Correction to: “Best Things”: Parents Describe Their Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Over Time

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders -     

Intervention for Infants at Risk of Developing Autism: A Case Series

Theory and evidence suggest the potential value of prodromal intervention for infants at risk of developing autism. We report an initial case series (n = 8) of a parent-mediated, video-aided and interaction-focused intervention with infant siblings of autistic probands, beginning at 8–10 months of age. We outline the theory and evidence base behind this model and present data on feasibility, acceptability and measures ranging from parent-infant social interaction, to infant atypical behaviors, attention and cognition. The intervention proves to be both feasible and acceptable to families. Measurement across domains was successful and on larger samples promise to be an effective test of whether such an intervention in infancy will modify emergent atypical developmental trajectories in infants at risk for autism.     

Temperament in the First 2 Years of Life in Infants at High-Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders

The current study investigated early temperament in 54 infants at familial high-risk of ASD and 50 controls. Parental report of temperament was assessed around 7, 14 and 24 months of age and diagnostic assessment was conducted at 3 years. The high-risk group showed reduced Surgency at 7 and 14 months and reduced Effortful Control at 14 and 24 months, compared to controls. High-risk infants later diagnosed with ASD were distinguished from controls by a temperament profile marked by increased Perceptual Sensitivity from the first year of life, and increased Negative Affect and reduced Cuddliness in the second year of life. Temperament may be an important construct for understanding the early infant development of ASD.     

What you see is what you get: contextual modulation of face scanning in typical and atypical development

Infants’ visual scanning of social scenes is influenced by both exogenously and endogenously driven shifts of attention. We manipulate these factors by contrasting individual infants’ distribution of visual attention to the eyes relative to the mouth when viewing complex dynamic scenes with multiple communicative signals (e.g. peek-a-boo), relative to the same infant viewing simpler scenes where only single features move (moving eyes, mouth and hands). We explore the relationship between context-dependent scanning patterns and later social and communication outcomes in two groups of infants, with and without familial risk for autism. Our findings suggest that in complex scenes requiring more endogenous control of attention, increased scanning of the mouth region relative to the eyes at 7 months is associated with superior expressive language (EL) at 36 months. This relationship holds even after controlling for outcome group. In contrast, in simple scenes where only the mouth is moving, those infants, irrespective of their group membership, who direct their attention to the repetitive moving feature, i.e. the mouth, have poorer EL at 36 months. Taken together, our findings suggest that scanning of complex social scenes does not begin as strikingly different in those infants later diagnosed with autism.     

Anti-melanin deposition activity and active constituents of Jatropha multifida stems

Journal of Natural Medicines - Jatropha multifida is a medicinal plant that belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. Our investigation revealed that the chloroform extract of J. multifida stems showed...     

Investigating longitudinal associations between parent reported sleep in early childhood and teacher reported executive functioning in school-aged children with autism

Up to 80% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience sleep disturbance. Poor sleep impairs executive functioning (EF), a lifelong difficulty in ASD. Evidence suggests EF difficulties in ASD are exacerbated by poor sleep. We examine whether early childhood sleep disturbances are associated with worsening EF trajectories in school-aged children with ASD. A subsample (n = 217) from the Pathways in ASD longitudinal study was analyzed. The Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire captured sleep duration, onset, and night awakenings before age 5 (mean = 3.5 years). Metacognition (MI) and Behavioral Regulation (BRI) indices, on the Teacher Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning, were used to measure cognitive and affective components of EF respectively at four time-points (7.8–11.8 years). We applied latent growth curve models to examine associations between sleep and EF, accounting for relevant covariates, including school-age sleep (mean = 6.7 years). Sleep traits had different age-related impacts on behavioral regulation, but not metacognition. Longer sleep onset at 3.5 years was associated with a worsening BRI difficulties slope (b = 2.07, p < 0.04), but conversely associated with lower BRI difficulties at 7.7 years (b = −4.14, p = 0.04). A longer sleep onset at 6.7 years was related to higher BRI difficulties at 7.7 years (b = 7.78, p < 0.01). Longer sleep duration at 6.7 years was associated with higher BRI difficulties at age 7.7 (b = 3.15, p = 0.01), but subscale analyses revealed shorter sleep duration at age 6.7 was linked to a worsening inhibition slope (b = −0.60, p = 0.01). Sleep onset is a robust early correlate of behavior regulation in children with ASD, whereas sleep duration is a later childhood correlate.     

Quality of interaction between at‐risk infants and caregiver at 12–15 months is associated with 3‐year autism outcome

Background: Recent models of the early emergence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) propose that infant intrinsic risk susceptibilities in behaviour may be amplified by interaction within the early social environment into an increasingly atypical developmental trajectory. This study examines whether 6‐ and 12‐month parent–infant interactions in at‐risk siblings differ from those with low‐risk and whether – in at‐risk siblings – such interactions predict later 3‐year classification of ASD or no ASD. Method: Within the British Autism Study of Infant Siblings (BASIS), 6‐min videotaped episodes of parent–infant free play in infants at 6–10 months (45 at‐risk siblings and 47 low‐risk siblings) and 12–15 months (43 at‐risk siblings and 48 low‐risk siblings) in a laboratory setting were rated on the Manchester Assessment of Caregiver‐Infant Interaction (MACI), blind to participant information. Standard tests were administered for concurrent behavioural signs of ASD features and developmental level. Systematic consensus diagnostic classification of ASD was made at 3 years for the at‐risk siblings. Results: Parent nondirectiveness and sensitive responsiveness differed in relation to ASD/risk status (at‐risk ASD, at‐risk no‐ASD and low‐risk) at both 6 and 12 months. At 6 months, infant liveliness was lower in the at‐risk groups; at 12 months, infant attentiveness to parent and positive affect were lower in the at‐risk group later diagnosed with ASD. Dyadic mutuality and intensity of engagement showed a group effect at 12 months. Dyadic mutuality, infant positive affect and infant attentiveness to parent at 12 months (but not 6 months) predicted 3‐year ASD outcome, whereas infant ASD‐related behavioural atypicality did not. Conclusions: This is the first prospective evidence that early dyadic interaction between at‐risk infants and their parents is associated with later diagnostic outcome in ASD. Possible explanations for these findings and their theoretical implications are considered.     

基于GA-RBF神经网络和sEMG的下肢动作识别方法研究

为了提高人体肌电信号对于下肢动作识别的准确率,提出一种基于遗传算法(GA)优化的径向基(RBF)神经网络分类模型.通过采集人体日常8种下肢动作的表面肌电信号并选择"sym6"系小波函数对肌电信号进行滤波预处理,使用主成分分析法(PCA)对时频域特征降维,把特征向量输入GA算法优化的RBF神经网络进行训练和识别.实验结果...