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AimA growing body of literature has demonstrated the utility of a dimensional perspective on mental disorders. The current study aims to determine the psychometric properties of the Catatonia Spectrum (CS), a new questionnaire specifically tailored to assess the spectrum of catatonia, from full blown forms to subthreshold ones.Methods86 adults with at least three symptom criteria for catatonia according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), 81 adults affected by borderline personality disorder (BPD), 104 adults with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD), and 105 subjects without mental disorders (CTL), were recruited from six Italian University Departments of Psychiatry and administered the: Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale (BFCRS), Bush-Francis Catatonia Screening Instrument (BFCSI), and CS.ResultsCS scale demonstrated a high level of internal consistency and excellent test-retest reliability for total and domain scores. CS domain scores were positively and significantly correlated with each other (p < 0.001) with Pearson’s coefficients ranging from 0.337 to 0.663. All the CS domain scores were highly correlated with the CS total score. The correlation coefficients between CS and alternative measures of catatonia appeared all significant and positive. Significant differences among diagnostic groups on both CS domains and total scores were found. CS total scores increased significantly and progressively from the CTL, to the MDD and the BDP group, up to the catatonia group, which reported the highest value.ConclusionThe CS showed excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability and strong convergent validity with alternative dimensional measures of catatonia. The questionnaire performed differently across the four diagnostic groups, with an increasing score gradient from healthy controls to patients with MDD, BPD and up to the catatonia group.

Background Increasing research is stressing the importance of identifying autistic traits (ATs) in clinical and general populations. University students may be a group at higher risk for the presence of ATs. Recently, specific attention has been paid to camouflaging strategies used by subjects in the autism spectrum in order to cope with the social environment. The aim of this work was to evaluate the prevalence of ATs and camouflaging behaviors in a population of University students. Methods Subjects were requested to anonymously fill out through an online form the Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum and the Camouflaging AT Questionnaire. Results ATs were more represented among males and among students of specific fields of study. Camouflaging behaviors were significantly more frequent among subjects with more severe autism spectrum symptoms, without differences depending from sex. Conclusions Our study confirms the strong association between ATs and camouflaging behaviors and the relationship between ATs, sex, and specific fields of study.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are a group of conditions associated with the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and characterized by somatic and neuropsychological alterations. On the other hand, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by a multifaceted neurobehavioral syndrome. Since alcohol can affect every stage of brain development, some authors hypothesized that in utero alcohol exposure might be linked to an increased risk of ASD in subjects with genetic vulnerability. The present review aimed to summarize the available literature on the possible association between FASD and ASD, also focusing on the reported clinical overlaps and on the possible shared pathogenic mechanisms. Studies in this field have stressed similarities and differences between the two conditions, leading to controversial results. The available literature also highlighted that both the disorders are often misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed, stressing the need to broaden the perspective, paying specific attention to milder presentations and sub-syndromic traits.

Background Fronto-Temporal Dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disorder featuring frontotemporal lobe atrophy which leads to profound changes in behavior and cognition in the affected subjects. Considering that the onset of this type of dementia is typically characterized by the development of affective symptoms, differential diagnosis between FTD and Bipolar Disorder (BD) is particularly difficult. An important overlapping feature between BD and FTD is the presence of catatonic symptoms: Catatonia is extremely frequent in FTD, and, on the other hand, BD is the psychiatric disease with the highest frequency of association with catatonic states. In this framework, it should be noted that also Autism Spectrum conditions have been reported to show high rates of comorbidity and overlapping features with BD. In addition, subjects with autistic traits were reported to show an increased vulnerability towards the development of mood and anxiety disorders, as well as increase the risk of mood episodes with mixed features, suicidal thoughts and catatonic symptoms. Case presentation We reported the case of a patient with a diagnosis of both BD and FTD who showed catatonic symptoms. Objectives The aim of this case report is to evaluate the possible role of autistic traits in the illness trajectory of BD and FTD. Conclusion This case confirms the presence of a continuum between psychiatric and neurological conditions, which should be considered as expressions of a same neurobiological system and further investigated in light of an integrative model.