Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Author(s):  
Katharine Chisholm ◽  
Ashleigh Lin ◽  
Marco Armando
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Salice ◽  
Mads Gram Henriksen

Schizophrenia and autism are today considered complex spectrum disorders characterized by difficulties in social behavior. Drawing on recent advances in collective or shared intentionality studies, we present a novel theoretical approach to these social difficulties by exploring them from the angle of shared intentionality. We begin by describing two forms of shared intentionality: joint intentionality and we-intentionality. Joint intentionality crucially relies on the agents' mentalizing abilities such as mind reading and the ability to factor in (or “to be moved” by) their partner's intentions in deliberation and action planning. By contrast, we-intentionality relies on the agents' capacity to understand themselves as group members and to adopt the group's perspective. In schizophrenia spectrum disorders, we propose that joint intentionality remains unaffected, but we-intentionality may be impaired. In severe autism spectrum disorder (i.e., infantile autism), we propose that both forms of shared intentionality are impaired. We suggest that the source of the problems affecting we-intentionality in schizophrenia spectrum disorders lies primarily in trait-like, anomalous self-experiences. In severe autism spectrum disorder, we suggest that problems with mind reading, the ability to “be moved” by others' intentions, and with the capacity for perspective-taking impede both forms of shared intentionality.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 243-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco O. Bertelli ◽  
Micaela Piva Merli ◽  
Elspeth Bradley ◽  
Roberto Keller ◽  
Niccolò Varrucciu ◽  
...  

Purpose – During the last few years the prevalence of autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has increased greatly. A recurring issue is the overlap and boundaries between Intellectual Developmental Disorder (IDD), ASD and Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD). In clinical practice with people with IDD, the alternative or adjunctive diagnosis of ASD or SSD is particularly challenging. The purpose of this paper is to define the boundaries and overlapping clinical characteristics of IDD, ASD and SSD; highlight the most relevant differences in clinical presentation; and provide a clinical framework within which to recognize the impact of IDD and ASD in the diagnosis of SSD. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic mapping of the international literature was conducted on the basis of the following questions: first, what are considered to be core and overlapping aspects of IDD, ASD and SSD; second, what are the main issues in clinical practice; and third, can key diagnostic flags be identified to assist in differentiating between the three diagnostic categories? Findings – Crucial clinical aspects for the differentiation resulted to be age of onset, interest towards others, main positive symptoms, and anatomical anomalies of the central nervous system. More robust diagnostic criteria and semeiological references are desirable. Originality/value – The present literature mapping provides a comprehensive description of the most relevant differences in the clinical presentation of ASD and SSD in persons with IDD.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
J. N. de Boer ◽  
A. E. Voppel ◽  
S. G. Brederoo ◽  
H. G. Schnack ◽  
K. P. Truong ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Clinicians routinely use impressions of speech as an element of mental status examination. In schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, descriptions of speech are used to assess the severity of psychotic symptoms. In the current study, we assessed the diagnostic value of acoustic speech parameters in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, as well as its value in recognizing positive and negative symptoms. Methods Speech was obtained from 142 patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and 142 matched controls during a semi-structured interview on neutral topics. Patients were categorized as having predominantly positive or negative symptoms using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Acoustic parameters were extracted with OpenSMILE, employing the extended Geneva Acoustic Minimalistic Parameter Set, which includes standardized analyses of pitch (F0), speech quality and pauses. Speech parameters were fed into a random forest algorithm with leave-ten-out cross-validation to assess their value for a schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis, and PANSS subtype recognition. Results The machine-learning speech classifier attained an accuracy of 86.2% in classifying patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and controls on speech parameters alone. Patients with predominantly positive v. negative symptoms could be classified with an accuracy of 74.2%. Conclusions Our results show that automatically extracted speech parameters can be used to accurately classify patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and healthy controls, as well as differentiate between patients with predominantly positive v. negatives symptoms. Thus, the field of speech technology has provided a standardized, powerful tool that has high potential for clinical applications in diagnosis and differentiation, given its ease of comparison and replication across samples.


Author(s):  
Esmeralda Sunko ◽  
Edita Rogulj ◽  
Ana Živković

The paper focuses on the analysis of the conditions for inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorders in early and pre-school education by kindergartens teacher. The conditions relate to estimates of theoretical knowledge and attitudes of the educator, assessment of abilities and limitations of children with autism spectrum disorders, self-assessment of the competences of educators for their upbringing and education and assessment of other conditions for the inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorders. The survey results were analyzed by a questionnaire of 68 educators from 6 kindergartens in town of Split. There is a central level of knowledge about inclusion and low self-assessment of educators about their competence in which they are active participants in the inclusion of children with a disorder of the autism spectrum. Attractive factors for the implementation of inclusive education of children with autism spectrum disorder evaluated: inconsistent assurance of nursery assistants, lack of competent educators, and insufficient co-operation with parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. The analysis points to the lack of systematic education of educators for inclusive educational practice. The authors exclude the importance of the knowledge and skills of educators in the area of ​​information communication technology, particularly augmentative and alternative communication.Key words: children with autistic spectrum disorder; information communication technology; competence of the educator; Educational and Teaching Inclusion


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-556
Author(s):  
Ali A. Danesh ◽  
Stephanie Howery ◽  
Hashir Aazh ◽  
Wafaa Kaf ◽  
Adrien A. Eshraghi

Hyperacusis is highly prevalent in the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) population. This auditory hypersensitivity can trigger pragmatically atypical reactions that may impact social and academic domains. Objective: The aim of this report is to describe the relationship between decreased sound tolerance disorders and the ASD population. Topics covered: The main topics discussed include (1) assessment and prevalence of hyperacusis in ASD; (2) etiology of hyperacusis in ASD; (3) treatment of hyperacusis in ASD. Conclusions: Knowledge of the assessment and treatment of decreased sound tolerance disorders within the ASD population is growing and changing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-43
Author(s):  
Nicolas Garel ◽  
Patricia Garel

Background: Despite increased attention and recognition of autism spectrum disorders, many patients suffering from these disorders remain undiagnosed or are diagnosed late due to their subtle clinical presentation. The challenge for clinicians working in the field of mental health is not in screening and diagnosing young children showing typical signs of autism spectrum disorders, but rather in identifying patients at the high-functioning end of the spectrum whose intellectual abilities mask their social deficits. Objective: Because therapeutic interventions differ radically once the diagnosis of ASD has been made, it is important to understand the trajectory of those adolescents and identify clues that could help raise the diagnosis of ASD earlier. Methods: Records of eight adolescents with a late diagnosis of ASD were retrospectively reviewed to identify relevant clinical features that were overlooked in childhood and early adolescence. Results: The patients were previously misdiagnosed with multiple mental health disorders. These cases showed striking similarities in terms of developmental history, reasons for misdiagnosis, and the clinical picture at the time of ASD recognition. The cases were characterized by complex and fluctuating symptomatology, including depression, anxiety, behavioural problems, self-injurious behaviour and suicidal thoughts. Their Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) went previously undiagnosed due to the individual’s intelligence and learning abilities, which masked their social deficits and developmental irregularities. Signs of ASD were continuously present since childhood in all the eight cases. Once the developmental histories and the psychiatric evaluation of these adolescents were done by psychiatrists with appropriate knowledge of autism, the diagnosis of ASD was made. Conclusion: The ASD hypothesis should be raised in the presence of confusing symptoms that do not respond to usual treatment and are accompanied by an irregular developmental background. It is indeed a difficult diagnosis to make; however, the focused clinician can note subtle signs of ASD despite the intellectual learning of social codes. Family history, developmental irregularities, rigidity, difficulty in spontaneously understanding emotions, discomfort in groups and the need to be alone are significant indicators to recognize. Once the diagnosis has been considered, it must be confirmed or rejected by an experienced multidisciplinary team. The challenge for clinicians working in the field of mental health is not in screening and diagnosing young children showing typical signs of ASD, but rather in identifying patients who are at high-functioning end of the spectrum whose intellectual abilities mask their social deficits.


Autism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
For-Wey Lung ◽  
Tung-Liang Chiang ◽  
Shio-Jean Lin ◽  
Meng-Chih Lee ◽  
Bih-Ching Shu

The use of assisted reproduction technology has increased over the last two decades. Autism spectrum disorders and assisted reproduction technology share many risk factors. However, previous studies on the association between autism spectrum disorders and assisted reproduction technology have shown inconsistent results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between assisted reproduction technology and autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in a national birth cohort database. Furthermore, the results from the assisted reproduction technology and autism spectrum disorder propensity score matching exact matched datasets were compared. For this study, the 6- and 66-month Taiwan Birth Cohort Study datasets were used (N = 20,095). In all, 744 families were propensity score matching exact matched and selected as the assisted reproduction technology sample (ratio of assisted reproduction technology to controls: 1:2) and 415 families as the autism spectrum disorder sample (ratio of autism spectrum disorder to controls: 1:4). Using a national birth cohort dataset, controlling for the confounding factors of assisted reproduction technology conception and autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, both assisted reproduction technology and autism spectrum disorder propensity score matching matched datasets showed the same results of no association between assisted reproduction technology and autism spectrum disorder. Further study on the detailed information regarding the processes and methods of assisted reproduction technology may provide us with more information on the association between assisted reproduction technology and autism spectrum disorder.


Autism ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 136236132096507
Author(s):  
Amy Niego ◽  
Antonio Benítez-Burraco

Autism spectrum disorders and Williams syndrome exhibit quite opposite features in the social domain, but also share some common underlying behavioral and cognitive deficits. It is not clear, however, which genes account for the attested differences (and similarities) in the socio-cognitive domain. In this article, we adopted a comparative molecular approach and looked for genes that might be differentially (or similarly) regulated in the blood of subjects with these two conditions. We found a significant overlap between differentially expressed genes compared to neurotypical controls, with most of them exhibiting a similar trend in both conditions, but with genes being more dysregulated in Williams syndrome than in autism spectrum disorders. These genes are involved in aspects of brain development and function (particularly dendritogenesis) and are expressed in brain areas (particularly the cerebellum, the thalamus, and the striatum) of relevance for the autism spectrum disorder and the Williams syndrome etiopathogenesis. Lay abstract Autism spectrum disorders and Williams syndrome are complex cognitive conditions exhibiting quite opposite features in the social domain: whereas people with autism spectrum disorders are mostly hyposocial, subjects with Williams syndrome are usually reported as hypersocial. At the same time, autism spectrum disorders and Williams syndrome share some common underlying behavioral and cognitive deficits. It is not clear, however, which genes account for the attested differences (and similarities) in the socio-cognitive domain. In this article, we adopted a comparative molecular approach and looked for genes that might be differentially (or similarly) regulated in the blood of people with these conditions. We found a significant overlap between genes dysregulated in the blood of patients compared to neurotypical controls, with most of them being upregulated or, in some cases, downregulated. Still, genes with similar expression trends can exhibit quantitative differences between conditions, with most of them being more dysregulated in Williams syndrome than in autism spectrum disorders. Differentially expressed genes are involved in aspects of brain development and function (particularly dendritogenesis) and are expressed in brain areas (particularly the cerebellum, the thalamus, and the striatum) of relevance for the autism spectrum disorder and the Williams syndrome etiopathogenesis. Overall, these genes emerge as promising candidates for the similarities and differences between the autism spectrum disorder and the Williams syndrome socio-cognitive profiles.


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