Search

Background It is unknown how much variation in adult mental health problems is associated with differences between societal/cultural groups, over and above differences between individuals. Methods To test these relative contributions, a consortium of indigenous researchers collected Adult Self-Report (ASR) ratings from 16 906 18- to 59-year-olds in 28 societies that represented seven culture clusters identified in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral Effectiveness study (e.g. Confucian, Anglo). The ASR is scored on 17 problem scales, plus a personal strengths scale. Hierarchical linear modeling estimated variance accounted for by individual differences (including measurement error), society, and culture cluster. Multi-level analyses of covariance tested age and gender effects. Results Across the 17 problem scales, the variance accounted for by individual differences ranged from 80.3% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems to 95.2% for DSM-oriented avoidant personality (mean = 90.7%); by society: 3.2% for DSM-oriented somatic problems to 8.0% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems (mean = 6.3%); and by culture cluster: 0.0% for DSM-oriented avoidant personality to 11.6% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems (mean = 3.0%). For strengths, individual differences accounted for 80.8% of variance, societal differences 10.5%, and cultural differences 8.7%. Age and gender had very small effects. Conclusions Overall, adults' self-ratings of mental health problems and strengths were associated much more with individual differences than societal/cultural differences, although this varied across scales. These findings support cross-cultural use of standardized measures to assess mental health problems, but urge caution in assessment of personal strengths.

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder caused by a microdeletion at the 7q11.23 region and is characterized by diverse symptoms encompassing physical and cognitive features. WS was reported to be associated to altered DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns. However, due to the limited information from long-term studies, it remains unclear whether WS accelerates aging. Genome-wide DNAm profiles can serve as "epigenetic clocks" to help estimate biological aging along with age-related markers, such as plasma proteins and telomere length.We investigated GrimAge, DNAm-based telomere length (DNAmTL), and other epigenetic clocks in blood samples of 32 patients with WS and 32 healthy controls.We observed a significant acceleration in GrimAge, DNAmTL, and other epigenetic clocks in patients with WS as compared with those of controls. In addition, several GrimAge components, such as adrenomedullin, growth differentiation factor-15, leptin and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, were altered in patients with WS.This study provides novel evidence supporting the hypothesis that WS may be associated to accelerated biological aging. A better understanding of the overall underlying biological effects of WS can provide new foundations for improved patient care; thus, long-term follow-up studies are still warranted.

Objectives:To conduct international comparisons of self-reports, collateral reports, and cross-informant agreement regarding older adult psychopathology.Participants:We compared self-ratings of problems (e.g. I cry a lot) and personal strengths (e.g. I like to help others) for 10,686 adults aged 60–102 years from 19 societies and collateral ratings for 7,065 of these adults from 12 societies.Measurements:Data were obtained via the Older Adult Self-Report (OASR) and the Older Adult Behavior Checklist (OABCL; Achenbach et al., 2004).Results:Cronbach’s alphas were .76 (OASR) and .80 (OABCL) averaged across societies. Across societies, 27 of the 30 problem items with the highest mean ratings and 28 of the 30 items with the lowest mean ratings were the same on the OASR and the OABCL. Q correlations between the means of the 0–1–2 ratings for the 113 problem items averaged across all pairs of societies yielded means of .77 (OASR) and .78 (OABCL). For the OASR and OABCL, respectively, analyses of variance (ANOVAs) yielded effect sizes (ESs) for society of 15% and 18% for Total Problems and 42% and 31% for Personal Strengths, respectively. For 5,584 cross-informant dyads in 12 societies, cross-informant correlations averaged across societies were .68 for Total Problems and .58 for Personal Strengths. Mixed-model ANOVAs yielded large effects for society on both Total Problems (ES = 17%) and Personal Strengths (ES = 36%).Conclusions:The OASR and OABCL are efficient, low-cost, easily administered mental health assessments that can be used internationally to screen for many problems and strengths.

This study proposes a quantitative evaluation support system for infant motor development and uses the system to analyze hands-and-knees creeping and belly crawling. This system measures movements using two video cameras and extracts movement features via background and inter-frame subtractions of original images. Eight evaluation indices for each crawling cycle are calculated, enabling markerless movement analysis of infants. Cross-sectional analysis of 16 10-month-olds confirmed significant differences between hands-and-knees creeping and belly crawling in five of the eight indices, demonstrating the system capability to quantitatively differentiate between creeping and crawling. Longitudinal analysis of one infant (aged 7–10 months) also suggested that the proposed quantitative indices can follow changes in crawling characteristics and evaluate infants’ motor development process. The results from the experiments suggest that the proposed system may enable diagnosis support in clinical practice.

Atypical sensory features are frequently observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as uncontrollable and less predictable sensory stimuli are thought to be stressful for them. To quantify distal indicators of cardiac vagus nerve activity, which is associated with top-down self-regulatory capacity, during sensory tasks as a stress state in children with ASD, we conducted an exploratory study to measure phasic high-frequency components of heart rate variability (phasic HF-HRV) during less controllable tactile/auditory sensory tasks in 37 children with ASD (aged 6-12 years) and 37 typically developing (TD) children. Only children with ASD showed increased HF-HRV values from the resting state to the task (i.e., phasic HF-HRV augmentation) during both less controllable tactile/auditory sensory tasks. In TD children, decreased phasic HF-HRV values were observed to cope with the task demand during the less-controllable-tactile task. These findings suggest that increased phasic HF-HRV values in response to less controllable sensory stimuli may reflect atypical physiological regulation during sensory stimulation in children with ASD.

Emotional dysregulation (ED) is a dimensional psychological domain, previously operationalized by instruments of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) for children and adolescents; however, its cross-cultural and bottom-up characteristics among adult populations are still unknown.We examined scores obtained on the Adult Self-Report (ASR) by 9,238 18- to 59-year-olds from 10 societies that differed in social, economic, geographic, and other characteristics. A Latent Class Analysis was performed on the data from eachIn each society, a dysregulated class (DYS) was identified, which was characterized by elevated scores on most ASR syndromes. The mean prevalence of DYS was 9.2% (6.1-12.7%). The best models ranged from three to five latent classes in the different societies.Although the number of identified classes and the prevalence of ED varied across societies, a DYS class was found in each society, suggesting the need to adopt a dimensional view of psychopathology and a cross cultural perspective also in adult populations.La desregulación emocional (DE) es un ámbito dimensional en Psicología, previamente operacionalizado por los instrumentos del Sistema de Evaluación Basado Empíricamente de Achenbach (ASEBA, por sus siglas en inglés) para niños y adolescentes; sin embargo, aún se desconocen sus características interculturales y su enfoque ascendente en su aplicación a la población adulta.Examinamos las puntuaciones obtenidas en el Autoinforme de Adultos (ASR, por sus siglas en inglés) por 9.238 personas de 18 a 59 años de edad pertenecientes a 10 sociedades que diferían en cuanto a sus características sociales, económicas, geográficas y de otro tipo. Se realizó un Análisis de Clases Latentes con los datos de cada sociedad.En cada sociedad se identificó una clase desregulada (DES), que se caracterizaba por puntuaciones elevadas en la mayoría de los síndromes ASR. La prevalencia media de DES fue del 9,2% (6,1-12,7%). Los mejores modelos oscilaron entre tres y cinco clases latentes en las diferentes sociedades.Aunque el número de clases identificadas y la prevalencia de DE variaron entre las diversas sociedades, se encontró una clase DES en cada sociedad, lo que sugiere la necesidad de adoptar una visión dimensional de la psicopatología y una perspectiva intercultural también en las poblaciones adultas.

We aimed to determine the similarities and differences in the roles of genic and regulatory copy number variations (CNVs) in bipolar disorder (BD), schizophrenia (SCZ), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Based on high-resolution CNV data from 8708 Japanese samples, we performed to our knowledge the largest cross-disorder analysis of genic and regulatory CNVs in BD, SCZ, and ASD.In genic CNVs, we found an increased burden of smaller (100 kb) exonic deletions in BD, which contrasted with the highest burden of larger (500 kb) exonic CNVs in SCZ/ASD. Pathogenic CNVs linked to neurodevelopmental disorders were significantly associated with the risk for each disorder, but BD and SCZ/ASD differed in terms of the effect size (smaller in BD) and subtype distribution of CNVs linked to neurodevelopmental disorders. We identified 3 synaptic genes (DLG2, PCDH15, and ASTN2) as risk factors for BD. Whereas gene set analysis showed that BD-associated pathways were restricted to chromatin biology, SCZ and ASD involved more extensive and similar pathways. Nevertheless, a correlation analysis of gene set results indicated weak but significant pathway similarities between BD and SCZ or ASD (r = 0.25-0.31). In SCZ and ASD, but not BD, CNVs were significantly enriched in enhancers and promoters in brain tissue.BD and SCZ/ASD differ in terms of CNV burden, characteristics of CNVs linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, and regulatory CNVs. On the other hand, they have shared molecular mechanisms, including chromatin biology. The BD risk genes identified here could provide insight into the pathogenesis of BD.

Contains fulltext : 217516.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Objectives: As the world population ages, psychiatrists will increasingly need instruments for measuring constructs of psychopathology that are generalizable to diverse elders. The study tested whether syndromes of co-occurring problems derived from self-ratings of psychopathology by US elders would fit self-ratings by elders in 19 other societies. Methods/design: The Older Adult Self-Report (OASR) was completed by 12 826 adults who were 60 to 102 years old in 19 societies from North and South America, Asia, and Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Europe, plus the United States. Individual and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) tested the fit of the seven-syndrome OASR model, consisting of the Anxious/Depressed, Worries, Somatic Complaints, Functional Impairment, Memory/Cognition Problems, Thought Problems, and Irritable/Disinhibited syndromes. Results: In individual CFAs, the primary model fit index showed good fit for all societies, while the secondary model fit indices showed acceptable to good fit. The items loaded strongly on their respective factors, with a median item loading of .63 across 20 societies, and 98.7% of the loadings were statistically significant. In multigroup CFAs, 98% of items demonstrated approximate or full metric invariance. Fifteen percent of items demonstrated approximate or full scalar invariance, and another 59% demonstrated scalar invariance across more than half of societies. Conclusions: The findings supported the generalizability of OASR syndromes across societies. The seven syndromes offer empirically based clinical constructs that are relevant for elders of different backgrounds. They can be used to assess diverse elders and as a taxonomic framework to facilitate communication, services, research, and training in geriatric psychiatry. 12 p.

The purpose of this study was to test whether a syndrome model of elder psychopathology derived from collateral ratings, such as from spouses and adult children, in the United States would be generalizable in 11 other societies. Societies represented South America, Asia, and Europe. The Older Adult Behavior Checklist (OABCL) was completed by collateral informants for 6141 60- to 102-year-olds. The tested model comprised syndromes designated as Anxious/Depressed, Worries, Somatic Complaints, Functional Impairment, Memory/Cognition Problems, Thought Problems, and Irritable/Disinhibited. The model was tested using confirmatory factor analyses in each society separately. The primary model fit index showed a good fit for all societies, while the secondary model fit indices showed acceptable to a good fit for all societies. The items loaded strongly on their respective factors, with a median item loading of 0.69 across the 11 societies. By syndrome, the overall median item loadings ranged from 0.47 for Worries to 0.77 for Functional Impairment. The OABCL syndrome structure was thus generalizable across the tested societies. The OABCL can be used for broad assessment of psychopathology for elders of diverse backgrounds in nursing services and research.

Dysregulation of epigenetic processes involving histone methylation induces neurodevelopmental impairments and has been implicated in schizophrenia (SCZ) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Variants in the gene encoding lysine demethylase 4C (KDM4C) have been suggested to confer a risk for such disorders. However, rare genetic variants in KDM4C have not been fully evaluated, and the functional impact of the variants has not been studied using patient-derived cells. In this study, we conducted copy number variant (CNV) analysis in a Japanese sample set (2605 SCZ and 1141 ASD cases, and 2310 controls). We found evidence for significant associations between CNVs in KDM4C and SCZ (p = 0.003) and ASD (p = 0.04). We also observed a significant association between deletions in KDM4C and SCZ (corrected p = 0.04). Next, to explore the contribution of single nucleotide variants in KDM4C, we sequenced the coding exons in a second sample set (370 SCZ and 192 ASD cases) and detected 18 rare missense variants, including p.D160N within the JmjC domain of KDM4C. We, then, performed association analysis for p.D160N in a third sample set (1751 SCZ and 377 ASD cases, and 2276 controls), but did not find a statistical association with these disorders. Immunoblotting analysis using lymphoblastoid cell lines from a case with KDM4C deletion revealed reduced KDM4C protein expression and altered histone methylation patterns. In conclusion, this study strengthens the evidence for associations between KDM4C CNVs and these two disorders and for their potential functional effect on histone methylation patterns.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulty with coordinated fine motor skills, but the degree of difficulty significantly varies from person to person. To elucidate the cause of this diversity, we monitored brain activity during fine movement tasks (tying bowknots) by near-infrared spectroscopy in 17 adults with ASD and 18 adults with typical development matched for age, gender, and intelligence quotient (IQ). We also examined the relationship between brain activation and developmental characteristics, including ASD severity, using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient and the Multi-dimensional Scale for Pervasive Developmental Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Although participants in the ASD group did not show significant clumsiness, their right prefrontal cortexes were relatively less activated, particularly in individuals with poor social skills and inattention. Our study indicates that individuals with ASD traits may use different strategies when performing fine movements; that is, they less use the brain areas responsible for processing visual image or planning behaviors.

Various attempts have been made to elucidate the development patterns in the spontaneous movements of infants through longitudinal evaluations. Movement complexity has been found to demonstrate u-shaped changes in the measurements focusing on limb movements. However, researchers have not yet clarified how other characteristics, besides movement complexity, change over time. This paper presents a longitudinal evaluation of spontaneous movements in infants using evaluation indices calculated through markerless video analysis. Nine infants with corrected ages from $$-1$$ - 1 to 15 weeks participated in the experiments. We confirmed the change in indices over time using statistical methods. Index changes can be classified as positively correlated, u-shaped, inverted u-shaped, and uncorrelated. We also confirmed that the u-shaped and inverted u-shaped indices are negatively correlated. Furthermore, the principal component analysis revealed that the first principal component had the inverted u-shaped changes with the corrected age. These results suggest that it is important to synchronize the inverted u-shaped variations in the movement and velocity with the u-shaped changes in the movement complexity for infant development.

Background Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that has been attributed to heterozygous deletions in chromosome 7q11.23 and exhibits a variety of physical, cognitive, and behavioral features. However, the genetic basis of this phenotypic variability is unclear. In this study, we identified genetic clues underlying these complex phenotypes. Methods Neurobehavioral function was assessed in WS patients and healthy controls. Total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood and subjected to microarray analysis, RNA‐sequencing, and qRT‐PCR. Weighted gene co‐expression network analysis was performed to identify specific alterations related to intermediate disease phenotypes. To functionally interpret each WS‐related module, gene ontology and disease‐related gene enrichment were examined. We also investigated the micro (mi)RNA expression profiles and miRNA co‐expression networks to better explain the regulation of the transcriptome in WS. Results Our analysis identified four significant co‐expression modules related to intermediate WS phenotypes. Notably, the three upregulated WS‐related modules were composed exclusively of genes located outside the 7q11.23 region. They were significantly enriched in genes related to B‐cell activation, RNA processing, and RNA transport. BCL11A, which is known for its association with speech disorders and intellectual disabilities, was identified as one of the hub genes in the top WS‐related module. Finally, these key upregulated mRNA co‐expression modules appear to be inversely correlated with a specific downregulated WS‐related miRNA co‐expression module. Conclusions Dysregulation of the mRNA/miRNA network involving genes outside of the 7q11.23 region is likely related to the complex phenotypes observed in WS patients., Read the Commentary on this article at doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13056

Increasing evidence suggests that epigenetic mechanisms play a role in the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To date, several studies have attempted to identify epigenetic biomarkers for ASD. However, reliable markers remain to be established and most of these studies have focused on pediatric patients with ASD. In this study, we sought to find an epigenetic DNA methylation biomarker from peripheral blood for adult patients with high-functioning ASD. DNA methylation profiles were analyzed using the Illumina 450 K methylation array. To identify robust candidate markers, we employed two types of machine-learning algorithms for marker selection. We identified a potential marker (cg20793532) for which is the AUC value was 0.79. Notably, cg20793532 was annotated to the PPP2R2C gene, which was hypermethylated and down-regulated in blood from ASD patients compared to that in the controls. Although requiring careful interpretation, this pilot study seems to provide a potential blood biomarker for identifying individuals with high-functioning ASD.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social communication deficits and repetitive behaviors. Owing to the difficulty of clinical diagnosis, ASD without intellectual disability (i.e., high-functioning ASD) is often overlooked. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been recently recognized as potential biomarkers of ASD as they are dysregulated in various tissues of individuals with ASD. However, it remains unclear whether miRNA expression is altered in individuals with high-functioning ASD. Here, we investigated the miRNA expression profile in peripheral blood from adults with high-functioning ASD, and age and gender-matched healthy controls. We identified miR-6126 as being robustly down-regulated in ASD and correlated with the severity of social deficits. Enrichment analysis of predicted target genes revealed potential association with neurons, synapses, and oxytocin signaling pathways. Our findings may provide insights regarding the molecular clues for recognizing high-functioning ASD.

The relationship between unusual sensory features (hyper-reactivity, hypo-reactivity, and unusual sensory interests) and the parasympathetic nervous system in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has recently garnered interest. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether unusual sensory features are associated with resting-state cardiac vagus nerve activity in ASD children. Electrocardiogram signals were recorded during three 2-min resting periods to quantify the high frequency (HF) component of heart rate variability (HRV) in 37 children with ASD aged 6–12 and 32 typically developing children. Parent-reported questionnaires (Short Sensory Profile, SSP; Social Responsiveness Scale-2, SRS-2) assessed atypical sensory behaviors in daily life and autistic traits. Children with ASD consistently showed lower HF-HRV than typically developing children across the three resting periods. The SSP “ Visual/Auditory Sensitivity ” score was correlated with resting-state HF-HRV in the ASD group, indicating that ASD children with more severe visual/auditory hyper-reactivity in daily life have lower vagus nerve activity. The SRS-2 “ Restricted Interests and Repetitive Behavior ” score was also correlated with resting-state HF-HRV in the ASD group. These findings suggest that ASD children with lower vagus nerve activity may have inadequate self-regulatory capacity and difficulty regulating behavioral responses to unpredictable and unavoidable visual/auditory stimuli in daily life.

This study tested for similarities and differences across societies in self-ratings ofproblems, personal strengths, and aspects of adaptive functioning on the Adult Self-Report (ASR) for nonclinical samples of adults ages 18 to 59 in 17 societies (N 10,197). Results indicated considerable consistency across societies regarding meanratings on the ASR problem items. Most effect sizes (ESs) for societal differences inproblem scales were small (2?5%). Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysesindicated that culture clusters and society accounted for small percentages of variancein Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems scores, with most of the variationaccounted for by individual differences within societies. In contrast to the small effectsof society on problem scores, for the ASR Personal Strengths scale the societal ES was 34%and culture cluster accounted for 12% of the variance. Worse reported relations withspouse/partner were associated with higher problem scores. Overall, findings indicatedconsiderable similarity but also some important differences in self-reported problems andadaptive functioning across 17 societies. Fil: Rescorla, Leslie A.. Bryn Mawr College; Estados Unidos Fil: Achenbach, Thomas M.. University Of Vermont.; Estados Unidos Fil: Ivanova, Masha Y.. University Of Vermont.; Estados Unidos Fil: Turner, Lori V.. University Of Vermont.; Estados Unidos Fil: Althoff, Robert R.. University Of Vermont.; Estados Unidos Fil: Árnadóttir, Hervör Alma. University of Iceland; Islandia Fil: Au, Alma. Hong Kong Polytechnic University; China Fil: Bellina, Monica. Eugenio Medea Scientific Institute; Italia Fil: Caldas, J. C.. Instituto Superior de Ciencias da Saude-Norte; Brasil Fil: Chen, Yi-Chuen. National Chung Cheng University; China Fil: Csemy, Ladislav. National Institute of Mental Health; Estados Unidos Fil: da Rocha, Marina M.. Mackenzie Presbyterian University; Brasil Fil: Decoster, Jeroen. University of Ghent; Bélgica Fil: Fontaine, Johnny R. J.. University of Ghent; Bélgica Fil: Funabiki, Yasuko. Kyoto University Hospital; Japón Fil: Guðmundsson, Halldór S.. University of Iceland; Islandia Fil: Harder, Valerie S.. University Of Vermont.; Estados Unidos Fil: Kim, Young Ah. No especifíca; Fil: Leung, Patrick. The Chinese University of Hong Kong; China Fil: Ndetei, David M.. Africa Mental Health Foundation; Kenia Fil: Srdanovic Maraš, Jelena. Clinical Center of Vojvodina; Serbia Fil: Markovic, Jasminka. Clinical Center of Vojvodina; Serbia Fil: Oh, Kyung Ja. Yonsei University; Corea del Sur Fil: Samaniego, Virginia Corina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires"; Argentina Fil: Sebre, Sandra. University of Latvia; Letonia Fil: Silvares, Edwiges. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil Fil: Simulioniene, Roma. Klaipeda University; Lituania Fil: Sokoli, Elvisa. University of Tirana; Albania Fil: Vázquez, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires"; Argentina Fil: Zasepa, Ewa. The Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education; Polonia

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often supported in daily life by visual presentations such as picture cards or illustrations. Therefore, they are considered to have visual strength. However, whether people with ASD are cognitively superior in visual processing and what causes the difference between visual and other sensory processing remain unknown. Thus, we compared visual and auditory processing from an aspect of memory in people with ASD and controls. We conducted the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) with 64 adults with ASD and 30 controls matched for gender, age, and Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FIQ). Our results showed that participants with ASD were inferior in visual working memory (P < .01), on a task in which a visual target was pointed every second. Another visual memory, namely, Visual Reproduction in which four geometric figures were presented each by 10 sec, and auditory memory, including working memory, revealed no significant differences between groups. Other visual memory, namely, Visual Paired Associates in which paired presentations were shown every 3 sec, had weak differences (P = .019). Thus, people with ASD might have difficulties processing rapid visual information. Autism Res 2018, 11: 1245-1252. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Autistic people are often supported by visual presentations. In this study, we inspected whether they have visual superiority. We showed that they were not visually superior in cognitive aspects, and were poor not at auditory but at visual working memory. Static visual memory in which memorization time is longer than that in working memory was intact in autism. Unusual rapid visual presentation may bother people with autism.

Autism is characterized by two primary characteristics: deficits in social interaction and repetitive behavioral patterns. Because interpersonal communication is extremely complicated, its underlying brain mechanisms remain unclear. Here we showed that both characteristics can be explained by a unifying underlying mechanism related to difficulties with irregularities. To address the issues, we measured electroencephalographm during a cooperative tapping task, which required participants to tap a key alternately and synchronously with constant rhythmic a PC program, a variable rhythmic PC program, or a human partner. We found that people with autism had great difficulty synchronizing tapping behavior with others, and exhibited greater than normal theta-wave (6 Hz) activity in the frontal cortex during the task, especially when their partner behaved somewhat irregularly (i.e. a variable rhythmic PC program or a human partner). Importantly, the higher theta-wave activity was related to the severity of autism, not the performance on the task. This indicates that people with autism need to use intense cognition when trying to adapt to irregular behavior and can easily become overtaxed. Difficulty adapting to irregular behavior in others is likely related to their own tendencies for repetitive and regular behaviors. Thus, while the two characteristics of autism have been comprehended separately, our unifying theory makes understanding the condition and developing therapeutic strategies more tractable., 自閉スペクトラム症者のコミュニケーション障害に関する新たな視点 --最新の脳波技術を用いた科学的根拠による理解の促進--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2017-11-10.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) can demonstrate hypersensitivity to sounds as well as a lack of awareness of them. Several functional imaging studies have suggested an abnormal response in the auditory cortex of such subjects, but it is not known whether these subjects have dysfunction in the auditory cortex or are simply not listening. We measured changes in blood oxygenated hemoglobin (OxyHb) in the prefrontal and temporal cortices using near-infrared spectroscopy during various listening and ignoring tasks in 11 ASD and 12 control subjects. Here we show that the auditory cortex in ASD subjects responds to sounds fully during attention. OxyHb in the auditory cortex increased with intentional listening but not with ignoring of the same auditory stimulus in a similar fashion in both groups. Cortical responses differed not in the auditory but in the prefrontal region between the ASD and control groups. Thus, unawareness to sounds in ASD could be interpreted as due to inattention rather than dysfunction of the auditory cortex. Difficulties in attention control may account for the contrary behaviors of hypersensitivity and unawareness to sound in ASD.

To advance international mental health assessment, instruments that have been internationally validated are needed. To this end, we analyzed ratings from 14 societies on the Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL), a collateral-report form parallel to the Adult Self-Report (ASR; Achenbach and Rescorla 2003) for ages 18 to 59. Both the ABCL and the ASR assess problems, personal strengths, and adaptive functioning. For a sample of 8322 see note below collaterals, we found strong consistency across societies regarding which ABCL problem items tended to obtain relatively low, medium, or high ratings. Most societal effect sizes (ESs) for problem scale scores were small to medium (< 13.9 %), but the ES for the ABCL Personal Strengths scale was 25 %. For most of the same participants (N = 8,302), we analyzed cross-informant agreement between self-reports on the ASR and collateral reports on the ABCL. Cross-informant correlations for problem scale scores averaged.47, with considerable societal variation. Problem score means were higher on the ASR than the ABCL in every society, but the size of the difference varied across societies. Mean item ratings on the ABCL and ASR were highly correlated within every society (mean r = .92), but within-dyad item rating agreement varied widely in every society (mean r = .39). In all societies, non-corroboration of self-reported deviance and of collateral-reported deviance was common. Overall findings indicated considerable similarity but also some important differences in collateral-reported problems and adaptive functioning across 14 societies. Fil: Rescorla, L.A. Bryn Mawr College; Estados Unidos Fil: Achenbach, T.M.. University of Vermont; Estados Unidos Fil: Ivanova, M.Y. University of Vermont; Estados Unidos Fil: Turner, L.V. University of Vermont; Estados Unidos Fil: Árnadóttir, Hervör. University of Iceland; Islandia Fil: Au, Alma. Hong Kong Polytechnic University; China Fil: Caldas,J. C.. Instituto Superior de Ciencias da Saude-Norte; Portugal Fil: Chen, Y.. National Chung-Cheng University; China Fil: Decoster, J.. University of Ghent; Bélgica Fil: Fontaine,J.R.J.. University of Ghent; Bélgica Fil: Funabiki,Y.. Kyoto University; Japón Fil: Gudmundsson,H.. University of Iceland; Islandia Fil: Leung, P.. The Chinese University of Hong Kong; China Fil: Liu, J.. University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos Fil: Maras, J,S.. No especifíca; Fil: Markovic, J.. No especifíca; Fil: Oh, Kyung Ja. Yonsei University; Corea del Sur Fil: da Rocha,M.. Mackenzie Presbyterian University; Brasil Fil: Samaniego, Virginia Corina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires". Facultad de Psicología y Psicopedagogía. Centro de Investigaciones en Psicología y Psicopedagogía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Silvares, E.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil Fil: Simulioniene, R.. Klaipeda University; Lituania Fil: Vázquez, Natalia. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires". Facultad de Psicología y Psicopedagogía. Centro de Investigaciones en Psicología y Psicopedagogía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Zasepa, Ewa. The Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education; Polonia

Fil: Ivanova, Masha Y. University of Vermont; Estados Unidos Fil: Achenbach, Thomas M. University of Vermont; Estados Unidos Fil: Rescorla, Leslie A. Bryn Mawr College. Department of Psychology; Estados Unidos Fil: Tumer, Lori V. University of Vermont; Estados Unidos Fil: Ahmeti-Pronaj, Adelina. University Clinical Center of Kosova. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Kosovo Fil: Au, Alma. Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Department of Applied Social Sciences; China Fil: Maese, Carmen Ávila. El Colegio de Chihuahua; México Fil: Bellina, Mónica. Eugenio Medea Scientific Institute. Department of Child Psychiatry; Italia Fil: Caldas, J. Carlos. Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde. Departamento de Ciências Sociais e do Comportamento; Brasil Fil: Chen, Yi Chuen. National Chung Cheng University. Department of Psychology; Taiwan Fil: Csemy, Ladislav. Laboratory of Social Psychiatry. Prague Psychiatric Centre; República Checa Fil: da Rocha, Marina M. University Paulista. Institute of Human Sciences; Brasil Fil: Decoster, Jeroen. Ghent University. Department of Personnel Management, Work, and Organizational Psychology; Bélgica Fil: Dobrean, Anca. Babes-Bolyai University; Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy; Rumania Fil: Ezpeleta, Lourdes. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Departament de Psicologia Clinica i de la Salut; España Fil: Fontaine, Johnny R. J. Ghent University. Department of Personnel Management, Work, and Organizational Psychology; Bélgica Fil: Funabiki, Yasuko. Kyoto University Hospital. Department of Psychiatry; Japón Fil: Gudmundsson, Halldór S. University of Iceland. Faculty of Social Work; Islandia Fil: Harder, Valerie S. University of Vermont; Estados Unidos Fil: de la Cabada, Marie Leiner. Texas Tech University Health Sciences. Department of Pediatrics; Estados Unidos Fil: Leung, Patrick. The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Department of Psychology; China Fil: Liu, Jianghong. University of Pennsylvania. School of Nursing and Medicine; Estados Unidos Fil: Mahr, Safia. Université Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense. Laboratoire EVACLIPSY. Departement de Psychologie; Francia Fil: Malykh, Sergey. Psychological Institute of Russian Academy of Education; Rusia Fil: Maras, Jelena Srdanovic. Clinical Center of Vojvodina; Serbia Fil: Marković, Jasminka. University of Novi Sad. Medical Faculty Novi Sad, Clinical Center of Vojvodina; Serbia Fil: Ndetei, David M. Africa Mental Health Foundation; Kenia Fil: Oh, Kyung Ja. Yonsei University. Department of Psychology; Corea del Sur Fil: Petot, Jean-Michel. Université de Paris Ouest. Laboratoire EVACLIPSY. Departement de Psychologie; Francia Fil: Riad, Geylan. Helwan University; Egipto Fil: Sakarya, Direnc. Ankara University. Faculty of Medicine. Department of Psychiatry; Turquía Fil: Samaniego, Virginia Corina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina. Facultad de Psicología y Psicopedagogía; Argentina Fil: Sebre, Sandra. University of Latvia. Department of Psychology; Letonia Fil: Shahini, Mimoza. University Clinical Center of Kosova. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Kosovo Fil: Silvares, Edwiges Ferreira de Mattos. University of São Paulo. Instituto de Psicologia; Brasil Fil: Šimulionienė, Roma. Klaipeda University. Department of Psychology; Lituania Fil: Sokoli, Elvisa. University of Tirana. Department of Psychology; Albania Fil: Aston University. School of Life and Health Sciences. Aston Brain Centre; Inglaterra Fil: Vázquez, Natalia. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina. Facultad de Psicología y Psicopedagogía; Argentina Fil: Zasępa, Ewa. The Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education; Polonia Abstract: This study tested the multi-society generalizability of an eight-syndrome assessment model derived from factor analyses of American adults' self-ratings of 120 behavioral, emotional, and social problems. The Adult Self-Report (ASR; Achenbach and Rescorla 2003) was completed by 17,152 18-59-year-olds in 29 societies. Confirmatory factor analyses tested the fit of self-ratings in each sample to the eight-syndrome model. The primary model fit index (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) showed good model fit for all samples, while secondary indices showed acceptable to good fit. Only 5 (0.06%) of the 8,598 estimated parameters were outside the admissible parameter space. Confidence intervals indicated that sampling fluctuations could account for the deviant parameters. Results thus supported the tested model in societies differing widely in social, political, and economic systems, languages, ethnicities, religions, and geographical regions. Although other items, societies, and analytic methods might yield different results, the findings indicate that adults in very diverse societies were willing and able to rate themselves on the same standardized set of 120 problem items. Moreover, their self-ratings fit an eight-syndrome model previously derived from self-ratings by American adults. The support for the statistically derived syndrome model is consistent with previous findings for parent, teacher, and self-ratings of 1½-18-year-olds in many societies. The ASR and its parallel collateral-report instrument, the Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL), may offer mental health professionals practical tools for the multi-informant assessment of clinical constructs of adult psychopathology that appear to be meaningful across diverse societies.

Memory function is an important determinant of behavioral manifestations and social adaptations in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While a number of studies have examined memory function in people with ASD, whether impaired memory is characteristic of ASD is unclear. This controversy is likely because of the heterogeneity of the ASD population. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between memory function and the severity of various autistic symptoms. Therefore, to assess such relationships, we used the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised and the Multi-dimensional Scale for Pervasive developmental disorder and Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which encompasses symptoms comorbid with ASD, to assess 36 individuals with high-functioning ASD. Participants showed average performance in the memory battery. Interestingly, scores reflecting fine motor skills were significantly associated with visual memory performance. That is, individuals with ASD who exhibit impaired fine motor skills showed poor visual memory. This finding implies that memory variability may be associated with developmental trajectory in people with ASD.

Our communication includes behavioral synchronization with sudden changes of other’s rhythms. However, it is not clear about its neural mechanism. Here, we compared the behaviors and brain activities between the normal and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) subjects in an alternating tapping task which required subjects to synchronize the tapping intervals with a virtual person (PC program) who tapped at a constant interval or a variable interval. Behavioral results showed no significant difference between the normal and ASD subjects under the constant-interval condition. In contrast, the rates of synchronization of the normal subjects were higher than those of the ASD subjects under the variable-interval condition. EEG results showed alpha modulations (10–12 Hz) in the motor cortex were larger for the normal subjects than the ASD subjects under the variable condition, whereas there was no difference under the constant condition. Our results suggested that the synchronization with other’s sudden variable rhythms would be associated with the motor alpha modulations.

An 83-year-old man had an influenza-like upper respiratory infection that progressed to pneumonia and respiratory insufficiency during a period two weeks. After admission, anti-influenza A antibody increased 32-fold and antibiotic treatment had little effect on the pneumonia. Aspergillus antigen was detected from his serum and pleural effusion, however, culture of sputum was negative for aspergillus. Administration of amphotericin B reduced the serum level of aspergillus antigen, however he died due to the progression of respiratory insufficiency and bloody sputum. Aspergillus infection is generally thought to occur in immunocompromised hosts, but this patient had no apparent immunosuppressive conditions except for his age before the influenza A infection. His WBC and lymphocyte count temporally decreased to 2,000 x 10(6)/L (lymphocytes 160 x 10(6)/L) followed by aspergillus infection. This temporally reduction of lymphocytes is thought to have been responsible for the aspergillus infection. Complications of influenza infection are sometimes fatal and vaccination against influenza seems necessary in high risk individuals such as elderly people.

A novel assessment scale, the multi-dimensional scale for pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (MSPA), is reported. Existing assessment scales are intended to establish each diagnosis. However, the diagnosis by itself does not always capture individual characteristics or indicate the level of support required, since inter-individual differences are substantial and co-morbidity is common. The MSPA consists of 14 domains and each domain is rated by a nine-point quantitative scale. The clinical and behavioral features are projected onto a radar-chart, which facilitates understanding of the disorders both by the patients themselves and by those in their surroundings. We assessed 179 patients and analyzed features by six diagnostic subgroups, which showed relationships between features and diagnoses. The inter-rater reliability was satisfactory.

症例は68歳,男性.肝膿瘍で入院加療中,溶血所見,意識障害,破砕赤血球等を認め,血栓性血小板減少性紫斑病(TTP)と診断.同時にLiddle症候群様の電解質異常も認め,血漿交換及びトリアムテレン投与を行った.経過中一度同病態を繰り返したが, 2カ月かけて上記状態より脱することができた.本例では増悪期の血液培養より,溶血環を呈す同じグラム陰性桿菌が2度検出されており,本病態との関連性に関して考察する.

Song learning takes place in two separate or partially overlapping periods, a sensory phase in which a tutor song is memorized and a sensorimotor phase in which a copy of the model is produced. The stage of song development where song becomes stable and stereotyped is called crystallization. Adult birds usually do not learn new song in many species including the zebra finch. However, it is not known whether song crystallization as such or aging impedes adult learning. Exposure to loud noises prevents birds from developing and crystallizing their song, because they cannot control their voice by auditory feedback. Zebra finches even without previous experience of hearing or singing a song failed to learn a song model provided in adulthood. Thus, neither the absence of a tutor song nor the lack of song crystallization enables new song learning in adulthood, but age per se limits the ability or motivation to learn song.

Songbirds first memorize a tutor song in youth and develop their own song after the remembered model. As birds sexually mature, their song becomes crystallized and refractory to further tutoring. Here, we show that the song syllables of adult zebra finches gradually drift from their once crystallized forms, when individual birds are kept in auditory isolation or in company of cage mates singing different song syllables. Furthermore, when birds with drifted syllables are tutored with the same model again, they amend the fine structure of their syllables towards the model. In contrast, retutoring does not affect syllable sequences that differ from those of the original tutor.

A 69-year-old man with chronic alcoholism was admitted to our hospital due to disturbance of consciousness and oliguria. Emergency laboratory examination revealed metabolic acidosis, hypoglycemia, hyponatremia, mild liver dysfunction, acute renal failure and rhabdomyolysis. After administration of fluids and nutrients and continuous hemodiafiltration, he recovered from all signs and symptoms except for disturbance of consciousness after 7 days. Since severe hypophosphatemia persisted, we administered adequate phosphates, and then his level of consciousness normalized. We discuss the relationships among alcohol abuse, hypophosphatemia and disturbance of consciousness, and recommend that hypophosphatemia be considered a potential cause of disturbance of consciousness in alcoholic patients.