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Backgrounds Infant-directed speech (IDS) is part of an interactive loop that plays an important role in infants’ cognitive and social development. The use of IDS is universal and is composed of linguistic and emotional components. However, whether the emotional component has similar acoustics characteristics has not been studied automatically. Methods We performed a cross-cultural study using automatic social signal processing techniques (SSP) to compare IDS across languages. Our speech corpus consisted of audio-recorded vocalizations from parents during interactions with their infant between the ages of 4 and 18 months. It included 6 databases of five languages: English, French, Hebrew (two databases: mothers/fathers), Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese. We used an automatic classifier that exploits the acoustic characteristics of speech and machine learning methods (Support Vector Machines, SVM) to distinguish emotional IDS and non-emotional IDS. Results Automated classification of emotional IDS was possible for all languages and speakers (father and mother). The uni-language condition (classifier trained and tested in the same language) produced moderate to excellent classification results, all of which were significantly different from chance (P Conclusion The automated classification of emotional and non-emotional components of IDS is possible based on the acoustic characteristics regardless of the language. The results found in the cross-over condition support the hypothesis that the emotional component shares similar acoustic characteristics across languages.

Automated behavior analysis are promising tools to overcome current assessment limitations in psychiatry. At 9 months of age, we recorded 32 infants with West syndrome (WS) and 19 typically developing (TD) controls during a standardized mother–infant interaction. We computed infant hand movements (HM), speech turn taking of both partners (vocalization, pause, silences, overlap) and motherese. Then, we assessed whether multimodal social signals and interactional synchrony at 9 months could predict outcomes (autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID)) of infants with WS at 4 years. At follow-up, 10 infants developed ASD/ID (WS+). The best machine learning reached 76.47% accuracy classifying WS vs. TD and 81.25% accuracy classifying WS+ vs. WS−. The 10 best features to distinguish WS+ and WS− included a combination of infant vocalizations and HM features combined with synchrony vocalization features. These data indicate that behavioral and interaction imaging was able to predict ASD/ID in high-risk children with WS.

Resume Objectif L’objectif de cette etude retrospective est de decrire l’evolution des competences en communication et relation d’un groupe d’enfants porteurs de trouble du spectre autistique et traites par la methode des 3i pendant 2 ans. Methode Cent-vingt dossiers d’enfants ayant poursuivi cette methode pendant 24 mois ont ete inclus dans cette etude. Un score de 1 a 3 dans une echelle d’acquisition de competences (1 : non acquise, 2 : partiellement acquise, 3 : acquise) a ete attribue a chaque sujet pour chacun des six indicateurs choisis (Imitation, Qualite du regard, Regulation sociale et emotionnelle, Expression verbale, Expression non verbale et Comprehension verbale). Les scores initiaux sont compares aux scores finaux apres 24 mois de methode 3i. Resultats L’analyse statistique montre que pour chaque indicateur le groupe de patients a significativement progresse au cours des 24 mois de methode 3i. En moyenne, les sujets acquierent un stade superieur dans 4 domaines de competences sur 6. La progression est plus grande dans les domaines de l’imitation et de la communication non verbale. Discussion Malgre les limites liees au caractere retrospectif de l’etude et a une grille d’evaluation non standardisee, les resultats sont coherents avec une precedente etude prospective sur 20 sujets avec des outils internationaux. Ce resultat suggere que les handicaps lies aux troubles du spectre autistique diminuent au cours de la prise en charge 3i. Conclusion Celle-ci pourrait permettre de reduire l’intensite du syndrome autistique et d’ameliorer les capacites d’interaction avec l’environnement.

Depuis peu les chercheurs internationaux s’interessent a la possibilite de detecter l’autisme le plus tot possible, avant 1 an, en esperant intervenir beaucoup plus efficacement, voire peut-etre empecher l’installation de l’autisme. C’est ce meme projet qui est a l’origine de la recherche preaut, imaginee il y a plus de vingt ans par des psychanalystes cliniciens de l’autisme. Les resultats remarquables qui viennent d’etre publies montrent qu’un depistage ultra-precoce est possible, ouvrant la voie a la possibilite d’une intervention qui pourrait radicalement modifier le devenir de ces bebes.

Intervenir le plus tot possible, des la premiere annee de vie, apparait aujourd’hui crucial pour esperer modifier la trajectoire developpementale et bouleverser le pronostic. Notre recherche a pour objectif d’evaluer les effets d’une intervention utilisant l’approche psychanalytique, en dialogue avec les autres champs du savoir, pour les bebes a risque d’autisme et leurs parents.

"Les formes severes de l’autisme sont reperees par les familles dans la premiere annee de vie, mais encore rarement prises en charge avant l’âge de 3 ans. Le depistage et la prise en soins precoce sont recommandes pour ameliorer le pronostic fonctionnel des enfants. Cependant, la symptomatologie des troubles autistiques est encore peu connue des professionnels de la perinatalite et de la petite enfance. Plusieurs points sont delicats : lors de la premiere annee les symptomes des enfants a risque sont peu specifiques en dehors du manque d’appetence relationnelle ; et la prise en charge precoce modifie probablement le tableau des jeunes patients. Les outils de depistage restent rares mais tendent a se developper (ADOS toddler, ADI-R ou CARS, ECA-N, ECA-R, PEP, BECS, Mullen SCALE, Bayley3, Dialogoris, Mac Arthur, Grille Preaut, Echelle Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale NBAS,Echelle Alarme detresse du bebe ADBB, M-CHAT, Questionnaire de Dunn…).[resume d'auteur]"

A growing body of evidence suggests that children of immigrants may have increased risks of neurodevelopmental disorders. However, evidence based on parent report and on very young children is lacking. We therefore investigated the association between maternal immigrant status and early signs of neurodevelopmental problems in a population-based sample of 2-year-old children using standardized parent-report instruments. We used data from the French representative Etude Longitudinale Francaise depuis l'Enfance birth cohort, initiated in 2011. The study sample included 9,900 children of nonimmigrant French, 1,403 children of second, and 1,171 children of first generation immigrant women followed-up to age 2 years. Neurodevelopment was assessed using the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) and an adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MB-CDI). In fully adjusted linear regression models, maternal immigrant status was associated with M-CHAT scores, with stronger associations in children of first (β-coefficient: 0.19; 95% CI 0.08-0.29) than second generation immigrants (0.09; 0.01-0.17). This association was especially strong among children of first generation immigrant mothers native of North Africa (vs. nonimmigrant French: 0.33; 0.16-0.49) and French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa (0.26; 0.07-0.45). MB-CDI scores were lowest among children of first generation immigrant mothers, particularly from mostly non-francophone regions. Children of first generation immigrant mothers were most likely to have simultaneously low MB-CDI and high M-CHAT scores. Our findings suggest that maternal immigrant status is associated with early signs of neurodevelopmental difficulties, with strong variations according to maternal region of origin. Further research is necessary to test whether these associations persist and to determine the underlying mechanisms. Autism Res 2019, 12: 1845-1859. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: We asked immigrant and nonimmigrant mothers in France about early signs of neurodevelopmental problems in their 2-year-old children. Overall, we found that children of immigrants may be at higher risk of showing these early warning signs, as compared to children of nonimmigrants. This is in line with previous studies, which were based on doctors' diagnoses at later ages. However, our results differed depending on the mothers' regions of origin. We found the highest risks in children of first generation immigrants from North and French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa, who also seemed especially at risk of neurodevelopmental problems combined with low language development.

Background A growing body of evidence suggests that children of immigrants may have increased risks of neurodevelopmental disorders. However, evidence based on parent report and on very young children is lacking. We therefore investigated the association between maternal immigrant status and early signs of neurodevelopmental problems in a population-based sample of two-year-old children using standardized parent-report instruments. Methods We used data from the French representative ELFE birth cohort, initiated in 2011. The study sample included 9,900 children of non-immigrant French, 1,403 children of 2nd, and 1,171 children of 1st generation immigrant women followed-up to age two years. Neurodevelopment was assessed using the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) and an adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MB-CDI). Results In fully adjusted linear regression models, maternal immigrant status was positively associated with M-CHAT scores, with stronger associations in children of 1st (β-coefficient: 0.19; 95% CI 0.08-0.29) than 2nd generation immigrants (0.09; 0.01-0.17). This association was especially strong among children of 1st generation immigrant mothers native of North Africa (vs. non-immigrant French: 0.33; 0.16-0.49) or French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa (0.26; 0.07-0.45). MB-CDI scores were lowest among children of 1st generation immigrant mothers, particularly from mostly non-francophone regions. Children of 1st generation immigrant mothers were most likely to have simultaneously low MB-CDI and high M-CHAT scores. Conclusions Our findings suggest that maternal immigrant status is associated with higher risks of early signs of neurodevelopmental difficulties, with strong variations according to maternal region of origin. Standardized screening instruments may aid the early detection and treatment of these difficulties, helping to address inequalities in neurodevelopmental health in children of immigrants. Key messages Children of immigrant mothers in a population-based sample appear to have elevated neurodevelopmental risks, as assessed by maternal report. This is in line with evidence from clinical samples. We found strong variations according to maternal region of origin, with the highest risks in children of 1st generation immigrant mothers from North Africa and French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) are an understudied population whose school inclusion is challenging. Methods We assessed the effects of “Developmental and Sequenced one-to-one Educational Intervention” (DS1-EI), a ten-hour-per-week adapted instruction programme for five- to nine-year-old children with ASD and ID treated in outpatient health care institutions. A single-blind multisite randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare DS1-EI given for three years with treatment as usual (TAU)(trial registration numbers: ANSM130282B-31 (April 16, 2013) and ACTRN12616000592448). The primary outcome was the change in the psycho-educational profile (PEP). Secondary variables included the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale-II (VABS-II), Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) and annual assessment of educational achievement. Statistical analyses used linear mixed models. Findings Seventy-two participants with severe ASD and ID were recruited. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses showed no significant group*time interaction for the PEP, CARS, ADI-R, VABS-II and CGAS but a significant effect for educational achievement with a better improvement in the DS1-EI group. At the 36-month time point, more DS1-EI children were included in mainstream classrooms. Additional analyses using multivariate models taking into account moderating variables at the baseline (e.g., Developmental Quotient) confirmed that DS1-EI had a significant effect on educational outcomes. Interpretation DS1-EI did not improve communication or social skills in children with ASD and ID compared with TAU. However, DS1-EI enhanced school skills in four domains (language, mathematics, inter modality, and school autonomy) favouring inclusion in mainstream classrooms more than TAU. Providing such adapted instruction is feasible and should be encouraged. Funding CNSA; Fondation Bettencourt-Schueller; Fondation EDF

Severe forms of autism may be spotted by families in the first year of life, but are still rarely treated before the age of 3. Screening and early treatment are recommended to improve the children's functional prognosis. However, there is still little knowledge among perinatal and early childhood professionals of the symptomatology of autistic disorders. Several points are sensitive: during the first year the symptoms of children at risk are non-specific apart from a lack of desire to form relationships; and the early treatment probably modifies the clinical picture of young patients. Screening tools are rare but are starting to be developed.

Background The outcomes of psycho-educational interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) comorbid with severe to moderate intellectual disability (ID) are insufficiently documented. In this prospective study, we examined a developmental individual, interactive and intensive approach, called the ‘3i method’, which is based on play therapy. Methods Twenty DSM-IV-TR ASD subjects (mean chronological age 63.8 ± 37.8 months; mean developmental age 19.5 ± 6.6 months) were included and followed the 3i method for 24 months. Developmental and behavioural skills were assessed at baseline and after 24 months using the VABS, PEP-R and Nadel Imitation scale. Autism severity was evaluated using the Child Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI-R). Results After 2 years of the 3i method, our 3 primary outcome variables significantly increased (VABS developmental age of socialization increased by 83%, age of communication by 34%, and Nadel Imitation score by 53%). Almost all VABS and PEP-R domains significantly improved. Additionally, increases in the VABS socialization score were positively correlated with the total number of treatment hours and CARS score; all ADI-R areas significantly decreased; and diagnoses had changed in 47.5% of the subjects (37% for PDD-NOS and even 10.5% for ID without PDD). Conclusion Children who followed the 3i method for 2 years had significantly improved behavioural and developmental skills and showed a clear decrease in autism severity. These results suggest that the 3i method may be useful for autistic children by improving their daily interactions with their social environment. Trial registration was retrospectively registered on May 20th, 2014 by the French Agency for drug and health (ANSM) under number ID-RCB 2014-A00542–45, reference: B148558–31. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12887-018-1126-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

L’atelier-classe preaut est un outil pedagogique structure destine aux enfants porteurs de troubles du spectre autistique, qui propose d’etayer un processus de subjectivation sur une mediation scolaire. Ce dispositif contenant et ritualise repond aux besoins des enfants porteurs de troubles autistiques, et aux attentes des institutions et des equipes qui souhaitent orienter leurs projets de soins vers des prises en charge integratives. Il est actuellement mis a l’epreuve d’une recherche interventionnelle controlee randomisee. Cet article s’attache aux enjeux institutionnels de l’implantation d’un atelier-classe preaut dans un hopital de jour pour enfants et presente l’evolution d’un enfant integre depuis un an au sein de ce dispositif.

La recherche atelier-classe preaut vise a objectiver les effets d’une approche integrative articulant intervention structuree, support cognitif pedagogique, perspective psychodynamique et travail institutionnel. Pour pouvoir se confronter a la litterature medicale internationale reconnue par les tutelles, il faut respecter des criteres objectifs d’evaluation, tels que ceux prones par l’evidence based medicine. Ainsi, notre « essai clinique » porte sur un large echantillon de plus de soixante-dix enfants porteurs de trouble du spectre autistique, recrutes dans onze etablissements francais. Les tests (adi-r, cars, pep-3, Vineland, cgas, kabc-ii, cgi, evaluations scolaires) valides et reconnus au niveau international sont realises « en aveugle » pour une partie. Les enfants sont repartis par tirage au sort en deux groupes, l’un experimental et l’autre « temoin », dont l’evolution sera comparee au bout de trois ans par des statistiques effectuees dans le service de psychiatrie de l’enfant et de l’adolescent de la Pitie-Salpetriere.

Background The need for early treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) necessitates early screening. Very few tools have been prospectively tested with infants of less than 12 months of age. The PREAUT grid is based on dyadic assessment through interaction and shared emotion and showed good metrics for predicting ASD in very-high-risk infants with West syndrome. Methods We assessed the ability of the PREAUT grid to predict ASD in low-risk individuals by prospectively following and screening 12,179 infants with the PREAUT grid at four (PREAUT-4) and nine (PREAUT-9) months of age. A sample of 4,835 toddlers completed the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (CHAT) at 24 months (CHAT-24) of age. Children who were positive at one screening (N = 100) were proposed a clinical assessment (including the Children Autism Rating Scale, a Developmental Quotient, and an ICD-10-based clinical diagnosis if appropriate) in the third year of life. A randomly selected sample of 1,100 individuals who were negative at all screenings was followed by the PMI team from three to five years of age to identify prospective false negative cases. The clinical outcome was available for 45% (N = 45) of positive children and 52.6% (N = 579) of negative children. Results Of the 100 children who screened positive, 45 received a diagnosis at follow-up. Among those receiving a diagnosis, 22 were healthy, 10 were diagnosed with ASD, seven with intellectual disability (ID), and six had another developmental disorder. Thus, 50% of infants positive at one screening subsequently received a neurodevelopmental diagnosis. The PREAUT grid scores were significantly associated with medium and high ASD risk status on the CHAT at 24 months (odds ratio of 12.1 (95%CI: 3.0–36.8), p < 0.001, at four months and 38.1 (95%CI: 3.65–220.3), p < 0.001, at nine months). Sensitivity (Se), specificity, negative predictive values, and positive predictive values (PPVs) for PREAUT at four or nine months, and CHAT at 24 months, were similar [PREAUT-4: Se = 16.0 to 20.6%, PPV = 25.4 to 26.3%; PREAUT-9: Se = 30.5 to 41.2%, PPV = 20.2 to 36.4%; and CHAT-24: Se = 33.9 to 41.5%, PPV = 27.3 to 25.9%]. The repeated use of the screening instruments increased the Se but not PPV estimates [PREAUT and CHAT combined: Se = 67.9 to 77.7%, PPV = 19.0 to 28.0%]. Conclusions The PREAUT grid can contribute to very early detection of ASD and its combination with the CHAT may improve the early diagnosis of ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

L’autisme se resume-t-il a un deficit irremediable d’une zone du cerveau ou bien est-il le fruit d’un processus impliquant en proportion variable « equipement » du bebe et interaction ? La connaissance des premiers processus qui conduisent au tableau autistique caracterise est cruciale, tant pour comprendre la psychopathologie autistique que pour intervenir precocement. Les recherches cliniques et theoriques de Marie-Christine Laznik l’ont conduite a s’interesser a la voix comme objet primaire de la pulsion, capable d’enchanter meme un bebe autiste, a la condition qu’elle traduise la joie suscitee par ce bebe (mamanais). Cette hypothese nous introduit au cœur de la dynamique interactive des bebes autistes avec leur care-giver. L’etude des films familiaux permet d’apprehender et d’objectiver les premieres competences du bebe mais aussi les premieres interactions, leur reciprocite (ou synchronie), et l’evolution de cette dynamique interactive. Les bebes autistes manquent tres precocement d’interet pour l’autre, et notamment sa voix. Cela retentira sans doute sur leur intersubjectivite en construction. En reponse, les parents confrontes a ces bebes s’adaptent en s’efforcant de les solliciter plus. Reste a savoir s’ils peuvent encore prendre du plaisir avec ces bebes qui semblent si indifferents ?

West syndrome (WS) is a rare epileptic encephalopathy with early onset and a high risk of autistic outcome. The PréAut grid assesses this risk following WS onset by taking into account synchrony and emotion in interactions and by evaluating the baby's active desire to engage in pleasant interactions (especially the infant's early active behaviors that encourage being gazed at or kissed by the mother or to share joy with her). We followed a sample of 25 WS patients prospectively from disease onset and assessed whether the PréAut grid before 9 months, and the checklist for autism in toddlers (CHAT) at 18 and 24 months predicted autism or intellectual disability (ID) outcomes at 4 years. We found that the PréAut grid at 9 months (sensitivity = 0.83; specificity = 1) had similar prediction parameters as the CHAT at 18 months (sensitivity = 0.90; specificity = 0.83) and 24 months (sensitivity = 0.92; specificity = 1). WS patients with a positive PréAut screening at 9 months had a risk of having autism or ID at 4 years, which is 38 times that of children with a negative PréAut grid [OR = 38.6 (95 % CI 2.2-2961); p = 0.006]. We conclude that the PréAut grid could be a useful tool for the early detection of autism or ID risk in the context of WS. Further research is needed to assess the PréAut grid in other contexts (e.g. infants at high-risk for non-syndromic autism).

Introduction Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who also exhibit severe-to-moderate ranges of intellectual disability (ID) still face many challenges (i.e., less evidence-based trials, less inclusion in school with peers). Methods We implemented a novel model called the “Developmental and Sequenced One-to-One Educational Intervention” (DS1-EI) in 5- to 9-year-old children with co-occurring ASD and ID. The treatment protocol was adapted for school implementation by designing it using an educational agenda. The intervention was based on intensity, regular assessments, updating objectives, encouraging spontaneous communication, promoting skills through play with peers, supporting positive behaviors, providing supervision, capitalizing on teachers’ unique skills, and providing developmental and sequenced learning. Developmental learning implies that the focus of training is what is close to the developmental expectations given a child’s development in a specific domain. Sequenced learning means that the teacher changes the learning activities every 10–15 min to maintain the child’s attention in the context of an anticipated time agenda. We selected 11 French institutions in which we implemented the model in small classrooms. Each institution recruited participants per dyads matched by age, sex, and developmental quotient. Patients from each dyad were then randomized to a DS1-EI group or a Treatment as usual (TAU) group for 36 months. The primary variables – the Childhood Autism Rating scale (CARS) and the psychoeducational profile (PEP-3) – will be blindly assessed by independent raters at the 18-month and 36-month follow-up. Discussion and baseline description We enrolled 75 participants: 38 were randomized to the DS1-EI and 37 to the TAU groups. At enrollment, we found no significant differences in participants’ characteristics between groups. As expected, exposure to school was the only significant difference [9.4 (±4.1) h/week in the DS1-EI group vs. 3.4 (±4.5) h/week in the TAU group, Student’s t-test, t = 5.83, p

RESUME Dans le champ de la biologie et des sciences de l’evolution, l’etude des liens d’attachement s’est vue renouvelee par la decouverte de la transmission non-genetique de modes de comportements specifiques au cours des interactions precoces mereslbebes et du role de l’ocytocine. Pour autant, l’etude des interactions precoces est complexe. Nous proposons d’illustrer comment l’utilisation de methodes computationnelles pour l’analyse et le traitement de signaux sociaux a permis un changement de paradigme. A partir de sources variees (films familiaux ; experiences en laboratoire), nous montrerons comment ces methodes ont ete utilisees (1) pour evaluer la synchronie entre partenaires (bebe, enfant, parent, agent ou robot) en contexte pathologique (autisme, mere negligente) ou non ; (2) pour caracteriser les echanges interpersonnels et les signaux sociaux echanges (prosodie emotionnelle, mouvements, vocalisation, tour de parole) ; (3) pour introduire de nouvelles approches comme celle de la robotique developpementale.

Synchrony refers to individuals' temporal coordination during social interactions. The analysis of this phenomenon is complex, requiring the perception and integration of multimodal communicative signals. The evaluation of synchrony has received multidisciplinary attention because of its role in early development, language learning, and social connection. Originally studied by developmental psychologists, synchrony has now captured the interest of researchers in such fields as social signal processing, robotics, and machine learning. This paper emphasizes the current questions asked by synchrony evaluation and the state-of-the-art related methods. First, we present definitions and functions of synchrony in youth and adulthood. Next, we review the noncomputational and computational approaches of annotating, evaluating, and modeling interactional synchrony. Finally, the current limitations and future research directions in the fields of developmental robotics, social robotics, and clinical studies are discussed.

Autism is a well-defined clinical syndrome after the second year of life, but information on autism in the first two years of life is still lacking. The study of home videos has described children with autism during the first year of life as not displaying the rigid pattern typical of later symptoms. Therefore, developmental/environmental factors are claimed in addition to genetic/biological ones to explain the onset of autism during maturation. Here we describe (1) a developmental hypothesis focusing on the possible implication of motherese impoverishment during the course of parent-infant interactions as a possible co-factor; (2) the methodological approach we used to develop a computerized algorithm to detect motherese in home videos; (3) the best configuration performance of the detector in extracting motherese from home video sequences (accuracy = 82% on speaker-independent versus 87.5% on speaker-dependent) that we should use to test this hypothesis.

The current study reviewed all prior studies conducted on family home movies of infants who would be later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Out of 41 original reports found since 1975, we retained 18 studies (317 films, maximum), sorted according to their methodological design using a quality grid. In the first 2 years of life, signs that differentiated children with ASD from children with developmental delays were as follows: less of a response to their name, less looking at others, lower eye contact quality and quantity, less positive facial expression and intersubjective behaviors (e.g., showing shared attention). Studies focusing on regression confirmed the clinical validity of the phenomena. We conclude that findings from home movies studies along with prospective studies have created the bases for identification of infants and toddlers at risk of developing ASD before the 18–24-month period, despite early diagnosis of autism remains a complex challenge.

International audience; Language has long been identified as a powerful communicative tool among humans. Yet, pre-linguistic communication, which is common in many species, is also used by human infants prior to the acquisition of language. The potential communicational value of pre-linguistic vocal interactions between human infants and mothers has been studied in the past decades. With 120 dyads (mothers and three- or six-month-old infants), we used the classical Still Face Paradigm (SFP) in which mothers interact freely with their infants, then refrain from communication (Still Face, SF), and finally resume play. We employed innovative automated techniques to measure infant and maternal vocalization and pause, and dyadic parameters (infant response to mother, joint silence and overlap) and the emotional component of Infant Directed Speech (e-IDS) throughout the interaction. We showed that: (i) during the initial free play mothers use longer vocalizations and more e-IDS when they interact with older infants and (ii) infant boys exhibit longer vocalizations and shorter pauses than girls. (iii) During the SF and reunion phases, infants show marked and sustained changes in vocalizations but their mothers do not and (iv) mother–infant dyadic parameters increase in the reunion phase. Our quantitative results show that infants, from the age of three months, actively participate to restore the interactive loop after communicative ruptures long before vocalizations show clear linguistic meaning. Thus, auditory signals provide from early in life a channel by which infants co-create interactions, enhancing the mother–infant bond.

Aim. – Schizophrenic patients exhibit a deficit in the semantic context processing strategies which might be responsible for the language and communication disorders that are characteristic of this condition. The aim of our study was to identify the nature of the contextualization processes which are lacking in schizophrenic patients, by distinguishing between processes for the generation of expectations and processes of semantic integration. Patients and method. – Thirteen schizophrenic patients and 12 healthy controls performed two tasks: (a) a lexical decision task (LDT) with a highly structured sentence context and whose experimental characteristics made it possible to call strongly on predictive strategies, and (b) a LDT with classic semantic priming (the context being reduced to a single word). In this latter task, the small number of related words did not prompt the generation of expectations but instead called on the postlexical integration process. The event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded during the administration of the task. Results and conclusion. – In the sentence task, we observed a modulation in the N400 amplitude due to the presence of expectations both in the schizophrenic and control participants: predictable words evoked a small N400 amplitude compared to the non-predictable words. In contrast, in the simple (priming) task, the semantic link evoked an N400 amplitude modulation in the control group exclusively. Our results indicate that schizophrenics could be able to use context to activate expectations for the most highly predictable item, and that their deficit appears when the processing strategy is based on the integration of the context stored in working memory.

We examined the course of caregiver (CG) motherese and the course of the infant’s response based on home movies from two single cases: a boy with typical development (TD) and a boy with autistic development (AD). We first blindly assessed infant CG interaction using the Observer computer-based coding procedure, then analyzed speech CG production using a computerized algorithm. Finally we fused the two procedures and filtered for co-occurrence. In this exploratory study we found that the course of CG parentese differed based on gender (father vs. mother) and child status (TD vs. AD). The course of an infant’s response to CG vocalization differed according to the type of speech (motherese vs. other speech) and child status (TD vs. AD). Mothers spent more time interacting with infants, and fathers appeared to interact with their child preferentially between 12 and 18 months in the TD boy, but not in the AD boy. The TD boy responded equally well to motherese compared to other speech after 1 year of age. For the AD boy, the responses to both types of speech were lower than in the boy with TD and decreased from the second to the third semester. Keywords: Autism; motherese; early interaction; computational methods

International audience; Background: Whether development of autism impacts the interactive process between an infant and his/her parents remains an unexplored issue.Methodology and Principal Findings: Using computational analysis taking into account synchronic behaviors and emotional prosody (parentese), we assessed the course of infants' responses to parents' type of speech in home movies from typically developing (TD) infants and infants who will subsequently develop autism aged less than 18 months. Our findings indicate: that parentese was significantly associated with infant responses to parental vocalizations involving orientation towards other people and with infant receptive behaviours; that parents of infants developing autism displayed more intense solicitations that were rich in parentese; that fathers of infants developing autism spoke to their infants more than fathers of TD infants; and that fathers' vocalizations were significantly associated with intersubjective responses and active behaviours in infants who subsequently developed autism.Conclusion: The parents of infants who will later develop autism change their interactive pattern of behaviour by both increasing parentese and father's involvement in interacting with infants; both are significantly associated with infant's social responses. We stress the possible therapeutic implications of these findings and its implication for Dean Falk's theory regarding pre-linguistic evolution in early hominins.

Autism is a clinical syndrome that has contributed to the foundation of child psychiatry following Kanner's characteristic description. Yet, 60 years later, it remains a topic of unresolved issues and of many controversies, including the reliable age for early diagnostic. In this paper, we explore this issue by distinguishing: available data from epidemiologic studies in general population samples and at-risk samples; the view from parents regarding early diagnosis as well as the way they receive it in clinical practice in France; what was found in studies on early infant-caregiver interaction in home movies. We will show that a delay in developmental milestones and impairments in early social interaction or communication during the first 18 months are not sufficient to predict a later diagnosis of autism. This has led to a change of paradigm in the recent studies that consider now the quality of early interaction in terms of synchrony and reciprocity as well as emotional engagement. Lastly, we point recent efforts made in France to change clinical practice and offer an earlier diagnosis formulation to parents.; L'autisme est un syndrome clinique dont la description si caractéristique a participé à la fondation de la psychiatrie de l'enfant. Pourtant, il reste le syndrome de tous les mystères et de toutes les controverses. L'une d'elles concerne l'âge auquel le diagnostic d'autisme peut-être porté précocement. Nous en discuterons les implications selon plusieurs axes : les données de l'épidémiologie en population générale et en population à risque ; le point de vue des parents quant au repérage précoce et leur parcours de soins pour arriver en France à un diagnostic ; l'étude des interactions parent-enfant à partir de films familiaux. Nous montrerons qu'un retard de développement et des troubles précoces de la communication et des comportements sociaux ne suffisent pas à circonscrire le risque d'autisme en termes de trajectoire précoce avant un an ; qu'un changement de paradigme semble fécond dans les recherches les plus récentes, à savoir tenir compte de la qualité de l'interaction en termes de synchronie et de réciprocité, et également d'engagement émotionnel. Enfin, nous soulignerons les importants progrès conduits en France pour abaisser l'âge du rendu diagnostique ces 20 dernières années.

BackgroundTo assess whether taking into account interaction synchrony would help to better differentiate autism (AD) from intellectual disability (ID) and typical development (TD) in family home movies of infants aged less than 18 months, we used computational methods.Methodology and principal findingsFirst, we analyzed interactive sequences extracted from home movies of children with AD (N = 15), ID (N = 12), or TD (N = 15) through the Infant and Caregiver Behavior Scale (ICBS). Second, discrete behaviors between baby (BB) and Care Giver (CG) co-occurring in less than 3 seconds were selected as single interactive patterns (or dyadic events) for analysis of the two directions of interaction (CG→BB and BB→CG) by group and semester. To do so, we used a Markov assumption, a Generalized Linear Mixed Model, and non negative matrix factorization. Compared to TD children, BBs with AD exhibit a growing deviant development of interactive patterns whereas those with ID rather show an initial delay of development. Parents of AD and ID do not differ very much from parents of TD when responding to their child. However, when initiating interaction, parents use more touching and regulation up behaviors as early as the first semester.ConclusionWhen studying interactive patterns, deviant autistic behaviors appear before 18 months. Parents seem to feel the lack of interactive initiative and responsiveness of their babies and try to increasingly supply soliciting behaviors. Thus we stress that credence should be given to parents' intuition as they recognize, long before diagnosis, the pathological process through the interactive pattern with their child.

Autism is a well‐defined clinical syndrome after the second year of life, but information on autism in the first two years of life is still lacking. The study of home videos has described children with autism during the first year of life as not displaying the rigid pattern typical of later symptoms. Therefore, developmental/environmental factors are claimed in addition to genetic/biological ones to explain the onset of autism during maturation. Here we describe (1) a developmental hypothesis focusing on the possible implication of motherese impoverishment during the course of parent–infant interactions as a possible co‐factor; (2) the methodological approach we used to develop a computerized algorithm to detect motherese in home videos; (3) the best configuration performance of the detector in extracting motherese from home video sequences (accuracy = 82% on speaker‐independent versus 87.5% on speaker‐dependent) that we should use to test this hypothesis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper deals with emotional speech detection in home movies. In this study, we focus on infant-directed speech also called "motherese" which is characterized by higher pitch, slower tempo, and exaggerated intonation. In this work, we show the robustness of approaches to automatic discrimination between infant-directed speech and normal directed speech. Specifically, we estimate the generalization capability of two feature extraction schemes extracted from supra-segmental and segmental information. In addition, two machine learning approaches are considered: k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) and Gaussian mixture models (GMM). Evaluations are carried out on real-life databases: home movies of the first year of an infant.

Various aspects of motherese also known as infant-directed speech (IDS) have been studied for many years. As it is a widespread phenomenon, it is suspected to play some important roles in infant development. Therefore, our purpose was to provide an update of the evidence accumulated by reviewing all of the empirical or experimental studies that have been published since 1966 on IDS driving factors and impacts. Two databases were screened and 144 relevant studies were retained. General linguistic and prosodic characteristics of IDS were found in a variety of languages, and IDS was not restricted to mothers. IDS varied with factors associated with the caregiver (e.g., cultural, psychological and physiological) and the infant (e.g., reactivity and interactive feedback). IDS promoted infants' affect, attention and language learning. Cognitive aspects of IDS have been widely studied whereas affective ones still need to be developed. However, during interactions, the following two observations were notable: (1) IDS prosody reflects emotional charges and meets infants' preferences, and (2) mother-infant contingency and synchrony are crucial for IDS production and prolongation. Thus, IDS is part of an interactive loop that may play an important role in infants' cognitive and social development.