Search results for "Autism."

Semantic Verbal Fluency in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder: Relationship with Chronological Age and IQ

2016

We administered a semantic verbal fluency (SVF) task to two groups of children (age range from 5 to 8): 47 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD Group) and 53 with typical development (Comparison Group), matched on gender, chronological age, and non-verbal IQ. Four specific indexes were calculated from the SVF task, reflecting the different underlying cognitive strategies used: clustering (component of generativity and lexical-semantic access), and switching (executive component, cognitive flexibility). First, we compared the performance of the two groups on the different SVF task indicators, with the ASD group scoring lower than the Comparison Group, although the difference was grea…

Relationships between the social communication questionnaire and pragmatic language, socialization skills, and behavioral problems in children with a…

2019

The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) is one of the most widely used screening instruments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined the relationships between the reciprocal social interaction, communication, and repetitive/stereotyped factors on the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and pragmatic, socialization, and behavioral problems in children with ASD and children with typical development (TD). Participants were seven- to 11-year-old children with ASD without intellectual disability (

Autism spectrum disorders in children affected by Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

2019

Objective Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive neuromuscular condition that has a high rate of cognitive and learning disabilities as well as neurobehavioral disorders, some of which have ben associated with disruption of dystrophin isoforms. Recent studies have pointed to an increased risk for intellectual disability and autism among affected males.The aim of the present study was to describe a case series of children with DMD that have also the presence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). they have been assessed by means of standardized autism scales and the monst appropriate psycho-educational treatment is herein discussed. Methods and Results In order to evaluate and iden…

Executive functioning in autism spectrum disorders: a case-control study in preschool children.

2019

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurobehavioral and developmental conditions that include impairments in a triad of behavioral domains: social development, communication and repetitive behavior/obsessive interests. This case-control study aims to assess executive functioning in ASD preschoolers. Methods: A sample of 50 children participated in the study (24 males and 26 females; age ranged between 2.7 and 3.5 years). The study sample was subdivided into two groups: 25 ASD children and 25 typically developing children as a control group. All participants were administered the BRIEF-P test to assess executive functioning. Results: The two groups were counterbalanced for age an…

Executive functioning in preschool children affected by autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study

2017

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a complex set of neurological dysfunction and development characterized by deficits in social and non-verbal interaction. Few studies have explored the executive functioning in ASD preschoolers. The aim of this pilot study is the assessment of executive functioning in preschool children with ASD. Material and methods: 8 ASD children (7 males, 1 female) mean age 3.09 (SD ± 0.83 years) were enrolled in the study and compared with a control group of 15 typically developing children (12 males, 3 females) (mean age 24.3 ± 0.61). All subjects underwent assessment of executive functioning with the BRIEF-P test. Results: The two groups were matched …

Architectures for autism

2015

Le ricerche condotte sulle malattie degenerative della "terza età", hanno visto negli ultimi anni il gruppo di studio palermitano indagare e proporre soluzioni che vanno dalla stesura di linee guida per la progettazione di Residenze Sanitarie Assistenziali (RSA), alla progettazione esecutiva di architetture residenziali, al recupero e riuso di edilizia già esistente fino alla progettazione dello spazio domestico dedicato e protetto, che oltre a fornire risposte funzionali ne ha anche esaltato il design degli elementi di arredo. A questo ambito di ricerca da circa due anni si è affiancato un nuovo settore di indagine indirizzato sempre alle "minoranze sociali". Research conducted on degenera…

THE INFLUENCE OF SPATIAL COGNITION IN THEORY OF MIND AND CENTRAL COHERENCE TASKS: STUDY IN AUTISM

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ADS) is a severe developmental disability characterized by impairments in social interaction and communicative skills. Despite a growing research interest in the field, the causes of these impairments remain unknown. Two lines of research, Theory of Mind (ToM) and Central Coherence (CC), using experimental tasks such as visuo-spatial perspective Taking (VPT) and the local and global levels have suggested that visuo-spatial attention and spatial variables in the self-versus other recognition, may be the basis of the cognitive processes underlying social interaction. According to spatial attention, such as observed in the Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) may contribu…

Neurobiologia e terapia dei disturbi della sfera affettiva nell'autismo: conoscenze attuali

2007

L’autismo è un disordine dello sviluppo del cervello che insorge in periodo perinatale ed è caratterizzato da disturbi del comportamento sociale, da difficoltà nelle interazioni con gli altri, da deficit del linguaggio, dalla presenza di atteggiamenti di tipo ripetitivo ed ossessivo, da alterazioni della sfera affettiva ed emozionale. L’incidenza dell’autismo ha ormai assunto le dimensioni di una vera e propria epidemia, per cui è prioritario avere a disposizione terapie realmente efficaci. Purtroppo attualmente non esiste alcun trattamento farmacologico che non sia puramente sintomatico. La carenza di farmaci efficaci è dovuto al fatto che i meccanismi neurobiologici alla base dell’autismo…

Theory of Mind Profiles in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Adaptive/Social Skills and Pragmatic Competence

2020

Theory of Mind (ToM) is one of the most relevant concepts in the field of social cognition, particularly in the case of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Literature showing that individuals with ASD display deficits in ToM is extensive and robust. However, some related issues deserve more research: the heterogeneous profile of ToM abilities in children with ASD and the association between different levels of ToM development and social, pragmatic, and adaptive behaviors in everyday life. The first objective of this study was to identify profiles of children with ASD without intellectual disability (ID), based on explicit and applied ToM knowledge, and compare these profiles with a group of ch…

Transcriptomic metaanalyses of autistic brains reveals shared gene expression and biological pathway abnormalities with cancer

2019

Este es el artículo que se ha publicado de forma definitiva en: https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-019-0262-8 En este artículo también participa Joan Climent, Vera Pancaldi, Lourdes Fañanás, Celso Arango, Mara Parellada, Anaïs Baudot, Daniel Vogt, John L. Rubenstein, Alfonso Valencia y Rafael Tabarés-Seisdedos. Background: Epidemiological and clinical evidence points to cancer as a comorbidity in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A significant overlap of genes and biological processes between both diseases has also been reported. Methods: Here, for the first time, we compared the gene expression profiles of ASD frontal cortex tissues and 22 cancer t…