The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of background music on children’s recognition of emotions depicted in photographs of human faces. In individual testing sessions, 30 typically developing children and 20 children with high-functioning autism rated the emotions in 30 photographs while listening to background music intended to convey happiness and again while listening to background music intended to convey sadness. The photographs included 10 examples of happy expressions, 10 examples of neutral expressions, and 10 examples of sad expressions. The 7-point response scale ranged from very sad to very happy. Music listening conditions were counterbalanced. Overall, participants in both groups accurately discriminated among the three categories of photographs, although the variances among ratings in each category were somewhat greater for the participants with autism. A significant two-way interaction revealed that participants’ ratings of happy and neutral faces were unaffected by music conditions, but the sad faces were perceived to be sadder when participants listened to sad music than when they listened to happy music. Across both music conditions, typically developing children rated the happy faces as happier and the sad faces as sadder than did the participants with autism. Response times of the typically developing children were consistently shorter than were the response times of the children with autism, and both groups took longer to rate the sad faces than they took to rate the happy faces. Response times of typically developing children were generally unaffected by the music condition, but children with autism took longer to respond when listening to sad music than when listening to happy music. These results indicate that music may affect perceptions of emotion in children with autism, and that perceptions of sad facial expressions seem to be more affected by background music than are perceptions of happy or neutral faces. / text

Executive functioning abilities, including abstract reasoning, are often reported as weaknesses in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The current study examines reasoning through a different approach by utilizing the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of intelligence, which is a widely accepted, research-based model that defines reasoning or fluid intelligence (Gf) and outlines those smaller skills of which it is composed. The Woodcock-Johnson, Third Edition (WJ III) is a test battery based on CHC theory, assessing the broad and narrow abilities of the model. Young men with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs) and neurotypical controls were given the WJ III tasks that assess the four narrow abilities of fluid intelligence - general sequential reasoning/deductive reasoning (RG), induction/inductive reasoning (I), speed of reasoning (RE), and quantitative reasoning/math reasoning (RQ). It was hypothesized that while deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, and reasoning speed would be lower for HFASD, math reasoning would be comparable between groups. This expectation was based on previous autism research, which has found reasoning and processing speed deficits but preserved math skills. The present study also sought to examine cerebellar volume, through structural brain imaging, and its relationship to reasoning abilities. The HFASD group was expected to have reduced cerebellar volume when compared to controls. The ASD literature contains many examples of this pattern of brain structure, with the cerebellum being the most commonly cited region of abnormality. Additionally, the cerebellum has been implicated in studies of executive functioning, and a relationship between size and performance on nonverbal reasoning tasks has been reported. Therefore, a positive correlation was hypothesized between cerebellar volume and scores on WJ III reasoning tasks. Twenty-one young adult male HFASD subjects and 21 neurotypical controls were included in the current study. The data was analyzed through the use of MANOVA/MANCOVA, t-tests, and Pearson correlations. Results supported fluid intelligence weaknesses in the HFASD sample, with significantly lower performance in speed of reasoning. Deductive and inductive reasoning abilities were also lower, though these findings did not reach significance. The data did not support decreased cerebellar volume in HFASD, nor was a relationship between fluid reasoning and volume of the cerebellum found. / text

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder affecting individuals along a continuum of severity in communication, social interaction and behaviour. The impact of ASD significantly varies amongst individuals, and the cause of ASD can originate broadly between genetic and environmental factors. Previous ASD researches indicate that early identification combined with a targeted treatment plan involving behavioural interventions and multidisciplinary therapies can provide substantial improvement for ASD patients. Currently there is no cure for ASD, and the clinical variability and uncertainty of the disorder still remains. Hence, the search to unravel heterogeneity within ASD by subgroup classification may provide clinicians with a better understanding of ASD and to work towards a more definitive course of action. In this study, a norm of physical measurements including height, weight, head circumference, ear length, outer and inner canthi, interpupillary distance, philtrum, hand and foot length was collected from 658 Typical Developing (TD) Chinese children aged 1 to 7 years (mean age of 4.19 years). The norm collected was compared against 80 ASD Chinese children aged 1 to 12 years (mean age of 4.36 years). We then further attempted to find subgroups within ASD based on identifying physical abnormalities; individuals were classified as (non)dysmorphic with the Autism Dysmorphology Measure (ADM) from physical examinations of 12 body regions. Our results show that there were significant differences between ASD and TD children for measurements in: head circumference (p=0.009), outer (p=0.021) and inner (p=0.021) canthus, philtrum length (p=0.003), right (p=0.023) and left (p=0.20) foot length. Within the 80 ASD patients, 37(46%) were classified as dysmorphic (p=0.00). This study attempts to identify subgroups within ASD based on physical measurements and dysmorphology examinations. The information from this study seeks to benefit ASD community by identifying possible subtypes of ASD in Chinese population; in seek for a more definitive diagnosis, referral and treatment plan. / published_or_final_version / Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by communication difficulties, social interaction impairments, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Prior studies have shown that ASD is associated with differences in neuroanatomy in the cerebral cortex and the subcortical regions as well as the connectivity among these regions. However, findings have been mixed due to the varying age group sampled and the methods used to measure these brain structures. In view of the heterogeneous findings in ASD, three cross-sectional design studies were conducted in this thesis to examine brain structural pathologies that may be related to the clinical and behavioural phenotype of the disorder across development. In the childhood and adolescent sample, two studies were carried out. The first one examined cortical thickness using a vertex-wise approach. Results revealed thinner cortex in the occipital, parietal and frontal regions, and thicker cortex in the inferior parietal and caudal anterior cingulate regions. These regions also showed age-related differences that deviated markedly from the typical developmental trajectories observed in the control group. Some of these regions with significant differences in cortical thickness were found to be associated with clinical symptoms in ASD. The second study in the childhood and adolescent sample examined the volume of subcortical structures and CSF using a spatially non-biased parcellation approach. It was found that intracranial volume was enlarged in children with ASD, accompanied by smaller bilateral cerebellum and left thalamus. These regions showed an age-related increase in volume in children with ASD, whereas the typically developing children showed a general age-related decrease in volume of the same regions. The volumes of the cerebellum, thalamus and basal ganglia structures were associated with relatively weaker motor control in ASD, and in particular greater volume of the left thalamus rather than age predicted worse motor performance in the clinical group. The third study was carried out in a large adult sample. The cerebellar white matter system, that interconnects cortical and subcortical targets, was examined. Using a diffusion-tensor imaging tractography approach, the cerebellar input and output white matter pathways were dissected. Both the input and output pathways were observed to be disrupted in ASD, supporting the hypothesis that ASD may be a “disconnectivity disorder”. Lower fractional anisotropy of the left middle cerebellar peduncles was associated with increased difficulties in communication and social interaction, and lower fractional anisotropy in the right superior cerebellar peduncle was linked to worse motor performance in adults with ASD. Therefore, my studies confirmed differences in neuroanatomy of cortical and subcortical regions with altered brain developmental trajectories in children and adolescence with ASD, and revealed disrupted cerebellar network system in adults with ASD. Dysmaturation of cortical and subcortical regions as well as cerebellar white matter pathways may contribute to clinical and motor phenotype of the disorder. Lastly, postmortem and early life imaging studies, together with evidence that prenatal stressors during 21 to 32 weeks of gestation may increase incidence of ASD, lead me to speculate whether the abnormalities reported here may have origins prior to 31 weeks of gestation. / published_or_final_version / Psychiatry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Due to the increasing prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children, a practical instructional method for teaching individuals to work with these children is becoming more necessary. An effective teaching method is that of the online computer-aided personalized system of instruction (CAPSI). The purpose of this study therefore, was to evaluate CAPSI’s effectiveness in teaching the self-regulation program of awareness and resilience in kids (spark*), techniques to be employed with children with ASD. The study consisted of two phases: independent CAPSI study and supervised CAPSI study. Participants were administered a knowledge test prior-to and following intervention. Results showed that there was an insignificant (p = .07) improvement following independent study and a significant improvement (p=.01) while studying under supervision. Together, these findings suggest that CAPSI is an effective method of instruction for teaching spark*, at least while participants study under supervision and if they receive a monetary incentive. / October 2015

Developmental delays are known to exist in children with autism when compared to their typically developing peers. Foundations of these delays stem from the cognitive and motor performance realm, but information regarding specific characteristics, such as postural stability and sensory integration, are less defined. In this study, postural stability differences were investigated between children with autism and neurotypical children. Past research has shown the role of sensory integration during postural sway has been a strong indicator in showing developmental progress. Due to the focus of the protocol being on static balance, the Modified-Central Test of Sensory Interaction for Balance was used to measure postural stability. The age range for this study is set between 3 and 5 years of age and follows CTSIB protocol to assess 32 neurotypical developing children and compare their results to an archived data set containing CTSIB results from a sample of children with autism. Results from the study indicate that when the autism and neurotypical groups were compared, no significant main effect was found. Developmental differences were found across age groups in that 5 year olds displayed more stability than 4 year olds, but there was no difference between 3 and 4 year olds or 3 and 5 year olds. Further analyses of these developmental results indicated that children in the neurotypical group follow an expected developmental progression while children in the autism group display a divergence from this typical progression. Findings of this research add to the existing literature that children with autism display inconsistent developmental patterns which have a strong relationship with the delayed activity levels of these children. The knowledge and understanding of these delays will allow practitioners to implement specially designed programs to ensure that these children receive the activity that they need and deserve. / text

This research synthesis evaluates the effectiveness of nutritional interventions on the improvement of expressive language abilities in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Three nutritional interventions are the focus of this synthesis: 1) Gluten-casein free diet, 2) Magnesium-vitamin B6 supplementation, and 3) Digestive enzyme supplementation. Although three of the six studies included in this synthesis reported positive results, the methodology used to obtain the results was flawed. The positive results cannot be attributed solely to the intervention. While the results achieved in the studies provide enough evidence to justify further research, currently there is not enough evidence to support the use of nutritional interventions to treat expressive language deficits in children with ASD. Additional research with fewer threats to validity is needed to determine the effectiveness of nutritional interventions. / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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