Wakako Sanefuji

Long-Term Administration of Intranasal Oxytocin Is a Safe and Promising Therapy for Early Adolescent Boys with Autism Spectrum Disorders

OBJECTIVE Oxytocin (OT) has been a candidate for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and the impact of intranasally delivered OT on ASD has been investigated. However, most previous studies were conducted by single-dose administration to adults; and, therefore, the long-term effect of nasal OT on ASD patients and its effect on children remain to be clarified. METHODS We conducted a singled-armed, open-label study in which OT was administered intranasally over the long term to eight male youth with ASD (10-14 years of age; intelligence quotient [IQ] 20-101). The OT administration was performed in a stepwise increased dosage manner every 2 months (8, 16, 24 IU/dose). A placebo period (1-2 weeks) was inserted before each step. The outcome measures were autism diagnostic observation schedule--generic (ADOS-G), child behavior checklist (CBCL), and the aberrant behavior checklist (ABC). In addition, side effects were monitored by measuring blood pressure and examining urine and blood samples. RESULTS Six of the eight participants showed improved scores on the communication and social interaction domains of the ADOS-G. However, regarding the T-scores of the CBCL and the scores of the ABC, we could not find any statistically significant improvement, although several subcategories showed a mild tendency for improvement. Caregivers of five of the eight participants reported certain positive effects of the OT therapy, especially on the quality of reciprocal communication. All participants showed excellent compliance and no side effects. CONCLUSIONS Although our results on the efficacy of long-term nasal OT therapy still remain controversial, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report documenting the safety of long-term nasal OT therapy for children with ASD. Even though our data are too preliminary to draw any definite conclusions about efficacy, they do suggest this therapy to be safe, promising, and worthy of a large-scale, double-blind placebo-controlled study.

Development of preference for baby faces across species in humans (Homo sapiens)

Previous studies have revealed that there is a close relationship between the strength of an infant’s baby schema and the degree of its perceived cuteness. The present study investigated the development of preference for baby schema in humans by examining the recognition of the cuteness of baby faces; two studies were conducted to examine whether children’s evaluation of cuteness differed from that of adults. Facial photographs not only of humans (Homo sapiens), but a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), dogs (Canis familiaris) and cats (Felis sylvestris catus) at different ages were used as stimuli. The volunteers were requested to rank these photographs in order of cuteness. Study 1 suggested that there was a range of period during which adults perceived the faces of these five species to be the cutest. Study 2 indicated that children’s judgment of cuteness closely corresponded to that of the adults. In conclusion, the preference for baby schema is observed in humans even before they get to be sexually mature enough to reproduce. Childhood preference for baby schema might be the basis of social learning, including caretaking behaviors.

Differential responses of primary auditory cortex in autistic spectrum disorder with auditory hypersensitivity.

The aim of this study was to investigate the differential responses of the primary auditory cortex to auditory stimuli in autistic spectrum disorder with or without auditory hypersensitivity. Auditory-evoked field values were obtained from 18 boys (nine with and nine without auditory hypersensitivity) with autistic spectrum disorder and 12 age-matched controls. Autistic disorder with hypersensitivity showed significantly more delayed M50/M100 peak latencies than autistic disorder without hypersensitivity or the control. M50 dipole moments in the hypersensitivity group were statistically larger than those in the other two groups. M50/M100 peak latencies were correlated with the severity of auditory hypersensitivity; furthermore, severe hypersensitivity induced more behavioral problems. This study indicates auditory hypersensitivity in autistic spectrum disorder as a characteristic response of the primary auditory cortex, possibly resulting from neurological immaturity or functional abnormalities in it.

Long-term developmental outcome in patients with West syndrome after epilepsy surgery.

It has been hypothesized that early seizure control may prevent children with intractable epileptic spasms (ES) from developmental regression and may contribute to better developmental outcome. The effectiveness of surgery for ES has been reported. We investigated long-term post-operative outcomes of seizure control and development in patients with symptomatic West syndrome (S-WS) who underwent epilepsy surgery. Six children who underwent surgical intervention for intractable ES were retrospectively investigated. Cortical malformations were observed on pre-operative MRI in all patients, with hemispheric or multilobar involvement in four children and focal lesions in two. Following surgery, we measured motor function, developmental age (DA), language skills, and sociopsychological function for up to 7years (mean, 4.9years). Post-operative seizure outcome was Engel Class I (n=4) or III (n=2). Motor function and DA was increased following surgery in six and five patients, respectively. Two patients started to speak in sentences following focal resection. Autistic features were noted in four of the five examined patients post-operatively. None of the patients showed developmental regression following surgery. Epilepsy surgery for S-WS with ES may result in good seizure control and improvement in motor development. Improvement in cognitive function was modest in this small cohort of children and autistic features were noted post-operatively in a substantial proportion of the children. While seizure control can be obtained by epilepsy surgery, early intervention for sociopsychological comorbidities may be warranted in children with S-WS.

Can They See It? The Functional Field of View Is Narrower in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Although social cognitive deficits have long been thought to underlie the characteristic and pervasive difficulties with social interaction observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), several recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies have indicated that visual perceptual impairments might also play a role. People with ASD show a robust bias towards detailed information at the expense of global information, although the mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon remain elusive. To address this issue, we investigated the functional field of view in a group of high-functioning children with autism (n = 13) and a paired non-ASD group (n = 13). Our results indicate that the ability to correctly detect and identify stimuli sharply decreases with greater eccentricity from the fovea in people with ASD. Accordingly, a probe analysis revealed that the functional field of view in the ASD group was only about 6.62° of retinal eccentricity, compared with 8.57° in typically developing children. Thus, children with ASD appear to have a narrower functional field of view. These results challenge the conventional hypothesis that the deficit in global processing in individuals with ASD is solely due to weak central coherence. Alternatively, our data suggest that a narrower functional field of view may also contribute to this bias.

The boundaries of overimitation in preschool children: Effects of target and tool use on imitation of irrelevant actions

Overimitation is defined as the imitation of a series of actions, including causally irrelevant ones. Although previous studies have indicated that childrens overimitation tends to be flexible, there is no research directly comparing overimitation occurrences due to types of irrelevant actions such as the target of irrelevant action or tool use. To identify the boundary of overimitation-that is, the point at which it occurs or not-Study 1 focused on the target of causally irrelevant tool-using actions. Specifically, the study examined the demonstration of irrelevant actions toward a main apparatus, a disconnected apparatus, or an actors own body, followed by the demonstration of causally relevant actions, to 2-, 3-, and 5-year-old children (N=59). Results indicated that children overimitated actions toward the apparatuses more than they did the actions toward an actors body. These results showed that overimitation was affected by the target, the apparatus, or the actors own body. Study 2 investigated the effect of tool use toward the disconnected apparatus or an actors body based on the findings in Study 1. Concretely, Study 2 added two actions without tool use (e.g., action toward an actors own body without tool use and action toward an apparatus without tool use) to Study 1s actions for comparison. The results of this study showed that children overimitated the action toward the apparatus and the action with the tool more than the action toward an actors own body and the action without the tool. Taken together, these findings suggest that two factors are involved in the occurrence of overimitation: the target of the action (i.e., the apparatus) and the use of a tool. The current findings provide suggestions for considering important aspects of overimitation that are worthy of more attention.

Children's Other-Oriented Behaviors in Distress Situations

Abstract Children’s other-oriented behaviors in distress situations, when observed, appear to be different depending on the kind of distress situations. The authors investigated developmental differences in children’s other-oriented behaviors by comparing two distress situations: participant-caused/other-victim and other-caused/participant-victim situations. The kinds of other-oriented behaviors younger and older children engaged in were observed under an experimental setting—two tasks that involved accidentally collapsing the object the other constructed. The results showed that other-oriented behaviors were observed irrespective of age and situations. However, the developmental changes of these behaviors were different between the two situations: Older children showed more kinds of other-oriented behaviors than younger children did in the participant-caused situation, whereas no differences between ages were observed in the participant-victim situation. Other-oriented behaviors toward the victim when the participants were at fault appeared to develop during the preschool years, whereas other-oriented behaviors toward those responsible for participants’ distress appeared to be difficult for preschoolers. The developmental origin of and changes in other-oriented behaviors in cases when children are victims should be further investigated, in additional age groups, as should the influence of cultural context.

Preschoolers’ Development of Theory of Mind: The Contribution of Understanding Psychological Causality in Stories

This study investigated the relationship between children’s abilities to understand causal sequences and another’s false belief. In Experiment 1, we tested 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old children (n = 28, 28, 27, and 27, respectively) using false belief and picture sequencing tasks involving mechanical, behavioral, and psychological causality. Understanding causal sequences in mechanical, behavioral, and psychological stories was related to understanding other’s false beliefs. In Experiment 2, children who failed the initial false belief task (n = 50) were reassessed 5 months later. High scorers in the sequencing of the psychological stories in Experiment 1 were more likely to pass the standard false belief task than were the low scorers. Conversely, understanding causal sequences in the mechanical and behavioral stories in Experiment 1 did not predict passing the false belief task in Experiment 2. Thus, children may understand psychological causality before they are able to use it to understand false beliefs.