Similar behavioral deficits are shared between individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their first-degree relatives, such as impaired face memory, object recognition, and some language aspects. Functional neuroimaging studies have reported abnormalities in ASD in at least one brain area implicated in those functions, the fusiform gyrus (FG). High frequency oscillations have also be...

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of devastating neurodevelopmental syndromes that affect up to 1 in 68 children. Despite advances in the identification of ASD risk genes, the mechanisms underlying ASDs remain unknown. Homozygous loss-of-function mutations in Contactin Associated Protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) are strongly linked to ASDs. Here we investigate the function of Cntnap2 and und...

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in the investigation of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We carried out a systematic review and ALE meta-analysis of fMRI studies of ASD. A disturbance to the function of social brain regions is among the most well replicated finding. Differences in social brain activation may relate to a lac...

Background: Autism is a neurological disorder that limits communication, socialization, and participation of children in symbolic play. Sensory processing disorders are common characteristics (45% to 96%) of children with pervasive development disorders, including. Sleep disorders are also more prevalent in autistic children than in normal children. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate t...

Melatonin is involved in the regulation of circadian and seasonal rhythms and immune function. Prior research reported low melatonin levels in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). ASMT located in pseudo-autosomal region 1 encodes the last enzyme of the melatonin biosynthesis pathway. A previous study reported an association between ASD and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs4446909 and rs5989...

Increasing neuroimaging evidence suggests that autism patients exhibit abnormal brain structure and function. We used the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) sample to analyze locally focal (~8 mm) functional connectivity of 223 autism patients and 285 normal controls from 15 international sites using a recently developed surface-based approach. We observed enhanced local connectivity in...

Autism is a ‘spectrum’ of conditions all of which disturb the development of interpersonal sympathy. We suggest that differences in behavior, emotion or brain functions are downstream effects of impairments in primary or secondary intersubjectivity. Several research projects have shown that the lack of intersubjective behaviors is the best way to discriminate children with autism from those wit...

Studies assessing sex/gender differences in autism spectrum conditions often fail to include typically developing control groups. It is, therefore, unclear whether observed sex/gender differences reflect those found in the general population or are particular to autism spectrum conditions. A systematic search identified articles comparing behavioural and cognitive characteristics in males and f...

Objective: To investigate cerebellar function in autism by measuring visually guided saccades. Methods: A visually guided saccade task was performed by 46 high-functioning individuals with autism with and without delayed language acquisition, and 104 age and IQ matched healthy individuals. Results: Individuals with autism had increased variability in saccade accuracy, and only those without del...

background: autism spectrum disorder (asd) is a neurological disorder typically appearing before the age of three . the exact cause of autism remains uncertain, and several factors may be involved in its onset: genetic factors and possible environmental factors. the aim of this study was to assess the correlates of autism in the lebanese population. methods: we investigated the association of a...