The present study identifies the prevalence and types of comorbid psychiatric disorders associated with Asperger syndrome (AS)/high-functioning autism (HFA) in a combined community- and clinic-based sample of fifty 9- to 16-year-old subjects using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, Present and Lifetime Version. The level of functioning was estimated using the Children's Global Assessment Scale. The results support common (prevalence 74%) and often multiple comorbid psychiatric disorders in AS/HFA; behavioral disorders were shown in 44%, anxiety disorders in 42% and tic disorders in 26%. Oppositional defiant disorder, major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders as comorbid conditions indicated significantly lower levels of functioning. To target interventions, routine evaluation of psychiatric comorbidity in subjects with AS/HFA is emphasized.

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In resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) decreased frontal-posterior functional connectivity is a persistent finding. However, the picture of the default mode network (DMN) hypoconnectivity remains incomplete. In addition, the functional connectivity analyses have been shown to be susceptible even to subtle motion. DMN hypoconnectivity in ASD has been specifically called for re-evaluation with stringent motion correction, which we aimed to conduct by so-called scrubbing. A rich set of default mode subnetworks can be obtained with high dimensional group independent component analysis (ICA) which can potentially provide more detailed view of the connectivity alterations. We compared the DMN connectivity in high-functioning adolescents with ASDs to typically developing controls using ICA dual-regression with decompositions from typical to high dimensionality. Dual-regression analysis within DMN subnetworks did not reveal alterations but connectivity between anterior and posterior DMN subnetworks was decreased in ASD. The results were very similar with and without motion scrubbing thus indicating the efficacy of the conventional motion correction methods combined with ICA dual-regression. Specific dissociation between DMN subnetworks was revealed on high ICA dimensionality, where networks centered at the medial prefrontal cortex and retrosplenial cortex showed weakened coupling in adolescents with ASDs compared to typically developing control participants. Generally the results speak for disruption in the anterior-posterior DMN interplay on the network level whereas local functional connectivity in DMN seems relatively unaltered.

Both SLI and ASD groups showed difficulties in tasks measuring verbal ToM but differences were not found in tasks measuring non-verbal Contextual ToM. The association between Verbal ToM tasks and language tests was stronger in children with SLI than in children with ASD. There is a need for further studies in order to understand interaction between different areas of language and cognitive development.