Sensitivity to temporal synchrony and selective attention in audiovisual speech in infants at elevated likelihood for autism: A preliminary longitudinal study.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a highly heritable condition characterized by sociocommunicative difficulties, frequently entailing language atypicalities that extend to infants with a familial history of autism. The developmental mechanisms underlying these difficulties remain unknown. Detecting temporal synchrony between the lip movements and the auditory speech of a talking face and selectively attending to the mouth support typical early language acquisition. This preliminary eye-tracking study investigated whether these two fundamental mechanisms atypically function in infant siblings. We longitudinally tracked the trajectories of infants at elevated and low-likelihood for autism in these two abilities at 4, 8, and 12 months (n = 29). We presented two talking faces (synchronous and asynchronous) while recording infants' gaze to the talker's eyes and mouth. We found that infants detected temporal asynchronies in talking faces at 12 months regardless of group. However, compared to their typically developing peers, infants with an elevated likelihood of autism showed reduced attention to the mouth at the end of the first year and no variations in their interest to this area across time. Our findings provide preliminary evidence on a potentially atypical trajectory of reduced mouth-looking in audiovisual speech during the first year in infant siblings, with potential cascading consequences for language development, thus contributing to domain-general accounts of emerging autism.

Linfagitis superficial reactiva a insecto: un camino por la vía linfática / Insect-reactive superficial lymphangitis: a walk through the lymphatic pathwa

La linfangitis superficial aguda reactiva a picadura de insecto es una entidad poco descrita en la literatura. Se caracteriza por una inflamación de los conductos linfáticos debido a las toxinas inoculadas por el insecto. Se presenta como una lesión eritematosa ovalada en la zona de la picadura, que se extiende de manera lineal siguiendo el trayecto de un vaso linfático. El diagnóstico es clínico y el tratamiento sintomático. Es importante descartar la etiología infecciosa que puede confundirse con esta patología y cursar con elevada gravedad. Presentamos el caso de una paciente de 69 años, sin antecedentes personales de interés ni alergias conocidas, que acude a consulta por una lesión eritematosa, lineal y pruriginosa que por la anamnesis y la exploración podría ser una linfangitis aguda reactiva a insecto.(AU)

Acute superficial lymphangitis after insect bite is an entity little reported in the literature. This is characterized by an inflammation of the lymphatic ducts due to toxins inoculated by the insect. It presents as an oval erythematous lesion in the bite area, which extends in a linear manner along the path of a lymphatic vessel. Diagnosis is clinical and treatment is symptomatic. It is important to rule out the infectious etiology that can be confused with this pathology and be very serious. We report the case of a 69-year-old patient with no relevant personal history of interest or known allergies, who came to the clinic with an erythematous, linear and pruritic lesion that, based on the history and examination, could correspond to acute insect-reactive lymphangitis.(AU)

Validity of Self-Reports Provided by People With Autism Spectrum Disorder Without Intellectual Disability: A Meta-Analysis / Validez de los Autoinformes Proporcionados por Personas con Trastorno del Espectro del Autismosin Discapacidad Intelectual: Un Meta-Análisis

Antecedentes: La literatura recoge que en las personas con Trastorno del Espectro del Autismo sin discapacidad intelectual (TEA-noDI) concurren frecuentemente problemas clínicos que predicen peor ajuste en su vida adulta y reducen su calidad de vida (CdV). Estudios previos plantean dudas sobre la capacidad de estas personas para reconocer y comunicar estos problemas, pero esta cuestión, aunque relevante, no se ha revisado sistemáticamente. Método: Se realizó un meta-análisis sobre 32 estudios (1422 pares de participantes) para evaluar hasta qué punto los autoinformes aportados por personas con TEA-noDI coinciden con los aportados por sus padres. Los artículos se categorizaron en función de los dominios evaluados y el método. Resultados: Se encontraron diferencias significativas entre auto- y hetero-informes en los dominios de Depresión, CdV y Habilidades sociales (d = 0.406; -0.399 y -0.683, respectivamente), pero no en Ansiedad y Ansiedad social. El grado de acuerdo medio entre ambos grupos de evaluaciones fue r = .40. Conclusiones: Los autoinformes y los hetero-informes no proporcionan resultados intercambiables, pero no se puede atribuir a estas personas una incapacidad general para aportar autoinformes válidos. Se necesitan análisis más profundos que permitan optimizar el uso de autoinformes en esta población tanto con fines clínicos como de investigación.(AU)

Background: Literature collects that people with Autism Spectrum Disorderwithout Intellectual Disability (ASD-noID) frequently suffer co-occurring clinical problems that predict poorer adult outcomeand reduce quality of life (QoL). Previous studies pose doubts about their capacity to recognize and communicate these problems, but that is an issue that, although relevant, has not yet been systematically revised. Method: A meta-analysis on 32 studies (1422 pairs of participants) was carried out to assess to what extent self-reports provided by people with ASD-noID match those provided by their parents. The articles were categorized according to the domains assessed and method. Results: Significant differences between self-and hetero-reports were found in the domains of Depression, QoL and Social skills (d= .406; -.399 and -.683,respectively), but not in Anxiety and Social anxiety. The average degree of agreement between both groups of reports was r= .40. Conclusions: Self-and hetero-reports do not provide interchangeable results on the problems of people with ASD-noID. However, a general inability to validate self-reporting cannot be attributed to them. Deeper analysis is necessary to allow to optimize the use of self-reports in this population with both clinical and research purposes.(AU)

Visual object naming in patients with small lesions centered at the left temporopolar region.

Naming is considered a left hemisphere function that operates according to a posterior-anterior specificity gradient, with more fine-grained information processed in most anterior regions of the temporal lobe (ATL), including the temporal pole (TP). Word finding difficulties are typically assessed using visual confrontation naming tasks, and have been associated with selective damage to ATL resulting from different aetiologies. Nonetheless, the role of the ATL and, more specifically, of the TP in the naming network is not completely established. Most of the accumulated evidence is based on studies on patients with extensive lesions, often bilateral. Furthermore, there is a considerable variability in the anatomical definition of ATL. To better understand the specific involvement of the left TP in visual object naming, we assessed a group of patients with an epileptogenic lesion centered at the TP, and compared their performance with that of a strictly matched control group. We also administered a battery of verbal and non-verbal semantic tasks that was used as a semantic memory baseline. Patients showed an impaired naming ability, manifesting in a certain degree of anomia and semantically related naming errors, which was influenced by concept familiarity. This pattern took place in a context of mild semantic dysfunction that was evident in different types and modalities of semantic tasks. Therefore, current findings demonstrate that a restricted lesion to the left TP can cause a significant deficit in object naming. Of importance, the observed semantic impairment was far from the devastating degradation observed in semantic dementia and other bilateral conditions.

Time-varying effective connectivity during visual object naming as a function of semantic demands.

Accumulating evidence suggests that visual object understanding involves a rapid feedforward sweep, after which subsequent recurrent interactions are necessary. The extent to which recurrence plays a critical role in object processing remains to be determined. Recent studies have demonstrated that recurrent processing is modulated by increasing semantic demands. Differentially from previous studies, we used dynamic causal modeling to model neural activity recorded with magnetoencephalography while 14 healthy humans named two sets of visual objects that differed in the degree of semantic accessing demands, operationalized in terms of the values of basic psycholinguistic variables associated with the presented objects (age of acquisition, frequency, and familiarity). This approach allowed us to estimate the directionality of the causal interactions among brain regions and their associated connectivity strengths. Furthermore, to understand the dynamic nature of connectivity (i.e., the chronnectome; Calhoun et al., 2014) we explored the time-dependent changes of effective connectivity during a period (200-400 ms) where adding semantic-feature information improves modeling and classifying visual objects, at 50 ms increments. First, we observed a graded involvement of backward connections, that became active beyond 200 ms. Second, we found that semantic demands caused a suppressive effect in the backward connection from inferior frontal cortex (IFC) to occipitotemporal cortex over time. These results complement those from previous studies underscoring the role of IFC as a common source of top-down modulation, which drives recurrent interactions with more posterior regions during visual object recognition. Crucially, our study revealed the inhibitory modulation of this interaction in situations that place greater demands on the conceptual system.

Supporting people with Autism Spectrum Dis. in leisure time: Impact of an Univ. Vol. Program, and rel. factors / Apoyos en ocio para personas con Trastorno de Espectro Autista: Impacto de un Programa de Voluntariado y factores relacionados

Social participation has positive effects on mental and physical health, and it can be taken as an indicator of quality of life. However, the participation of people with disabilities in their communities is still scarce, especially for people with autism. The impact on individual satisfaction produced by a university volunteer program (APUNTATE) aimed at supporting people with autism in leisure activities was evaluated. A questionnaire of impact assessment, that identifies those areas where the impact is greater, was completed by 159 families of users and 230 volunteers. Users and volunteers reported a very high level of satisfaction with the program, but personal characteristics of users slightly influenced the scores. The structured organization of the program, and the continued training and support received by volunteers were the highest valued aspects. The adaptation of supports to the individual needs of users and volunteers was another relevant factor to explain the results. The evaluation obtained shows that volunteering programs to promote the participation of people with ASD can be successfully implemented in public universities. These programs can increase the personal development, facilitatea change of attitude towards people with disabilities and can improvefuture employment prospects of students

La participación social tiene efectos positivos en salud mental y física, y puede tomarse como un indicador de calidad de vida. Sin embargo, la participación de personas con discapacidad en su comunidad es aún escasa, especialmente para las personas con autismo. En este trabajo evaluamos el grado de satisfacción con un programa de voluntariado universitario dirigido a personas con autismo para apoyar actividades de ocio y tiempo libre (APUNTATE).Un total de 159 usuarios y 230 voluntarios cumplimentaron un cuestionario de satisfacción que identificó las áreas en las que el programa tenía más impacto. Los resultados mostraron una alta satisfacción general tanto en usuarios como en voluntarios, aunque algunas características personales de los usuarios generaron leves diferencias. Los aspectos más valorados fueron la organización del programa, la formación y tutorización continua que se ofrecía a los voluntarios. Otra característica del programa, ampliamente valorada, fue la capacidad de éste de adaptar los apoyos a las necesidades individuales de usuarios y voluntarios. Este trabajo pone de manifiesto que la universidad pública puede implementar con éxito programas de apoyos para promover la participación social. Estos programas pueden favorecen el desarrollo personal, favorecer el cambio de actitudes hacia las personas con discapacidad y mejorar las perspectivas de empleo de los estudiantes

Anterobasal temporal lobe lesions alter recurrent functional connectivity within the ventral pathway during naming.

An increasing amount of evidence supports a crucial role for the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) in semantic processing. Critically, a selective disruption of the functional connectivity between left and right ATLs in patients with chronic aphasic stroke has been illustrated. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the consequences that lesions on the ATL have on the neurocognitive network supporting semantic cognition. Unlike previous work, in this magnetoencephalography study we selected a group of patients with small lesions centered on the left anteroventral temporal lobe before surgery. We then used an effective connectivity method (i.e., dynamic causal modeling) to investigate the consequences that these lesions have on the functional interactions within the network. This approach allowed us to evaluate the directionality of the causal interactions among brain regions and their associated connectivity strengths. Behaviorally, we found that semantic processing was altered when patients were compared with a strictly matched group of controls. Dynamic causal modeling for event related responses revealed that picture naming was associated with a bilateral frontotemporal network, encompassing feedforward and feedback connections. Comparison of specific network parameters between groups revealed that patients displayed selective network adjustments. Specifically, backward connectivity from anterior to posterior temporal lobe was decreased in the ipsilesional hemisphere, whereas it was enhanced in the contralesional hemisphere. These results reinforce the relevance of ATL in semantic memory, as well as its amodal organization, and highlight the role of feedback connections in enabling the integration of the semantic information.

Autism and family home movies: a comprehensive review.

In this article, we focus on the early development of autism studied through family home movies. We review all investigations published in English that met specific methodological standards, including the use of comparison samples, coding blind to group membership, and adequate levels of interrater reliability. After discussing in detail the pros and cons of the home-movie methodology, we review the results of all empirical studies conducted to date. We then present a summary of the features found consistently across studies that differentiate autism from typical development and mental retardation in the first 2 years of life. How family home movies can contribute to our understanding of the regression phenomenon is also addressed. Finally, the results are interpreted from both a theoretical and clinical point of view.