background: transforming growth factor-β1 (tgf-β1) has been found to play a crucial role in early central nervous system development. several studies have illustrated decreased tgf-β1 levels in sera and brains of autistic children. two point mutations in the tgf-β1 signal peptide at 869t/c and 915g/c have been reported to influence tgf-β1 expression. the aim of the present study was to investig...

the concept of theory of mind (tom) refers to the ability to predict and explain feelings, thoughts, ideas and intentions of self and others. patients with autism spectrum disorders (asd) show a deficient development of theory of mind. specifically, individuals with autism spectrum disorders fail to understand not only that others have minds, but also that other minds have different thoughts, a...

how to cite this article: mohammadi mr, salmanian m, akhondzadeh sh. autism spectrum disorders in iran. iranian journal of child neurology2011;5(4):1-9. objective autistic disorder, asperger syndrome, and pdd-not otherwise specified are subsets of autism spectrum disorders (asds), which are characterized by impairments in social communication and stereotyped behavior. this article reviews the p...

The Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia was modified for use in children and adolescents with autism by developing additional screening questions and coding options that reflect the presentation of psychiatric disorders in autism spectrum disorders. The modified instrument, the Autism Comorbidity Interview-Present and Lifetime Version (ACI-PL), was piloted and frequently d...

introduction emerging hypotheses suggest a causal role for prenatal androgen exposure in some cases of autism spectrum disorders (asd). the ratios of the lengths of the bones of the 2nd to the 4th digits (2d:4d) are purported to be markers for prenatal androgen exposure and to be established early in gestation. ratio of second and fourth digits (2d:4d)  is usually used as a proxy for prenatal t...

visual memory is an important cognitive ability, which has been studied in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (asds). in such studies meaningful shapes were used more frequently. since meaningless shapes provide a better assessment of short term visual memory, in this study we used them to evaluate visual memory in children and adolescents with asds compared to the normal group.four vis...

objective: the present study has been carried out to develop social cognition interventional program (scip) based on theory of mind (tom), and to investigate its effects on high-functional autistic (hfa) children's social function. methods: present study was completely experimental and its participants were randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group (among 14 hfa, 7 in experim...

Currently, many studies show the effectiveness of elimination (gluten-free and case-free) diets in correcting not only the symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders in patients with autism but also in correcting behavioral indicators. The results of the inclusion of gluten and case free diets were analyzed in the complex of therapeutic measures in a child with autism spectrum disorders. The ...