1,721,012 research outputs found
Reciprocity in Interaction: A Window on the First Year of Life in Autism
Full text linkReciprocity in Interaction: A Window on the First Year of Life in Autis
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Autistic traits and perspective taking in youths with anorexia nervosa: an exploratory clinical and eye tracking study
Full text linkBackground
Despite their apparent dissimilarity, Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) share many features, especially in terms of social and emotional difficulties. In recent years, empathic abilities in AN have been frequently assessed using self-report measures. Otherwise, the director task (DT) has been used to investigate the ability to take the visual perspective of another individual in a communicative context, using eye-tracking technology. The aim of the current study was to test the presence of autism-relevant features in AN, through: (i) comparing self-reported autistic traits and empathic abilities in a group of young inpatients with AN and age/gender matched healthy controls (HC); (ii) comparing performance on the director paradigm.
Methods
The participants were females in the age-range between 11 and 18 years: 24 with AN and 23 HC. Autistic traits, empathic abilities, and severity of the eating disorder were respectively measured using: the Autism Quotient (AQ), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3). Both groups performed a computerized task in which a director instructed them to move objects placed on a set of shelves using a mouse, while their eye gaze was tracked. A total of 36 shelf configurations, divided into three categories (with dimensional distractor – with spatial distractor – control), were created.
Results
Subjects with AN showed higher autistic traits than HC. Eye-tracking data revealed that subjects with AN took longer to decide which object to select and where to move it, both in distractor-trials and in control-trials. In the AN group, we found a significant negative correlation between the total score of the AQ and the number of fixations to the irrelevant object in the dimensional control condition -in which the subjects were asked to focus on dimensional aspects of the object (large-small)-.
Conclusions
Autistic traits were over-represented in a group of young inpatients with AN. Through the use of eye-tracking technology, this exploratory study documented some differences between AN inpatients and HC in their online processes during the perspective taking tasks, which could be considered a target of tailored intervention. A larger sample of patients is needed to confirm these preliminary findings
Olfaction in autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review
No full textOlfactory function is a well-known early biomarker for neurodegeneration and neural functioning in the adult population, being supported by a number of brain structures that could be dysfunctioning in neurodegenerative processes. Evidence has suggested that atypical sensory and, particularly, olfactory processing is present in several neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In this paper, we present data obtained by a systematic literature review, conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, regarding the possible association between olfaction and ASDs, and analyze them critically in order to evaluate the occurrence of olfactory impairment in ASDs, as well as the possible usefulness of olfactory evaluation in such conditions. The results obtained in this analysis suggested a possible involvement of olfactory impairment in ASDs, underlining the importance of olfactory evaluation in the clinical assessment of ASDs. This assessment could be potentially included as a complementary evaluation in the diagnostic protocol of the condition. Methods for study selection and inclusion criteria were specified in advance and documented in PROSPERO protocol #CRD42014013939
Algorithms for epilepsy monitoring
No full textEpilepsy is a neurological disorder (Engel and Pedley, 2008), whose main clinical sign are the so-called “epileptic seizures, " having a significant social and sanitary impact, both due to its quite high incidence and chronicity. In fact, it is estimated that the lifetime prevalence of epilepsy is around 7.60 per 1000 persons, whereas its incidence rate appears to be of 61.44 per 100, 000 person years (Fiest et al., 2017). Seizures are unpredictable events so disability caused by epilepsy can be significant, due to uncertainty and consequences of the fits
Sympathetic arousal in children with oppositional defiant disorder and its relation to emotional dysregulation
No full textBackground: Emotional dysregulation (ED) is a trans-nosographical condition characterized by mood instability, severe irritability, aggression, temper outburst, and hyper-arousal. Pathophysiology of emotional dysregulation and its potential biomarkers are an emerging field of interest. A Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) profile, defined as Dysregulation Profile (DP), has been correlated to ED in youth. We examined the association between the CBCL-DP and indices of sympathetic arousal in children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and healthy controls. Method: The current study sought to compare the arousal level measured via electrodermal activity in response to emotional stimuli in three non-overlapping groups of children: (1) ODD+CBCL-DP (n = 28), (2) ODD without CBCL-DP (n = 35), and (3) typically developing controls (n = 25). Results: Analyses revealed a distinct electrodermal activity profile in the three groups. Specifically, children with ODD+CBCL-DP presented higher levels of sympathetic arousal for anger and sadness stimuli compared to the other two groups. Limitations: The relatively small sample and the lack of assessing causality limit the generalizability of this study which results need to be replicated in larger, different samples. Conclusion: The CBCL-DP was associated to higher levels of arousal for negative emotions, consistently with previous reports in individuals with depression and anxiety. Further work may identify potential longitudinal relationships between this profile and clinical outcomes
AUTISM AND LACK OF D3 VITAMIN: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
No full textutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social communication deficits and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior. Several medical conditions including gastrointestinal (GI) problems, asthma and allergies have been associated with ASD, and multiple risk factors, both genetic and environmental, have been proposed. Among them, vitamin D (VD) deficiency is probably associated with ASD, and may play a role in the condition.
We conducted a systematic review of the literature for the period January 1, 2010 through June 15, 2014, according to PRISMA guidelines, aiming to investigate the complex biological interplay between VD, metabolism, immune system and nervous system in ASD.
Different trends in the association between ASD and VD deficiency have been observed, and factors such as gender, ethnicity, sampling, and methodology play a role in the results and outcomes.
At present, for at least a subgroup of ASD individuals, an imbalance in VD metabolism probably exists and may be associated with the condition. In this cohort, VD replacement in these individuals might contribute to improving ASD symptoms and/or associated conditions. This topic is an important challenge for future research, and could lead to a new tailored therapeutic approach for VD in ASD
Wearable sensors to measure the influence of sonic seasoning on wine consumers in a live context: a preliminary proof‐of‐concept study
No full textBACKGROUND: Any action capable of creating expectations about product quality would be able to modulate experienced pleasantness. In this context, during the 2022 edition of the Internet Festival (Pisa, Italy) a ‘social experiment’ was promoted to set up an affordable and reliable methodology based on wearable sensors to measure the emotions aroused in a live context on consumers by different kinds of wines. Therefore, five wines (two faulty ones and three high-quality samples) were proposed to 50 non-selected consumers in an arousing context with live jazz music as background. Both explicit (questionnaires) and two different approaches for implicit methods (electrocardiogram (ECG) recorded by wearable sensors vs. smartphones), the latter performed on a subgroup of 16, to measure the emotions aroused by wines and music were utilized synergistically. RESULTS: According to our findings: (i) wine undoubtedly generates a significant emotional response on consumers; (ii) this answer is multifaceted and attributable to the quality level of the wine tasted. In fact, all things being equal, while drinking wine even untrained consumers can perfectly recognize good wines compared to products of lower quality; (iii) high-quality wines are able to induce a spectrum of positive emotions, as observed by the analysis of ECG signals, especially when they are coupled with background music. CONCLUSION: The framework has certainly played to the advantage of good-quality wines, fostering their positive emotional characteristics on the palate even of some less experienced consumers, thanks to a dragging effect towards a positive mood generated by the surrounding conditions (good music in a beautiful location). © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
on the application of quantitative EEG for characterizing autistic brain: a systematic review
No full texton the application of quantitative EEG for characterizing autistic brain: a systematic revie
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