There is a high incidence of epileptiform abnormalities in children with autism even in the absence of clinical seizures. These findings are most prominent during sleep recordings. The significance of these abnormalities is unclear. Although studies do not all agree, there may be some association between cognitive function, behavior, and the presence or absence of epileptiform discharges. Small...

BACKGROUND The molecular mechanisms underlying autistic behaviors remain to be elucidated. Mutations in genes linked to autism adversely affect molecules regulating dendritic spine formation, function and plasticity, and some increase the mammalian target of rapamycin, mTOR, a regulator of protein synthesis at spines. Here, we investigated whether the Akt/mTOR pathway is disrupted in idiopathic...

A study was designed to test 2 alternative hypotheses--a symbolic hypothesis and an executive function hypotheses--for the imitation and pantomime deficits found in previous studies of autism. The subjects were 17 adolescent high-functioning subjects with autism spectrum disorders and 15 clinical comparison subjects who were matched on chronological age and verbal IQ. Meaning and sequence were ...

Observing eye contact between others enhances the tendency to subsequently follow their gaze and has been suggested to function as a social signal that adds meaning to an upcoming action or event. The present study investigated effects of observed eye contact in high-functioning autism (HFA). Two faces on a screen either looked at or away from each other before providing congruent or incongruen...

Despite the well-documented success of cognitive restructuring techniques in the treatment of anxiety disorders, there is still little clarity on which cognitions underpin fear and anxiety in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. This study examined whether certain cognitive appraisals, known to be associated with fear and anxiety in typically developing groups, may help expl...

characterized by deficits in social communication and interaction, impaired language development, and stereotyped repetitive behaviors. The broader category of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) includes individuals with subsets of these symptoms (Geschwind and Levitt, 2007). The prevalence of autism in the USA has increased since the inception of the diagnosis in the 1980s – to about 1 in every ...

Atypical amygdala development may play a key role in the emergence of social disability and other symptoms of autism (Baron-Cohen et al., 2000; Schultz, 2005). The mechanisms by which this may occur have received little attention, however, and most support from behavioral and imaging studies has been concerned with socially relevant stimuli such as faces. Given the complexity of amygdala functi...

Children with Autism have social, cognitive, and behavioral problems. Hippotherapy can play an effective role in the communication educability of this group children. Therefore, study is about investigating effect on disorders executive function children autism spectrum disorder. The present was designed as a pre-test-post-test one-group intervention method. treatment team performed method eigh...

abstract: aim and background: autism spectrum disorder is a complex childhood neurological disorder that affects all aspects of child development. the purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an intervention program using animals to improve cognitive, social, behavioral functioning , and communication in children with autism spectrum disorders. methods and materials: 14 child...