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This study examined the similarities/differences between the social phenotypes of Williams syndrome (WS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As cultural norms may affect symptom evaluation, this study administered the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 to Japanese individuals with WS (n = 78, 4.4–44.0 years) and ASD (n = 75, 4.7–55.4 years). The scores for Social Motivation and Social Communication were significantly more severe in the ASD than WS group. Overall, the similarities and differences between the social phenotypes of the syndromes were consistent with the findings of a recent study conducted in the UK, except for the social awareness subscale score. This highlights the importance of cross-cultural investigations of WS and ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auditory hyper-reactivity is a common sensory-perceptual abnormality in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which interrupts behavioral adaptation. We investigated acoustic startle response (ASR) modulations in 17 children with ASD and 27 with typical development (TD). Compared to TD, children with ASD had larger ASR magnitude to weak stimuli and more prolonged peak startle-latency. We could not find significant difference of prepulse inhibition (PPI) or habituation in ASD children compared to TD. However, habituation and PPI at 70-dB prepulses were negatively related to several subscales of Social Responsiveness Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, when considering all children. Comprehensive investigation of ASR and its modulation might increase understanding of the neurophysiological impairments underlying ASD and other mental health problems in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the best discriminative items for identifying young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), we conducted a secondary analysis using longitudinal cohort data that included the Japanese version of the 23-item modified checklist for autism in toddlers (M-CHAT-JV). M-CHAT-JV data at 18 months of age and diagnostic information evaluated at age 3 or later from 1851 Japanese children was used to isolate six highly discriminative items. Using data from two different community samples (n = 1851, n = 665) these items were shown to have comparable psychometric values with those of the full version. Our results suggest that these items might work as a short form screener for early identification of ASD in primary care settings where there are time constraints on screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine whether the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) in conjunction with the routine 18-month health check-up identifies Japanese toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two-stage screening using the M-CHAT was conducted with 1,851 children attending the check-up. Final ASD diagnosis was confirmed at age ≥3 years. Screening identified 20/51 children with ASD: 12/20 true positives were developmentally delayed, whereas 16/22 false negatives were high-functioning. Sensitivity was 0.476, specificity 0.986, positive predictive value 0.455, and likelihood ratio 33.4 for children with ASD. With a few modifications, M-CHAT screening successfully detected toddlers with ASD with and without developmental delay and is a promising screening tool to complement existing community surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the inter-rater reliability of Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, Japanese Version (ADI-R-JV), the authors recruited 51 individuals aged 3-19 years, interviewed by two independent raters. Subsequently, to assess the discriminant and diagnostic validity of ADI-R-JV, the authors investigated 317 individuals aged 2-19 years, who were divided into three diagnostic groups as follows: autistic disorder (AD), pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, and other psychiatric diagnosis or no diagnosis, according to the consensus clinical diagnosis. As regards inter-rater reliability, intraclass correlation coefficients of greater than 0.80 were obtained for all three domains of ADI-R-JV. As regards discriminant validity, the mean scores of the three domains was significantly higher in individuals with AD than in those of other diagnostic groups. As regards diagnostic validity, sensitivity and specificity for correctly diagnosing AD were 0.92 and 0.89, respectively, but sensitivity was 0.55 for individuals younger than 5 years. Specificity was consistently high regardless of age and intelligence. ADI-R-JV was shown to be a reliable tool, and has sufficient discriminant validity and satisfactory diagnostic validity for correctly diagnosing AD, although the diagnostic validity appeared to be compromised with respect to the diagnosis of younger individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether individuals with Asperger's disorder exhibit difficulty in switching attention from a local level to a global level. Eleven participants with Asperger's disorder and 11 age- and gender-matched healthy controls performed a level-repetition switching task using Navon-type hierarchical stimuli. In both groups, level-repetition was beneficial at both levels. Furthermore, individuals with Asperger's disorder exhibited difficulty in switching attention from a local level to a global level compared to control individuals. These findings suggested that there is a problem with the inhibitory mechanism that influences the output of enhanced local visual processing in Asperger's disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]