest, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.30 through 0.55. Conclusion: The A-TAC has convergent validity with the CBCL in several problem areas, but the A-TAC also provides more detailed and specific assessments of ASD symptoms and related neuropsychiatric problems.
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