Predictability modulates neural response to eye contact in ASD
ConclusionsNeural response to eye-contact in ASD ranged from attenuated to hypersensitive depending on the predictability of the social context. These findings suggest that the vulnerabilities in eye-contact during social interactions in ASD may arise from differences in anticipation and expectation of eye-contact in addition to the perception of gaze alone. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - October 29, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Beyond the three-chamber test: toward a multimodal and objective assessment of social behavior in rodents
ConclusionsIn summary, we suggest that combining automated multimodal measurements with machine-learning algorithms will help define socio-emotional states and determine their dynamics during various types of social tasks, thus enabling a more thorough understanding of the complexity of social behavior. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - October 25, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Enhanced fear limits behavioral flexibility in Shank2-deficient mice
ConclusionsOur results indicate that enhanced fear suppresses reversal learning in the presence of an intact capability to learn cue-outcome contingency changes inShank2-knockout mice. Our findings suggest that behavioral flexibility might be seriously limited by abnormal emotional responses in ASD. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - October 3, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Atypical gaze patterns in autistic adults are heterogeneous across but reliable within individuals
ConclusionsThese findings pave the way for the investigation of autism subtypes, and for elucidating the specific visual features that best discriminate gaze patterns —directions that will also combine with and inform neuroimaging and genetic studies of this complex disorder. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - September 24, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Disruption of grin2B, an ASD-associated gene, produces social deficits in zebrafish
ConclusionsWe demonstrate that zebrafish completely lacking the GluN2B subunit of the NMDAR, unlike rodent models, are viable into adulthood. Notably, they exhibit a highly specific deficit in social behavior. As such, this zebrafish model affords a unique opportunity to study the roles of GluN2B in ASD etiologies and establish a disease-relevant in vivo model for future studies. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - September 22, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Salivary testosterone in male and female youth with and without autism spectrum disorder: considerations of development, sex, and diagnosis
ConclusionsTestosterone may play a unique role in the presentation of ASD, especially during periods of dynamic hormonal changes including puberty. Inherent developmental (age, puberty) and sex-based (male, female) factors play a more prominent role in changes in testosterone levels during adolescence. Even so, future research is warranted to determine the differential expression and impact of exposure to excess testosterone during the pubertal transition for youth with ASD. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - September 19, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Oxytocin impacts top-down and bottom-up social perception in adolescents with ASD: a MEG study of neural connectivity
ConclusionThese results suggest that OT influenced social perception by modifying the communication between frontal and posterior regions, an attenuation that potentially impacts both social and non-social early perception. We also show that OT influences differ between top-down and bottom-up processes, depending on the social context. Overall, by showing that OT influences both social-related perception and overall attention during early processing stages, we add new information to the existing understanding of the impact of OT on neural processing in ASD. Furthermore, by highlighting the influence of OT on early percepti...
Source: Molecular Autism - September 5, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Early life sleep disruption potentiates lasting sex-specific changes in behavior in genetically vulnerable Shank3 heterozygous autism model mice
ConclusionOur study shows that sleep disruption during sensitive periods of early life interacts with underlying genetic vulnerability to drive lasting and sex-specific changes in behavior. As individuals progress through maturation, they gain resilience to the lasting effects of sleep disruption. This work highlights developmental sleep disruption as an important vulnerability in ASD susceptibility. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - August 29, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Attentional influences on neural processing of biological motion in typically developing children and those on the autism spectrum
ConclusionsTogether, these data suggest that individuals with ASD are able to discriminate, with explicit attention, biological from non-biological motion but demonstrate diminished automatic neural specificity for biological motion processing, which may have cascading implications for the development of higher-order social cognition. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - July 18, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Imbalance of flight –freeze responses and their cellular correlates in the Nlgn3−/y rat model of autism
ConclusionsWe describe altered fear responses inNlgn3−/y rats and provide evidence that this is the result of a circuit bias that predisposes flight over freeze responses. Additionally, we demonstrate the first link between PAG dysfunction and ASD/ID. This study provides new insight into potential pathophysiologies leading to anxiety disorders and changes to fear responses in individuals with ASD. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - July 18, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Autism traits outweigh alexithymia traits in the explanation of mentalising performance in adults with autism but not in adults with rejected autism diagnosis
DiscussionWhile alexithymia traits should be considered for their mental health importance, they do not dominate the explanation of reduced mentalising skills in individuals with ASD, but they might do to a larger degree in individuals with ruled out ASD. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - July 8, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
The longitudinal bidirectional relationship between autistic traits and brain morphology from childhood to adolescence: a population-based cohort study
ConclusionsOur findings point to early changes in brain morphology in children with autistic symptoms that remain quite stable over time. The observed relationship did not change substantially after excluding children with high levels of autistic traits, bolstering the evidence for the extension of the neurobiology of autistic traits to the general population. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - July 5, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Diagnostic validity of Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, second edition (K-ADOS-2) in the Korean population
ConclusionThe K-ADOS-2 is a valid and reliable instrument in diagnosing ASD in South Korea. Future studies exploring the effectiveness of the K-ADOS-2 in capturing restricted, repetitive behaviors and differentiating ASD from other developmental disabilities are needed. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - June 30, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Deletion of Fmr1 in parvalbumin-expressing neurons results in dysregulated translation and selective behavioral deficits associated with fragile X syndrome
ConclusionsOur findings indicate a cell type-specific role for FMRP in parvalbumin-expressing neurons in regulating distinct behavioral features associated with FXS. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - June 29, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Infants later diagnosed with autism have lower canonical babbling ratios in the first year of life
ConclusionsLower canonical babbling ratios are apparent by the end of the first year of life in ASD regardless of later language delay, but are also observed for infants with later language delay without ASD. Canonical babbling may lack specificity as an early marker when used on its own. (Source: Molecular Autism)
Source: Molecular Autism - June 27, 2022 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
