Autism Research最新文献

{"title":"Evaluating More Granular Options for Socio-Demographic Questions in Autism Research","authors":"Rosalind Usher,&nbsp;Kristn Currans,&nbsp;Kate Wallis,&nbsp;Amanda Bennett,&nbsp;Judith S. Miller","doi":"10.1002/aur.70041","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70041","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of adding more detailed choices for race, ethnicity, sex, gender, and socio-economic status for a demographic survey used by families both within and outside a large learning health network, the Autism Care Network (ACNet). We updated our demographic survey using an iterative approach, incorporating qualitative and quantitative feedback from interested parties across the US and Canada. Pilot testing of the revised survey was conducted with families with and without autism served by two large academic pediatric tertiary care centers. Through purposive sampling, recruitment was enriched for families from ethnic, racial, or gender minority backgrounds. The updated demographic survey increased the number of response options for race and ethnicity, sex, gender, and language. 85 families within the ACNet and 242 families outside the ACNet provided feasibility and acceptability data. 41% of respondents were from nonWhite or multiple race groups. 99% of respondents rated the updated form same or better than the original. 91% of respondents rated the updated form as acceptable, while 97% rated the survey as feasible. Despite concerns about the burden on respondents, we found high rates of feasibility and acceptability of more granular response options in demographic surveys. Researchers can adapt this approach to make their own more granular demographic forms focused on the specific variables relevant to their study and local contexts. More granular demographic data can identify strengths and gaps in representation that could impact a study's generalizability.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 6","pages":"1301-1308"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70041","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144043603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age-Dependent Effects of Loss of Contactin-Associated Protein-Like 2, an Autism-Associated Gene, on the Acquisition and Recall of Fear Memory","authors":"R. J. Taugher-Hebl,&nbsp;A. Berns,&nbsp;M. Jones,&nbsp;A. Townsend,&nbsp;A. K. Eagen,&nbsp;Sarah L. Ferri,&nbsp;D. R. Langbehn,&nbsp;H. Janouschek","doi":"10.1002/aur.70034","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70034","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The <i>contactin-associated protein-like 2</i> (<i>Cntnap2</i>) gene is relevant to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is associated with age-specific structural alterations in limbic brain regions. The <i>Cntnap2</i> gene encodes for the contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CASPR2) protein, and CASPR2 protein levels are high in the amygdala, a limbic region that is essential for the processing of fear and anxiety. In humans, reduced levels of this protein arising from CNTNAP2 mutations could potentially account for the autism-associated increase in fear and anxiety. Here, we report the extent to which loss of CASPR2 in mice contributes to the development of fear- and anxiety-related behaviors. Pavlovian fear conditioning experiments revealed that loss of CASPR2 has age-dependent effects on the acquisition of fear memory, recall of both cue-evoked and context-related fear memory, and stability of cue-evoked fear memory. Additionally, data from the elevated zero maze suggest that CASPR2 deficiency contributes to anxiety-related behaviors, especially in juvenile (29-day old) mice. These are the first reports of age-dependent effects of CASPR2 deficiency on fear and anxiety-related behaviors, and they set the stage for a better understanding of developmental alterations of fear and anxiety in ASD.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 5","pages":"1011-1023"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70034","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144042133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multisensory Integration of Naturalistic Speech and Gestures in Autistic Adults","authors":"Magdalena Matyjek,&nbsp;Sotaro Kita,&nbsp;Mireia Torralba Cuello,&nbsp;Salvador Soto Faraco","doi":"10.1002/aur.70042","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70042","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Seeing the speaker often facilitates auditory speech comprehension through audio-visual integration. This audio-visual facilitation is stronger under challenging listening conditions, such as in real-life social environments. Autism has been associated with atypicalities in integrating audio-visual information, potentially underlying social difficulties in this population. The present study investigated multisensory integration (MSI) of audio-visual speech information among autistic and neurotypical adults. Participants performed a speech-in-noise task in a realistic multispeaker social scenario with audio-visual, auditory, or visual trials while their brain activity was recorded using EEG. The neurotypical group demonstrated a non-linear audio-visual effect in alpha oscillations, whereas the autistic group showed merely additive processing. Despite these differences in neural correlates, both groups achieved similar behavioral audio-visual facilitation outcomes. These findings suggest that although autistic and neurotypical brains might process multisensory cues differently, they achieve comparable benefits from audio-visual speech. These results contribute to the growing body of literature on MSI atypicalities in autism.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 6","pages":"1156-1169"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70042","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144013096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Missed Early Intervention Opportunities for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder","authors":"Daniel E. Lidstone","doi":"10.1002/aur.70043","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70043","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Early intervention (EI) is essential for improving developmental outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, participation during the critical neurodevelopmental (0–3 years) period remains a challenge. To identify those factors associated with the participation of preschool children with ASD in EI before age 2, this study uses recent cross-sectional data from the 2021 to 2023 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). Binary logistical regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with EI receipt before age 2, including age of ASD diagnosis, socioeconomic status (SES), race, ASD severity, biological sex, birth weight, and diagnosis of early indicators of future developmental delay (DD). The findings revealed that only 15% of preschool children with ASD received EI before age 2. Significant predictors of timely participation in Part C EI included an ASD diagnosis before age 2, higher SES, and lower birth weight. Findings also revealed that 15.5% of children who did not receive timely EI had severe ASD symptoms, highlighting the critical need to improve EI participation for these children. Potential solutions discussed include expanding the definition of DD, increasing the number of states recognizing low birth weight as a Part C EI diagnosis, reducing barriers to Part C EI participation for disadvantaged families, and developing more effective tools to detect ASD and DD earlier in development.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 5","pages":"1097-1103"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70043","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144014452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cognitive and Cerebral Aging Research in Autism: A Systematic Review on an Emerging Topic","authors":"Marine Bessé,&nbsp;Shasha Morel-Kohlmeyer,&nbsp;Emmanuelle Houy-Durand,&nbsp;Philippe Prévost,&nbsp;Laurie Tuller,&nbsp;Badiâa Bouazzaoui,&nbsp;Laurence Taconnat,&nbsp;Julia Capdeville,&nbsp;Lucie Angel,&nbsp;Marie Gomot","doi":"10.1002/aur.70031","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70031","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Aging in autism is an emerging and under-explored area of research. This systematic review provides a comprehensive overview of studies on cognitive and both structural and functional cerebral aging in autism. A systematic search of PubMed and APA PsycInfo was conducted up to and including January 2024. Two researchers independently screened and identified relevant English studies on cognitive (i.e., processing speed, executive function, working memory, episodic memory) and/or cerebral (i.e., structural and functional aspects) aging in autism. Study quality was assessed using the QualSyst quantitative scale to minimize bias. Thirty-six studies met the inclusion criteria, with nine focusing on cerebral mechanisms, 19 on cognitive function, and eight addressing both. We examined cerebral and cognitive aging profiles in autism within the context of three hypotheses: accelerated aging, parallel aging, and the safeguard hypothesis. The synthesis does not reveal a consistent pattern with respect to any of the three hypotheses, as results varied across methodology types (cross-sectional vs. longitudinal) and studies, even with similar measures of cerebral or cognitive function. This systematic review highlights the ongoing lack of consensus in this area, which may be attributed to various internal or external factors (e.g., participants age, co-occurring conditions, lifestyle, cognitive reserve). Despite divergent findings, this review suggests that cross-sectional studies on cerebral and cognitive autistic aging predominantly align with the parallel or safeguard hypothesis. In contrast, the few longitudinal studies, which are the only ones capable of directly informing the aging process, are more consistent with the parallel or accelerated hypothesis. Further research is crucial to understand how cerebral and cognitive aging impact autistic symptomatology, enabling tailored support.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 6","pages":"1122-1145"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70031","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143804964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Linguistic and Musical Syntax Processing in Autistic and Non-Autistic Individuals: An Event-Related Potential (ERP) Study","authors":"Jiayin Li,&nbsp;Anna Petrova,&nbsp;Zivile Bernotaite,&nbsp;Maleeha Sujawal,&nbsp;Chen Zhao,&nbsp;Hiba Ahmed,&nbsp;Cunmei Jiang,&nbsp;Fang Liu","doi":"10.1002/aur.70038","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70038","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Syntactic processing in both language and music involves combining elements—such as words or chords—into coherent structures. The Shared Syntactic Integration Resource Hypothesis (SSIRH) was introduced based on observations of similar neural responses to syntactic violations across both domains. This hypothesis suggests that difficulties in syntactic processing in one domain may result in similar challenges in the other. The current study tested the SSIRH in autism, a neurodevelopmental condition often associated with language difficulties but relatively preserved musical abilities. Thirty-one autistic and 31 non-autistic participants judged the acceptability of syntactically congruent and incongruent sentences and musical sequences while their neural responses were recorded using electroencephalography. Autistic participants exhibited a reduced and delayed P600 effect—a marker of syntactic integration—across both domains, despite achieving similar behavioral accuracy to the non-autistic group. These findings suggest parallel difficulties in syntactic processing in autism for both language and music, providing support for the SSIRH. This is the first study to directly examine real-time syntactic integration in both domains in autistic individuals, offering novel insights into cross-domain syntactic processing in autism and contributing to a deeper understanding of language and music processing more broadly.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 6","pages":"1245-1256"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70038","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143789409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Disrupted Resting-State Functional Connectivity in the Social Visual Pathway in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder","authors":"Chenhao Li,&nbsp;Haesoo Park,&nbsp;Jitendra Awasthi,&nbsp;Max Rolison,&nbsp;Mingfei Li,&nbsp;Dustin Scheinost,&nbsp;Katarzyna Chawarska,&nbsp;Michelle Hampson","doi":"10.1002/aur.70037","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The social visual pathway, which diverges from the dorsal pathway at the visual motion area (MT/V5) and runs from the posterior down to anterior portions of the superior temporal sulcus (STS), specializes in processing dynamic social information. This study examined resting-state functional connectivity within this pathway in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children. Using data from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) repository, we found significant hypoconnectivity between the posterior and middle STS (pSTS–mSTS) in the right hemisphere in children with ASD compared to those in TD children. Lower connectivity in this region of the pathway correlated with more severe social symptoms in ASD and higher indices of social communication vulnerabilities in the combined ASD and TD groups. These findings suggest that a specific disruption in the right hemisphere social visual pathway in children with ASD potentially contributes to their social difficulties.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 5","pages":"1024-1036"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143782154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Theory of Mind Mediates the Association Between Autistic Traits and Social Isolation in Middle-Aged and Older Adults","authors":"Gloria Hei Man Lo,&nbsp;Clemie Dale,&nbsp;Francesca Happé,&nbsp;Gavin R. Stewart","doi":"10.1002/aur.70036","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70036","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Social isolation has detrimental effects on wellbeing. While isolation can occur at any age, its prevalence has been found to increase in older adulthood. Populations with social functioning differences, such as autistic people, have also been found to be at particular risk of isolation across the lifespan, including in older age. Despite the widespread impacts of isolation, little is known about the underlying factors that may contribute to social isolation in autistic people and the general populations. While social isolation has been linked to autistic traits and theory of mind (ToM), no study has yet considered their inter-relationship. Taking a dimensional approach to autistic traits, this study examined the association between autistic traits (assessed by the AQ-10), ToM (CarToM and Frith–Happé Triangles) and social isolation (Lubben Social Connectedness Scale) among 111 adults (<i>n</i> = 53 autistic, 58 non-autistic), aged 40–86 years. The study also assessed the putative mediating role of ToM in the association between autistic traits and isolation. Pearson correlational analyses showed middle-aged and older adults with higher social connectedness reported fewer autistic traits and showed better performance in ToM tasks, even when accounting for the effect of age and mental health symptoms. Mediation analyses suggested the association between autistic traits and social isolation was partially mediated by ToM when age and mental health symptoms were accounted for. These findings suggest one possible mechanism for the experience of social isolation. Additionally, the findings highlight that autistic people and people with high autistic traits may be particularly susceptible to social isolation in midlife and older age, and may benefit from additional support and possible interventions to maintain desired levels of social connectedness in later life.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 6","pages":"1234-1244"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70036","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143782155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative Analysis of Phenotypic and Genotypic Differences Between Individuals Affected by Regressive and Non-Regressive Autism: A Cross-Sectional Study","authors":"Seyed Hassan Tonekaboni,&nbsp;Alana Iaboni,&nbsp;Brett Trost,&nbsp;Miriam Reuter,&nbsp;Zsuzsa Lindenmaier,&nbsp;Azadeh Kushki,&nbsp;Elizabeth Kelley,&nbsp;Jessica Jones,&nbsp;Muhammed Ayub,&nbsp;Stelios Georgiades,&nbsp;Robert Nicolson,&nbsp;Elim Chan,&nbsp;Andrada Cretu,&nbsp;Jessica Brian,&nbsp;Evdokia Anagnostou","doi":"10.1002/aur.70029","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70029","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Development among autistic youth varies widely. A subgroup of children experiences regression, defined as the loss of previously acquired developmental skills. Various genetic and environmental factors have been suggested as potential contributors. This study aimed to compare the developmental profiles of children and youth with regression to those without and identify factors associated with regression. Data from the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders (POND) Network was analyzed, including 930 eligible participants. Regression classification was based on the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). Differences in demographic information, medical history, mental health, cognitive and adaptive functioning, and molecular genetic findings were examined between individuals with regressive and non-regressive autism. Among participants, 211 (22.7%) had regressive autism. Lower Full-Scale IQ (<i>p corrected</i> = 0.015) and adaptive function (ABAS-2) scores (<i>p corrected</i> = 0.015) were identified in the regressive group. No statistically significant differences in mental health outcomes (measured by the Child Behavior Checklist, CBCL) or socialization and core symptom severity (measured by the Social Communication Questionnaire, SCQ) were found. There were no notable differences in other factors hypothesized to contribute to regression, such as pregnancy duration, family history of autism, caregivers' education levels, or sleep disorders, except for a higher prevalence of epilepsy in the regressive group (<i>p</i> = 0.001). Rare and common genetic features of both groups are described. In conclusion, autistic youth with regression tend to have lower cognitive and adaptive scores and may experience higher epilepsy rates. Further powered studies are needed to explore the genomic architecture of autistic regression.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 6","pages":"1290-1300"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70029","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143775071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Autism Digital Phenotyping in Preschool- and School-Age Children","authors":"Vikram Aikat,&nbsp;Kimberly L. H. Carpenter,&nbsp;Pradeep Raj Krishnappa Babu,&nbsp;J. Matias Di Martino,&nbsp;Steven Espinosa,&nbsp;Scott Compton,&nbsp;Naomi Davis,&nbsp;Lauren Franz,&nbsp;Marina Spanos,&nbsp;Guillermo Sapiro,&nbsp;Geraldine Dawson","doi":"10.1002/aur.70032","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>There is a critical need for scalable and objective tools for autism screening and outcome monitoring, which can be used alongside traditional caregiver and clinical measures. To address this need, we developed SenseToKnow, a tablet- or smartphone-based digital phenotyping application (app), which uses computer vision and touch data to measure several autism-related behavioral features, such as social attention, facial and head movements, and visual-motor skills. Our previous work demonstrated that the SenseToKnow app can accurately detect and quantify behavioral signs of autism in 18–40-month-old toddlers. In the present study, we administered the SenseToKnow app on an iPad to 149 preschool- and school-age children (45 neurotypical and 104 autistic) between 3 and 8 years of age. Results revealed significant group differences between autistic and neurotypical children in terms of several behavioral features, which remained after controlling for sex and age. Repeat administration with a subgroup demonstrated stability in the individual digital phenotypes. Examining correlations between the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales and individual digital phenotypes, we found that autistic children with higher levels of communication, daily living, socialization, motor, and adaptive skills exhibited higher levels of social attention and coordinated gaze with speech, less frequent head movements, higher complexity of facial movements, higher overall attention, lower blink rates, and higher visual motor skills, demonstrating convergent validity between app features and clinical measures. App features were also significantly correlated with ratings on the Social Responsiveness Scale. These results suggest that the SenseToKnow app can be used as an accessible, scalable, and objective digital tool to measure autism-related behaviors in preschool- and school-age children.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 6","pages":"1217-1233"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143775070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}