Asperger syndrome:

Asperger syndrome, also referred to as Asperger's syndrome, Asperger's, or just AS, is one of five neurobiological pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) that is characterized by deficiencies in social and communication skills.

It is considered to be part of the autistic spectrum and is differentiated from other PDDs and from high functioning autism in that early development is normal and there is no language delay.

It is possible for people with AS to have learning disabilities concurrently with Asperger syndrome.

In these cases, differential diagnosis is essential to identify subsequent support requirements.

Conversely, IQ tests may show normal or superior intelligence, and standard language development compared with classical autism.

AS is often not identified in early childhood, and many individuals do not receive diagnosis until after puberty or when they are adults.

Assistance for core symptoms of AS consists of therapies that apply behavior management strategies and address poor communication skills, obsessive or repetitive routines, and physical clumsiness.

From: https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/asperger_syndrome.htm

Autism and friendship: It's different for girls.Autistic girls are more socially motivated and have more intimate friendships than autistic boys, but are not as good as girls without autism at recognising conflict in

Autism and friendship: It's different for girls

Autistic girls are more socially motivated and have more intimate friendships than autistic boys, but are not as good as girls without autism at recognising conflict in those friendships.

That is the finding of research being presented January 6, 2016, at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society's Division of Educational and Child Psychology by Felicity Sedgewick, Vivian Hill and Professor Liz Pellicano from the Centre for Research in Autism and Education at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London.

Felicity Sedgewick analysed the responses of 46 young people aged between 12 and 16 years and of similar intellectual ability -- 13 autistic girls, 13 non-autistic girls, 10 autistic boys and 10 non-autistic boys -- on a number of psychological measures.

The results showed that autistic and non-autistic girls had similar scores for social motivation and friendship quality, although autistic girls reported significantly less conflict in their best friendships. Autistic boys were less socially motivated, with qualitatively different friendships that were less secure, helpful or close than non-autistic boys.

Interviews with the participants backed up these findings with one exception: autistic girls reported higher levels of relational aggression.

Felicity Sedgewick said:

"Autism is seen as being much more common in boys because more boys than girls are diagnosed as being on the spectrum. This may be because diagnostic tools and criteria have been developed with boys and so are more biased towards identifying a 'male presentation' of autism.

"So it is important to look at possible differences between autistic girls and boys to understand differences in the presentation of autistic features, which in the long run should help us better able to identify autism in girls.

"Social relationships are likely to be a key area where these gender differences occur, as we know that there are marked differences between typical boys and girls.

"One of the most striking findings of our study was that that the friendships of autistic girls were more like those of non-autistic girls than they were like the friendships of autistic boys.

"There was one point on which the two groups of girls differed, however, and that was with regards to their perception of conflict, with autistic girls often failing to recognise this conflict within their friendships.

"Our findings show that the problems dealing with social relationships are more subtle in autistic girls than they are in autistic boys, which might contribute to the difficulties detecting autism in girls. Dealing with conflict with friends and significant others could be an important area to target when supporting girls and young women on the spectrum."

From: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160105223948.htm

Genomic region associated with autism plays role in specific cognitive functions:

A new study in Biological Psychiatry reports that variations in 16p11.2, a region of the genome associated with risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), have distinct effects on cognition. The findings highlight the diversity of people with ASD.

Extra or missing copies of genetic material in a small region of the genome in chromosome 16, designated 16p11.2, increases the risk of autism spectrum disorders. Known as duplications or deletions, these alterations in the 16p11.2 genomic region are also associated with intellectual disability.

In the first study to look at the effect of both duplications and deletions in 16p11.2 on specific cognitive domains, senior author Dr. Sébastien Jacquemont, from the University of Montreal in Canada, and a large research team assessed the effects of these variations in 62 deletion carriers, 44 duplication carriers, and 71 controls from within the same families. According to Jacquemont, determining the effect of these alterations can only be performed through family studies. The researchers used neuropsychological tests to assess overall cognitive functioning, fine motor skills, language, memory, and executive functions.

After accounting for the lower IQ associated with 16p11.2 variations, differences in specific cognitive domains emerged. Deletion carriers had difficulty with phonology, reading fluency, fine motor skills, and verbal and motor inhibition. Duplication carriers outperformed controls with the same IQ on tasks of verbal memory, executive functions, and phonological skills. The authors suggest this is reminiscent of the complex and conflicting association between language impairment and autism.

"These data suggest that copy number variants may generally increase risk for intellectual disability and autism, but that the particular nature of the genetic alteration may have specific functional consequences for brain and behavior," said Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.

"Genomic variants associated with ASD may be associated with very different cognitive alterations and profiles," said Jacquemont, "and we may learn something on the developmental mechanisms involved in ASD by focusing on the cognitive comorbidities." He added that generating similar data across other regions of the genome will be essential to understand the impact of different variants on development.

The findings of the study may help better inform the type of intervention that patients will benefit from most; the authors write that the use of visuospatial processes when learning may help patients who carry a deletion, whereas verbal methods may improve learning strategies in patients who carry a duplication.

From: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160718093413.htm

Adolescent exposure to drugs, alcohol fuels use in adulthood:

Teenagers who have easy access to drugs and alcohol in the home are more likely to drink and do drugs in their early and late 20s. That's according to the one of the first studies to look at how adolescent exposure to illegal substances affects patterns of abuse in adulthood.

The national study, by Michigan State University's Cliff Broman, also indicates that the effects were more significant among white people and males.

"While there have been many studies linking alcohol and drug use by parents to substance use among youths, there is limited research on how the availability of alcohol and drugs in the home may influence patterns of use among offspring in the future," said Broman, professor of sociology.

"These findings provide evidence that the availability of illegal drugs and alcohol in the home while growing up is a critical factor in the later use of substances."

Broman analyzed data from some 15,000 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health over the course of three waves -- when the survey participants were, on average, 16, 22 and 29 years old.

Generally, participants who had illegal drugs and alcohol easily available to them during adolescence started using drugs and alcohol at an earlier age, and used drugs and alcohol more at each of the latter two waves (when the average ages were 22 and 29).

Male participants, who had alcohol and illegal drugs more available to them in the home during adolescence than female participants, subsequently drank and did drugs more in adulthood than did females.

From a racial/ethnic perspective, whites were significantly more likely to use drugs and alcohol in adulthood than blacks, Hispanic and Asian participants. This was despite the fact that Hispanic and Asian participants generally had drugs and alcohol more easily available to them in the home during adolescence.

From: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160729110923.htm

Hearing test may identify autism risk:

Researchers have identified an inner ear deficiency in children with Autism that may impact their ability to recognize speech. The findings, which were published in the journalAutism Research, could ultimately be used as a way to identify children at risk for the disorder at an early age.

"This study identifies a simple, safe, and non-invasive method to screen young children for hearing deficits that are associated with Autism," said Anne Luebke, Ph.D., an associate professor in the University of Rochester Medical Center Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience and a co-author of the study. "This technique may provide clinicians a new window into the disorder and enable us to intervene earlier and help achieve optimal outcomes."

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social-communication skills and restricted and repetitive behaviors. While many signs of ASD are present before age two, the majority of children with ASD are not diagnosed until after age four, which means that corrective therapies are started later, delaying their potential impact.

One of the challenges to early detection of ASD is to find ways to identify children at risk for the disorder sooner and in children with speech delays. Some of the earliest and consistent signs of ASD involve auditory communication, however, most tests rely on speech, and are often ineffective in children who are very young or who have communication delays.

In the new study, researchers used a technique that measures what are called otoacoustic emissions. The test is akin to the screening that many newborns must undergo before leaving the hospital to check for hearing problems. Using miniature speaker/microphone earplugs, the researchers were able to measure hearing deficiencies by listening for signs that the ear is having difficulty processing sounds. Specifically, the device's highly sensitive microphone can detect minute sound emission made by inner ear outer hair cells in response to certain tones or clicking sounds. If these cells are not functioning properly, the device fails to detect an emission which indicates that inner ear -- or cochlear -- function is impaired.

The researchers tested the hearing of children between the ages of 6 and 17, roughly half of whom have been diagnosed with ASD. They found that the children with ASD had hearing difficultly in a specific frequency (1-2 kHz) that is important for processing speech. They also found a correlation between the degree of cochlear impairment and the severity of ASD symptoms.

"Auditory impairment has long been associated with developmental delay and other problems, such as language deficits," said Loisa Bennetto, Ph.D., an associate professor in the University of Rochester Department Of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology and a co-author of the study. "While there is no association between hearing problems and autism, difficulty in processing speech may contribute to some of the core symptoms of the disease. Early detection could help identify risk for ASD and enable clinicians to intervene earlier. Additionally, these findings can inform the development of approaches to correct auditory impairment with hearing aids or other devices that can improve the range of sounds the ear can process."

Because the test is non-invasive, inexpensive, and does not require the subject to respond verbally, this technique could be adapted to screen infants, an approach that the team is currently exploring.

From: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160725221849.htm

Autism, ADHD and OCD have common symptoms and are linked by some of the same genes. Yet historically they have been studied as separate disorders...

Common brain changes found in children with autism, ADHD and OCD:

MRI study shows shared brain biology is linked to symptoms that occur across different conditions.

A team of Toronto scientists has found similarities in brain impairments in children with autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

The study, published this month in the American Journal of Psychiatry, involved brain imaging of white matter in 200 children with autism, ADHD, OCD or no diagnosis. White matter is made up of bundles of nerve fibers that connect cell bodies across the brain, and enable communication between different brain regions.

"We found impairments in white matter in the main tract connecting the right and left hemispheres of the brain in children with either autism, ADHD or OCD, when compared to healthy children in the control group," says Dr. Stephanie Ameis, first author on the study and clinician-scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's (CAMH's) Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute. This particular white matter tract, the corpus callosum, is the largest in the brain and among the first to develop.

The research team, from CAMH, the Hospital for Sick Children and Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, also found children with autism and ADHD showed more severe impairments affecting more of the brain's white matter than those with OCD. This finding may reflect the fact that both autism and ADHD typically have an onset at a much younger age than OCD, and at a time when a number of different white matter tracts are going through rapid development, says Dr. Ameis.

Autism, ADHD and OCD have common symptoms and are linked by some of the same genes. Yet historically they have been studied as separate disorders. Together, these three neurodevelopmental disorders affect roughly 15 per cent of children and youth.

The study is part of a major Ontario initiative, the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders Network (POND) that is examining various childhood brain-related disorders collectively, to better understand their similarities and differences, and develop more effective and targeted therapies.

Brain-behavior link

Many of the behaviours that contribute to impairment in autism, ADHD, and OCD, such as attention problems or social difficulties, occur across these conditions, and differ in severity from person to person. The researchers found that the brain's white matter structure was associated with a spectrum of behavioral symptoms present across these diagnoses. Children with greater brain impairment also had higher impairments in functioning in daily life, regardless of their diagnosis, said Dr. Ameis, who is also appointed at the Hospital for Sick Children.

This finding has implications for our understanding of the nature of brain-related disorders, notes senior author Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou of Holland Bloorview Rehabilitation Hospital and head of the POND Network. By providing biological evidence that brain structure relates to a spectrum of behavioural symptoms that cut across different developmental conditions, it highlights the shared biology among such conditions. And it points to the potential that treatments targeting a spectrum of behaviours may be relevant for all three conditions.

From: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160727110911.htm

The environments children are in, including how much and what kinds of stimulation they are exposed to, influence what and how they learn. One important task for children is...

Background noise may hinder toddlers' ability to learn words:

The environments children are in, including how much and what kinds of stimulation they are exposed to, influence what and how they learn. One important task for children is zeroing in on the information that's relevant to what they're learning and ignoring what isn't. A new study has found that the presence of background noise in the home or at school makes it more difficult for toddlers to learn new words. The study also found that providing additional language cues may help young children overcome the effects of noisy environments.

Conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the research appears in the journal Child Development.

"Learning words is an important skill that provides a foundation for children's ability to achieve academically," notes Brianna McMillan, doctoral student in psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who led the study.

"Modern homes are filled with noisy distractions such as TV, radio, and people talking that could affect how children learn words at early ages. Our study suggests that adults should be aware of the amount of background speech in the environment when they're interacting with young children."

Studies on the impact of environmental noise suggest that too much noise can affect children both cognitively and psycho-physiologically, as seen in more negative school performance and increased levels of cortisol and heart rate. However, most studies of word learning are conducted in quiet laboratory settings. This study focused on word learning but attempted to replicate the noisy environments children may inhabit at home and at school. In the study, 106 children ages 22 to 30 months took part in three experiments in which they were taught names for unfamiliar objects and then tested on their ability to recognize the objects when they were labeled. First, toddlers listened to sentences featuring two new words.

Then they were taught which objects the new names corresponded to. Finally, the toddlers were tested on their ability to recall the words.

In the first experiment, 40 toddlers (ages 22 to 24 months) heard either louder or quieter background speech when learning the new words. Only toddlers who were exposed to the quieter background speech successfully learned the words. In the second experiment, a different group of 40 toddlers (ages 28 to 30 months) was tested to determine whether somewhat older children could better overcome the effects of background noise. Again, only when background noise was quieter could the older toddlers successfully learn the new words.

In the third experiment, 26 older toddlers were first exposed to two word labels in a quiet environment. Next, the toddlers were taught the meanings of four word labels -- two they had just heard and two new ones. Toddlers were taught the meanings of all these labels in the same noisy environment that impaired learning in the second experiment. The children learned the new words and their meanings only when they had first heard the labels in a quiet environment, suggesting that experience with the sounds of the words without distracting background noise helps children subsequently map those sounds to meaning.

In sum, the study shows that while louder background speech hindered toddlers' ability to learn words, cues in the environment helped them overcome this difficulty. "Hearing new words in fluent speech without a lot of background noise before trying to learn what objects the new words corresponded to may help very young children master new vocabulary," suggests Jenny Saffran, College of Letters & Science Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who coauthored the study. "But when the environment is noisy, drawing young children's attention to the sounds of the new word may help them compensate."

Children will rarely be in a completely quiet environment when learning. Parents and teachers may find that reducing background noise or highlighting important information can help children learn even when there is background noise. These suggestions may be especially important for low-income households because research shows that such homes on average have higher noise levels due to urban settings and crowding.

From: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160721072605.htm