Therapy For Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Articles

Symptom dimensions of resting-state electroencephalographic functional connectivity in autism.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social and communication deficits (SCDs), restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) and fixated interests. Despite its prevalence, development of effective therapy for ASD is hindered by its symptomatic and neurophysiological heterogeneities. To comprehensively explore these heterogeneities, we developed a new analytical framework combining contrastive learning and sparse canonical correlation analysis that identifies symptom-linked resting-state electroencephalographic connectivity dimensions within 392 ASD samples. We present two dimensions with multivariate connectivity basis exhibiting significant correlations with SCD and RRB, confirm their robustness through cross-validation and demonstrate their conceptual generalizability using an independent dataset (n = 222). Specifically, the right inferior parietal lobe is the core region for RRB, while connectivity between the left angular gyrus and the right middle temporal gyrus show key contribution to SCD. These findings provide a promising avenue to parse ASD heterogeneity with high clinical translatability, paving the way for ASD treatment development and precision medicine.

Meta-analysis of the efficacy of camel milk consumption for improving autism symptoms in children in randomized clinical trials.

Camel milk has emerged as a potential complementary therapy for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aimed to gather evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effectiveness of camel milk consumption in improving symptoms and associated measures in children with ASD. Comprehensive searches of multiple databases were conducted up to March 14, 2024, for RCTs that evaluated whether camel milk consumption by children with ASD was more beneficial than the consumption of a control substance. Quality and bias analyses and meta-anlaysis data were synthesized and analyzed. Of 136 records identified, 5 RCTs (n = 299 children) were selected. The mean difference in scores on the childhood autism rating scale (CARS) for the group given camel milk and the control groups was a mean deviation (MD) ‒0.75, 95% CI‒1.97 to 0.47, p = 0.23. The mean difference in CARS scores in the subgroup analyses for raw camel milk was MD‒0.95, 95% CI‒2.33 to 0.44, p = 0.18 and boiled camel milk MD ‒0.50, 95% CI‒1.93 to 0.93, p = 0.49. A qualitative synthesis found that raw camel milk intake led to improvements in various social behaviors in children with ASD. Camel milk consumption resulted in increased levels of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory biomarkers, with some differences observed between patients given raw camel milk and boiled camel milk. Camel milk shows promise in improving social behaviors and certain biochemical markers in children with ASD, although the current meta-analysis did not document a significant statistical difference in CARS scores for the children studied. Future studies should focus on rigorous RCTs and larger sample sizes to substantiate these preliminary findings.

Applied-behavioural analysis therapy for autism spectrum disorder students through virtual reality

Applied-behavioural analysis therapy for autism spectrum disorder students through virtual reality

Advances in Autism: a bibliometric analysis.

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of AI treatment research for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from 2007 to 2023, focusing on global contributions across countries, institutions, authors, and keywords. The United States leads with 164 documents and 4988 citations, highlighting its central role in advancing AI technologies for ASD therapies, followed by significant contributions from China (90 documents, 1190 citations) and India (65 documents, 564 citations). Institutions like Stanford University and McGill University demonstrate substantial research output, while authors such as Dennis Wall are prominent with contributions that make diagnosing Autism much more efficient with the use of AI. Keywords like "Machine learning", "Autism spectrum disorder", and "Children" dominate, reflecting ongoing efforts to leverage technology for ASD interventions. Overall, this analysis underscores a dynamic global effort to enhance ASD treatment methodologies through collaborative research and technological innovations.

Nutritional medical therapy in autism spectrum disorder

Objectives. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of commonly used nutritional medical therapies in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method. The study explores the intricate relationship between ASD and nutritional medical therapy. Individuals with ASD often exhibit compromised gastrointestinal (GI) health, including issues with intestinal motility, adverse reactions to certain foods, and nutrient absorption deficiencies. These problems may be caused or exacerbated by restrictive eating behaviors, food preferences, and nutritional deficiencies. Those with GI conditions often display heightened behavioral deficits and imbalances in the overall composition of the intestinal microbiome. Results. The research underscores the importance of an individually tailored approach, considering the diverse nutritional needs and unique preferences of individuals with ASD. Analysis of current studies highlights the potential impact of personalized diets on the quality of life within the complex context of GI conditions associated with ASD. The benefits of current nutritional therapies are summarized, and the mixed results in addressing ASD are analyzed. Gluten-free and casein-free diets, the ketogenic diet, supplementation with fatty acids, and the use of pre-/probiotics demonstrate improvements in managing GI and behavioral symptoms associated with ASD. Customizing the diet is recommended as a multidisciplinary approach, given the complexity of GI-related conditions within the ASD diagnosis and their association with behavioral and neurological deficits. The significance of the results lies in supporting a personalized approach in managing specific ASD symptoms, with a focus on individual nutritional needs. Conclusions. Managing ASD symptoms requires a personalized approach, considering individual nutritional needs, food preferences, and different clinical manifestations.

Efectividad del uso de Terapias Complementarias sobre parámetros de la comunicación social en niños con Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA)

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized mainly by deficits in communication and social interaction, being a barrier for these people when relating to their social and/or family environment. Among the best-known therapies to treat this disorder, conventional therapies stand out (i.e. cognitive-behavioral therapy and pharmacological therapy) and complementary therapies that are becoming increasingly prevalent among the population.Objective: Analize the effectiveness of complementary therapies in the communication of children with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Methodology: narrative review study, a literature search was carried out based on alternative therapies for ASD: "animal assisted therapy" (TAA) and "music therapy". The search was carried out in SCOPUS, EBSCO and PUBMED. A total of 228 articles were found, of which 8 studies (n in the 8 studies = 569) met the search criteria.Results: five music therapy studies (n in the 5 studies=481) and three TAA studies (n in the 3 studies = 88) were found. Music therapy and TAA are the most frequently mentioned therapies in the literature, the latter being the one that has reported more and greater benefits from a qualitative perspective, mainly by caregivers of children with ASD. Some of the outstanding behaviors are: the increase in soft skills, improvement in communication and social interaction, and decrease in disruptive behaviors.Conclusion: Of the eight studies that were analyzed, five of them reported significant benefits under a clinical qualitative criterion and by the families of the user who was participating in these therapies. Three of the music therapy studies did not show changes in the communication of the users, while one study highlighted the user-therapist relationship as a determining factor in the success or failure of the therapy.

On effectively predicting autism spectrum disorder therapy using an ensemble of classifiers

An ensemble of classifiers combines several single classifiers to deliver a final prediction or classification decision. An increasingly provoking question is whether such an ensemble can outperform the single best classifier. If so, what form of ensemble learning system (also known as multiple classifier learning systems) yields the most significant benefits in the size or diversity of the ensemble? In this paper, the ability of ensemble learning to predict and identify factors that influence or contribute to autism spectrum disorder therapy (ASDT) for intervention purposes is investigated. Given that most interventions are typically short-term in nature, henceforth, developing a robotic system that will provide the best outcome and measurement of ASDT therapy has never been so critical. In this paper, the performance of five single classifiers against several multiple classifier learning systems in exploring and predicting ASDT is investigated using a dataset of behavioural data and robot-enhanced therapy against standard human treatment based on 3000 sessions and 300 h, recorded from 61 autistic children. Experimental results show statistically significant differences in performance among the single classifiers for ASDT prediction with decision trees as the more accurate classifier. The results further show multiple classifier learning systems (MCLS) achieving better performance for ASDT prediction (especially those ensembles with three core classifiers). Additionally, the results show bagging and boosting ensemble learning as robust when predicting ASDT with multi-stage design as the most dominant architecture. It also appears that eye contact and social interaction are the most critical contributing factors to the ASDT problem among children.

Efficacy of nonpharmacological interventions targeting social function in children and adults with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This paper aimed to evaluate the use of nonpharmacological interventions for the management of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The effects of acupuncture and behavioural therapy, two nonpharmalogical interventions, on social function in ASD patients are still controversial. This meta-analysis investigated the impact of these two treatments and compared their effects. Seven electronic databases were systematically searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the use of acupuncture or behavioural therapy for ASD. A meta-analysis was carried out using Review Manager 5.4 software. Continuous data are reported as mean differences (MDs) or standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). An assessment of methodological quality using the Cochrane risk-of-bias (ROB) tool for trials was carried out. The Grading of Recommendation Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) was applied to evaluate the quality (certainty) of evidence for results regarding social function indicators. Thirty RCTs on acupuncture and 36 on behavioural therapy were included. Compared with the control condition, body acupuncture (SMD: 0.76, 95% CI: [0.52, 1.01]; low certainty), modern acupuncture technology (SMD: 0.84, 95% CI: [0.32, 1.35]; low certainty), cognitive behavioural therapy (SMD: 0.42, 95% CI: [0.26, 0.58]; high certainty), the Denver model (SMD: 0.61, 95% CI: [0.23, 0.99]; moderate certainty) and social skills training (SMD: 0.56, 95% CI: [0.41, 0.71]; moderate certainty) improved social functioning. Behavioural therapies (such as CBT, the Denver model, social skills training), improved the social functioning of patients with ASD in the short and long term, as supported by high- and moderate-quality evidence. Acupuncture (including scalp acupuncture, body acupuncture and use of modern acupuncture technology) also improved social functioning, as supported by low- and very low-quality evidence. More high-quality evidence is needed to confirm the effect of acupoint catgut embedding and Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI).

Neurovascular crosstalk and cerebrovascular alterations: an underestimated therapeutic target in autism spectrum disorders.

Normal brain development, function, and aging critically depend on unique characteristics of the cerebrovascular system. Growing evidence indicated that cerebrovascular defects can have irreversible effects on the brain, and these defects have been implicated in various neurological disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder with heterogeneous clinical manifestations and anatomical changes. While extensive research has focused on the neural abnormalities underlying ASD, the role of brain vasculature in this disorder remains poorly understood. Indeed, the significance of cerebrovascular contributions to ASD has been consistently underestimated. In this work, we discuss the neurovascular crosstalk during embryonic development and highlight recent findings on cerebrovascular alterations in individuals with ASD. We also discuss the potential of vascular-based therapy for ASD. Collectively, these investigations demonstrate that ASD can be considered a neurovascular disease.

Neural correlates of perceptual switching and their association with empathy and alexithymia in individuals with and without autism spectrum disorder

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show limited empathy (poor recognition of others’ emotions) and high alexithymia (poor recognition of own emotions and external thinking), which can negatively impact their social functioning. Previous experimental studies suggest that alterations in cognitive flexibility play key roles in the development of these characteristics in ASD. However, the underlying neural mechanisms that link cognitive flexibility and empathy/alexithymia are still largely unknown. In this study, we examined the neural correlates of cognitive flexibility via functional magnetic resonance imaging during perceptual task-switching in typical development (TD) adults and adults with ASD. We also investigated associations between regional neural activity and psychometric empathy and alexithymia scores among these populations. In the TD group, stronger activation of the left middle frontal gyrus was associated with better perceptual switching and greater empathic concern. Among individuals with ASD, stronger activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus was associated with better perceptual switching, greater empathy, and lower alexithymia. These findings will contribute to develop a better understanding of social cognition, and could be informative for the development of new ASD therapies.

Research status and prospects of acupuncture for autism spectrum disorders.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder and has a predilection for children. Its symptoms, such as lifelong social communication deficits and repetitive sensory-motor behaviors, put a huge burden on the patient's family and society. Currently, there is no cure for ASD, and some medications that can improve its symptoms are often accompanied by adverse effects. Among many complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies, acupuncture has shown promising application potential, but after years of practice, it has not been recognized as the preferred CAM therapy for ASD. Therefore, we analyzed and discussed the clinical study reports of acupuncture in the treatment of ASD in the past 15 years from the aspects of study subjects, group setting, intervention modalities, acupoint selection, outcome evaluation, and safety. The data accumulated at present are not sufficient to support the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture in ASD and to justify its use in clinical practice. They provide, however, initial evidence of possible effectiveness and encourage further investigation in order to reach firm conclusions. Based on a comprehensive analysis, we believed that following the Standards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) and Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT), screening the optimal combination of acupoints applying a rigorous scientific study design, and performing the related functional experiments may be the effective way to convincingly test the hypothesis that acupuncture may be beneficial in ASD patients. The significance of this review is to provide a reference for researchers to carry out high-quality clinical trials of acupuncture in the treatment of ASD from the perspective of the combination of modern medicine and traditional Chinese medicine.

A Targeted, Low-Throughput Compound Screen in a Drosophila Model of Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Identifies Simvastatin and BMS-204352 as Potential Therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition for which there are no pharmacological therapies that effectively target its core symptomatology. Animal models of syndromic forms of ASD, such as neurofibromatosis type 1, may be of use in screening for such treatments. Drosophila larvae lacking Nf1 expression exhibit tactile hypersensitivity following mechanical stimulation, proposed to mirror the sensory sensitivity issues comprising part of the ASD diagnostic criteria. Such behavior is associated with synaptic dysfunction at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). Both phenotypes may thus provide tractable outputs with which to screen for potential ASD therapies. In this study, we demonstrate that, while loss of Nf1 expression within the embryo is sufficient to impair NMJ synaptic transmission in the larva, constitutive Nf1 knock-down is required to induce tactile hypersensitivity, suggesting that a compound must be administered throughout development to rescue this behavior. With such a feeding regime, we identify two compounds from a targeted, low-throughput screen that significantly and consistently reduce, but do not fully rescue, tactile hypersensitivity in Nf1P1 larvae. These are the HMG CoA-reductase inhibitor simvastatin, and the BKCa channel activator BMS-204352. At the NMJ, both compounds induce a significant reduction in the enhanced spontaneous transmission frequency of Nf1P1 larvae, though again not to the level of vehicle-treated controls. However, both compounds fully rescue the increased quantal size of Nf1P1 mutants, with simvastatin also fully rescuing their reduced quantal content. Thus, the further study of both compounds as potential ASD interventions is warranted.

Occupational therapy assessment and interventions for young autistic children in South Africa.

Occupational Therapy is among the top interventions for autistic children, hence the need for equitable and effective services in the public and private health and education sectors. Ongoing research into the therapies for autism spectrum disorders in different contexts is also required. To explore and describe occupational therapists' assessment and intervention for autistic children in South Africa. A descriptive qualitative research design using semi-structured interviews to gather data from purposively recruited OTs (n=20). Data were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically, and compared across three sectors public health, special needs schools and private practice. South African practice across all three sectors was similar to international patterns of informal play-based assessment, sensory processing and Ayres Sensory Integration (ASI®) treatment. Developmental frameworks guided specific approaches. Strong team collaboration was present across sectors, with some transdisciplinary teamwork and co-treatment. Undergraduate and postgraduate training opportunities were, however limited. Occupational therapy assessments had diagnostic value. Informal tools such as developmental checklists were found to have clinical utility, whilst standardised tools were most commonly used to assess sensory processing and visual perception. Recommendations included incorporating ASI® into undergraduate curricula and postgraduate training opportunities with multidisciplinary input to develop ASD professionals in South Africa. It is imperative to advocate for services in under-resourced rural areas and marginalised communities that lack financial and social resources. Occupational therapists need to find new ways of working collaboratively across sectors to ensure effective and comprehensive services in public health and special schools.

Research Status and Prospect Analysis of Autism Spectrum Disorders on the Basis of TMS and tDCS

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has become one of research hotspots in recent years. With the increasing number of patients, dominated by children, finding effective therapies has been under study, ranging from medication to stimulation treatments. Additionally, due to the heterogeneity of ASD symptoms, simple and universal biomarkers are also needed to be found to improve accuracy of diagnosis. This article reviews Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) with the key recording technique, Electroencephalogram (EEG), in the treatment of individuals with ASD. The author selects 10 representative research papers published on PubMed in the past 5 years for discussion. The author separately analyzes their major methods, results and new discoveries, followed by potential problems and future development directions of these two kinds of therapy methods. The Related Works in this review is organized in the order of different stimulation sites for each stimulation, including most common sites dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPC) and right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ). In the end of this review, the expectations for future research and treatments of ASD are proposed from the perspective of the author. Based on recent studies and reasonable speculation by the author, homogenous subgroup analysis and more broadly available therapy research will be scientific trends for ASD therapy in the future.

The promise of autologous and allogeneic cellular therapies in the clinical trials of autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a consortium of developmental conditions. As scientists have not yet identified the exact underlying cause for these disorders, it is not easy to narrow down a singular therapy to propose a reliable cure. The preponderance of research suggests that stem-cell therapy improves aspects of outcome measure scales in patients with ASD; therefore, future studies should give us more confidence in the results. This overview considers the data that have emerged from the small set of published trials conducted using different approaches in stem-cell therapy for ASD, evaluates their results and proposes additional steps that could be taken if this field of endeavor is to be pursued further.

The Role of Horticulture Therapy in Autism Spectrum Disorder of Chinese Children

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a subtype of pervasive developmental disorder which mainly characterized by cognitive and communication impairments, often accompanied by symptoms such as social disorder, Stereotypical behavior, and Perceptual disorders, which not only affect the physical and mental health development of children but also brings a heavy burden to the families and society of patients. Horticultural therapy, as an ecological psychotherapeutic method, has more obvious and positive intervention effects on the above-mentioned symptoms in children with autism and has gradually gained attention in recent years. However, its application sites are mainly concentrated in special education schools and medical institutions, and it has not been widely used and promoted; its researchers are mainly concentrated in garden designers and special educators, with less participation from psychologists and horticultural therapists. This paper describes the current intervention methods and effects of horticultural therapy on the above three major impairment characteristics of children with autism in China, summarizes the application overview and progress of horticultural therapy, and gives some perspectives and recommendations for the following research.

The gut microbiome in children with mood, anxiety, and neurodevelopmental disorders: An umbrella review.

Research on the gut microbiome and mental health among children and adolescents is growing. This umbrella review provides a high-level overview of current evidence syntheses to amalgamate current research and inform future directions. Searches were conducted across seven databases for peer-reviewed pediatric (<18years) review literature. Studies reporting gut microbiome composition and/or biotic supplementation on depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) were included. Deduplication and screening took place in Covidence. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the degree of primary study overlap. Among the 39 included review studies, 23 (59%) were observational and 16 (41%) were interventional. Most reviews (92%) focused on ASD. Over half (56%) of the observational and interventional reviews scored low or critically low for methodological quality. A higher abundance of Clostridium clusters and a lower abundance of Bifidobacterium were consistently observed in ASD studies. Biotic supplementation was associated with ASD symptom improvement. Gut microbiome-mental health evidence syntheses in child and youth depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and OCD are lacking. Preliminary evidence suggests an association between specific microbiota and ASD symptoms, with some evidence supporting a role for probiotic supplementation ASD therapy.

Integrin β1/FAK/SRC signal pathway is involved in autism spectrum disorder in Tspan7 knockout rats.

TSPAN7 is related to various neurological disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the underlying synaptic mechanism of TSPAN7 in ASD is still unclear. Here, we showed that Tspan7 knockout rats exhibited ASD-like and ID-like behavioral phenotypes, brain structure alterations including decreased hippocampal and cortical volume, and related pathological changes including reduced hippocampal neurons number, neuronal complexity, dendritic spines, and synapse-associated proteins. Then, we found that TSPAN7 deletion interrupted the integrin β1/FAK/SRC signal pathway that was followed by the down-regulation of PSD95, SYN, and GluR1/2, which are key synaptic integrity-related proteins. Furthermore, reactivation of SRC restored the expression of synaptic integrity-related proteins in primary neurons of TSPAN7 knockout brains. Taken together, our results suggested that TSPAN7 knockout caused ASD-like and ID-like behaviors in rats and impaired neuronal synapses possibly through the down-regulation of the integrin β1/FAK/SRC signal pathway, which might be a new mechanism on regulation of synaptic proteins expression and on ASD pathogenesis by mutated TSPAN7. These findings provide novel insights into the role of TSPAN7 in psychiatric diseases and highlight integrin β1/FAK/SRC as a potential target for ASD therapy.

Predicting the long-term after-effects of rTMS in autism spectrum disorder using temporal variability analysis of scalp EEG

Objective. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) emerges as a useful therapy for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) clinically. Whereas the mechanisms of action of rTMS on ASD are not fully understood, and no biomarkers until now are available to reliably predict the follow-up rTMS efficacy in clinical practice. Approach. In the current work, the temporal variability was investigated in resting-state electroencephalogram of ASD patients, and the nonlinear complexity of related time-varying networks was accordingly evaluated by fuzzy entropy. Main results. The results showed the hyper-variability in the resting-state networks of ASD patients, while three week rTMS treatment alleviates the hyper fluctuations occurring in the frontal-parietal and frontal-occipital connectivity and further contributes to the ameliorative ASD symptoms. In addition, the changes in variability network properties are closely correlated with clinical scores, which further serve as potential predictors to reliably track the long-term rTMS efficacy for ASD. Significance. The findings consistently demonstrated that the temporal variability of time-varying networks of ASD patients could be modulated by rTMS, and related variability properties also help predict follow-up rTMS efficacy, which provides the potential for formulating individualized treatment strategies for ASD (ChiCTR2000033586).

The importance of nutritional management and education in the treatment of autism.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are an early-onset neurodevelopmental disorders. The key symptoms of ASD include social deficits, verbal and non-verbal communication deficits, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities. Dietary patterns have been evidenced to be related to maternal nutritional status that might lead to different metabolic conditions, and maternal metabolic dysfunction has been observed to be associated with ASD. Furthermore growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiota has a role in the pathophysiology of ASD. Differences in composition of the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota in children with ASD compared to unaffected siblings and/or healthy unrelated controls have been reported in various studies. The above-mentioned ASD factors and symptoms can be regulated by proper nutrition. The importance of nutrition and its possible impact on ASD patients is key to integral therapy. According to numerous research studies, various nutritional approaches succeeded in reducing the severity of patients' core ASD symptoms. The numerous options for diet that is used in the ASD therapy, as described in the scientific literature, are related to the problem of choosing an appropriate nutritional treatment. Each nutrition programme needs to be personalised and tailored to an individual patient. The aim of the paper is to review the available literature on dietary interventions in children with ASD and provide up-to-date evidence.