Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Stephanie Petty, Amelie Trickett, Kyra Thompson, Rebeka Garbutt, Mollie Saunders
Summary: Autistic adults have a higher likelihood of experiencing anxiety and depression compared to their non-autistic peers. Clinicians need to better understand the emotional distress of autistic individuals and provide appropriate therapeutic interventions. A small sample study found that unexpected and overwhelming emotions in autistic patients were caused by fear of the unknown, loss of control, sensory demands, injustices, and everyday stressors. Autistic patients cope with these emotions by withdrawing and seeking practical help to remove the causes of distress.
CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Victoria Foglia, Hasan Siddiqui, Zainab Khan, Stephanie Liang, M. D. Rutherford
Summary: The study found an association between biological motion perception and IQ among individuals with ASD, but not among typical observers. Particularly, when the task required emotion perception, there was an even stronger relationship between IQ and performance in the ASD group.
JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
(2022)
Article
Immunology
L. S. Hansson, J. Lasselin, A. Tognetti, J. Axelsson, M. J. Olsson, T. Sundelin, M. Lekander
Summary: This study investigated whether humans can identify sick individuals based solely on biological motion and posture. The results showed that humans were able to identify sick individuals above chance by observing video clips and point-light displays, and rated sick individuals as having worse health. Furthermore, inflammation-induced increase in rigidity and slower walking predicted both sickness detection and worse apparent health. These findings suggest that biological motion can serve as a sickness cue, enabling humans to identify sick conspecifics and avoid disease.
BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Xudong Zhao, Binglei Zhao, Wenrui Li, Yang Cai, Wendian Shi, Chunbo Li
Summary: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit an amplified response to stressors, with gender influencing stress responses. Autistic traits (ATs) and gender may regulate emotional changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that the pandemic reduced positive emotions and heightened fear and anger, particularly among individuals with higher ATs and females compared to those with lower ATs and males.
CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Rehabilitation
Kristie K. Patten
Summary: Building lives based on strengths rather than weaknesses is crucial for meeting the changing needs of society. Shifting from deficits-based approaches to strengths-based models will help promote flourishing in individuals and communities.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
(2022)
Review
Nutrition & Dietetics
Seda Onal, Monika Sachadyn-Krol, Malgorzata Kostecka
Summary: A narrative review was conducted to determine whether nutrition and specific diets can alter gastrointestinal symptoms and neurobehavioral disorders in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the review found a lack of conclusive scientific data on the effectiveness of therapeutic diets for ASD, leading to no definitive recommendations for specific nutritional therapy. An individualized dietary approach and the involvement of dieticians are important for ASD therapy.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Francesca Bertacchini, Francesco Demarco, Carmelo Scuro, Pietro Pantano, Eleonora Bilotta
Summary: Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDDs) pose a significant burden on families and society, but technology, including AI and digital technologies, offers potential solutions for assessment, monitoring, and treatment. However, more research is needed to determine the effectiveness and feasibility of these technologies in NDDs and address implementation challenges.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Martin Schulte-Ruether, Tomas Kulvicius, Sanna Stroth, Nicole Wolff, Veit Roessner, Peter B. Marschik, Inge Kamp-Becker, Luise Poustka
Summary: The author used machine learning techniques to predict differential diagnosis between Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other disorders (such as anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder) using ADOS data. The results showed that the model had good sensitivity and specificity, and was able to make more accurate diagnoses for individuals with milder symptoms.
JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Liliana Dell'Osso, Giulia Amatori, Barbara Carpita, Gabriele Massimetti, Benedetta Nardi, Davide Gravina, Francesca Benedetti, Chiara Bonelli, Danila Casagrande, Mario Luciano, Isabella Berardelli, Natascia Brondino, Marianna De Gregorio, Giacomo Deste, Marta Nola, Antonino Reitano, Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello, Maurizio Pompili, Pierluigi Politi, Antonio Vita, Mario Maj
Summary: Several studies have found a correlation between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and catatonia, both of which are also associated with mood disorders. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between autistic traits and catatonic symptoms, as well as the potential mediating role of mood disorder spectrum. The results showed strong positive correlations, with the strongest coefficient observed between AdAS Spectrum total score and CS total score. Mediation analysis revealed that the mood disorder spectrum had a significant indirect effect on the relationship between autistic traits and catatonic symptoms.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Dzmitry A. Kaliukhovich, Nikolay V. Manyakov, Abigail Bangerter, Seth Ness, Andrew Skalkin, Matthew Boice, Matthew S. Goodwin, Geraldine Dawson, Robert Hendren, Bennett Leventhal, Frederick Shic, Gahan Pandina
Summary: The study found that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) differ from typically developing individuals in multiple properties of eye movements and biological motion preference. Participants with ASD spent less overall time looking at presented stimuli and showed less preference for biological motion. Additionally, individuals with ASD had greater average latencies of the first fixation on both biological and non-biological motion compared to typically developing participants.
JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Nathan C. C. Foster, Simon J. J. Bennett, Kiri Pullar, Joe Causer, Cristina Becchio, Daniel P. P. Clowes, Spencer J. J. Hayes
Summary: Observing and imitating biological kinematics is essential for acquiring new motor skills, and differences in imitation abilities in autism may be related to sensorimotor processing. A study found that autistic participants were able to imitate observed movements accurately, suggesting that lower-level perception-action processes are operational in autism. However, imitation difficulties in autism may be attributed to sensorimotor integration issues during motor execution.
Article
Psychiatry
Hirokazu Kumazaki, Taro Muramatsu, Yuichiro Yoshikawa, Yoshio Matsumoto, Masaki Kuwata, Keiji Takata, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Masaru Mimura
Summary: This study investigated whether individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) found it easier to talk to an android robot with little motion or one with much motion. The results showed that sensory sensitivity and sensation seeking scores were related to participants' comfort in an interview setting with an android robot.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Review
Psychiatry
V Nezgovorova, C. J. Ferretti, B. P. Taylor, E. Shanahan, G. Uzunova, K. Hong, O. Devinsky, E. Hollander
Summary: Current treatments for ASD are limited in efficacy, leading to the need for novel experimental therapeutics. The endocannabinoid system may play a role in the pathogenesis of ASD, making phytocannabinoids a potential effective treatment for core symptoms.
JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Saijun Huang, Xin Wang, Tao Sun, Hong Yu, Yanwei Liao, Muqing Cao, Li Cai, Xiuhong Li, Lizi Lin, Xi Su, Jin Jing
Summary: Previous studies have shown that exclusive breastfeeding is associated with lower odds of having ASD in children. This cross-sectional study conducted in seven cities in China found that toddlers with partial breastfeeding or without breastfeeding had higher odds of having ASD compared to those with exclusive breastfeeding.
Article
Microbiology
Amanda H. Dilmore, Daniel McDonald, Tanya T. Nguyen, James B. Adams, Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, Emmanuel Elijah, Pieter C. Dorrestein, Rob Knight
Summary: This study characterized the gut microbiome and metabolome in PTHS individuals and their unaffected parents, revealing a higher load of Clostridium bolteae in PTHS individuals compared to their parents and other individuals. The findings suggest a microbial involvement in PTHS, with specific metabolites associated with the condition also found in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and obesity.
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Lars Dietmar Hestermann, Johan Wagemans, Ralf T. Krampe
Summary: This study investigates whether the run and gap principles can explain participants' perceived start of complex rhythmic patterns, and examines the role of participants' musical training. The results show that the run and gap principles are useful grouping principles, but not as successful in predicting the perceived start of rhythmic patterns compared to previous studies.
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Elena M. Bonke, Amanda Clauwaert, Stefan M. Hillmann, Uta Tacke, Caroline Seer, Eukyung Yhang, Yorghos Tripodis, Stian B. Sandmo, Tim L. T. Wiegand, David Kaufmann, Elisabeth Kaufmann, Sutton B. Richmond, Malo Gaubert, Johanna Seitz-Holland, Alexander Leemans, Stephan P. Swinnen, Roald Bahr, Ofer Pasternak, Florian Heinen, Inga K. Koerte, Michaela V. Bonfert, Jolien Gooijers
Summary: This study investigates the relationship between neurological soft signs (NSS) and postural control in adolescent athletes, and suggests that force plate measures can provide relevant quantitative information in addition to qualitative assessments.
JOURNAL OF THE NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Geraldine Rodriguez-Nieto, Oron Levin, Lize Hermans, Akila Weerasekera, Anca Croitor Sava, Astrid Haghebaert, Astrid Huybrechts, Koen Cuypers, Dante Mantini, Uwe Himmelreich, Stephan P. Swinnen
Summary: Aging is associated with structural and metabolic changes in the brain. Previous research has focused on individual brain regions, but the relationship among metabolites across the brain has been less studied. Using 1H-MRS, this study investigated the relationship among metabolite concentrations in different brain regions in young and older adults. The results showed age-related differences in metabolite concentrations and revealed associative patterns between metabolites across brain regions, which differed between age groups.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Eric Cito Becman, Larissa Driemeier, Oron Levin, Stephan Swinnen, Arturo Forner-Cordero
Summary: This study investigates the impact of training and testing condition differences on the predictions of a convolutional neural network (CNN) for myoelectric simultaneous and proportional control (SPC). A dataset of electromyogram (EMG) signals and joint angular accelerations recorded during a star drawing task was utilized. CNNs were trained using specific combinations of motion amplitude and frequency and tested under different combinations. The predictive performance was evaluated using normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE), correlation, and linear regression slope. The results showed that the predictive performance declined differently depending on the increase or decrease of confounding factors. Correlation decreased as the factors decreased, while slope deteriorated when the factors increased. NRMSE worsened in both increasing and decreasing factor scenarios. The study suggests that differences in EMG signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between training and testing may affect the noise robustness of the CNNs' learned internal features, leading to worse correlations. Additionally, the inability of the networks to predict accelerations outside the training range may contribute to slope deterioration. These findings provide opportunities for developing strategies to mitigate the negative impact of confounding factors on myoelectric SPC devices.
IEEE JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH INFORMATICS
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Laurie-Anne Sapey-Triomphe, Joke Dierckx, Sofie Vettori, Jaana van Overwalle, Johan Wagemans
Summary: This study aimed to better understand the visual sensitivity and responsivity in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at self-reported, behavioral, and neural levels, and to explore their relationships. The results showed that autistic participants had higher scores of sensory sensitivity and responsivity at the self-reported level and exhibited different sensitivity thresholds at the behavioral level. However, there were no group differences in neural assessment of detection thresholds. These findings suggest that sensitivity and responsivity in ASD are not simply increased but may be influenced by other factors such as environmental predictability. Multi-level approaches can provide insights into the mechanisms underlying sensory issues in ASD.
Article
Neurosciences
Gabrielle Aude Zbaren, Sarah Nadine Meissner, Manu Kapur, Nicole Wenderoth
Summary: This study used fMRI to reveal that humans engage in visual imagery when making physical predictions, and that the frontoparietal areas of the brain are involved in this process.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Matthijs Moerkerke, Nicky Daniels, Stephanie Van Der Donck, Laura Tibermont, Tiffany Tang, Edward Debbaut, Annelies Bamps, Jellina Prinsen, Jean Steyaert, Kaat Alaerts, Bart Boets
Summary: This study used frequency-tagging electroencephalography to investigate the impact of repeated oxytocin administration on neural sensitivity towards facial expressions in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The results showed that children with ASD had reduced neural sensitivity towards expressions, and while the placebo group showed increased sensitivity after nasal spray administration, the oxytocin group did not. These findings suggest that repeated oxytocin administration may dampen the learning effects of neural sensitivity.
JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Sanne Broeder, Britt Vandendoorent, Pauline Hermans, Evelien Nackaerts, Geert Verheyden, Raf Meesen, Jean-Jacques Orban de Xivry, Alice Nieuwboer
Summary: This study investigated the effects of combining writing training with anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (atDCS) on consolidation of writing skills in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. The results showed that atDCS improved retention of writing skills compared to sham stimulation, especially in the presence of medication.
JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ophthalmology
Claudia Damiano, Pinaki Gayen, Morteza Rezanejad, Archi Banerjee, Gobinda Banik, Priyadarshi Patnaik, Johan Wagemans, Dirk B. Walther
Summary: Visual abstract art uses color and form to convey feelings and emotions. This study examined how artists and non-artists express basic emotions through abstract art. The results showed that both groups were able to accurately depict emotions using color and lines, with non-artists performing better than artists.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Nicky Daniels, Matthijs Moerkerke, Jean Steyaert, Annelies Bamps, Edward Debbaut, Jellina Prinsen, Tiffany Tang, Stephanie Van der Donck, Bart Boets, Kaat Alaerts
Summary: This study examined the efficacy of multiple-dose oxytocin administration in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The results showed that both the oxytocin and placebo groups experienced improvements in social responsiveness, but these improvements were not specifically related to oxytocin administration. Interestingly, participants who initially received placebo and later switched to oxytocin showed significant improvement in social responsiveness. Furthermore, children who received psychosocial trainings along with oxytocin administration demonstrated a more pronounced improvement.
Article
Psychology
Elisabeth van der Hulst, Elle van Heusden, Johan Wagemans, Pieter Moors
Summary: The influence of proximity and luminance similarity on perceptual grouping can interact additively, resulting in their effects being summed to predict an observer's perception. However, individual observers may show different grouping preferences for proximity and luminance similarity, and the additivity may depend on the relative strength of the grouping cues.
ATTENTION PERCEPTION & PSYCHOPHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Stephanie Huwiler, Manuel Carro-Dominguez, Fabia M. Stich, Rossella Sala, Florent Aziri, Anna Trippel, Tabea Ryf, Susanne Markendorf, David Niederseer, Philipp Bohm, Gloria Stoll, Lily Laubscher, Jeivicaa Thevan, Christina M. Spengler, Joanna Gawinecka, Elena Osto, Reto Huber, Nicole Wenderoth, Christian Schmied, Caroline Lustenberger
EUROPEAN HEART JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Psychology
Eline Van Geert, Johan Wagemans
Summary: Earlier research found that perceived differences between stimuli in the same category are smaller than differences between stimuli in different categories, even when the physical dissimilarity is the same. This can be explained by the existence of reference points, which serve as points of comparison. The strength of these reference points influences categorization and discrimination performance.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-HUMAN PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Weronika Potok, Onno van der Groen, Sahana Sivachelvam, Marc Bachinger, Flavio Frohlich, Laszlo B. B. Kish, Nicole Wenderoth
Summary: Stochastic resonance refers to the phenomenon where the transmission of signals in a nonlinear system is enhanced by the presence of additive noise. In the nervous system, nonlinear properties exist at different levels and seem to contribute to stochastic resonance. This study demonstrates that high-frequency, deterministic, periodic signals can yield resonance-like effects and improve visual contrast detection, suggesting that similar mechanisms can emerge when deterministic electrical waveforms are applied.
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Nele De Bruyn, Anna K. Bonkhoff, Leen Saenen, Liselot Thijs, Bea Essers, Kaat Alaerts, Geert Verheyden
Summary: This study investigated the altered dynamic functional connectivity associated with somatosensory impairments in the early sub-acute phase post-stroke. The results showed that stroke patients spent less time in a weakly connected network state and had shorter but more time intervals in a highly connected intra-domain network state compared to healthy controls. After 8 weeks of therapy, improvements in wrist proprioception were moderately associated with decreases in dwell and fraction times toward a more normalized pattern.
NEUROREHABILITATION AND NEURAL REPAIR
(2023)
