Atypical Development of Attentional Control Associates with Later Adaptive Functioning, Autism and ADHD Traits

Hendry, Alexandra; Jones, Emily J. H.; Bedford, Rachael; Konke, Linn Andersson; Ali, Jannath Begum; Bölte, Sven; Brocki, Karin C.; Demurie, Ellen; Johnson, Mark H.; Pijl, Mirjam K. J.; Roeyers, Herbert; Charman, Tony

doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04465-9

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 89 publications

(118 reference statements)

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“…Both autism and ADHD are heterogenous conditions, and many factors including (but not limited to) genetic variation, co-occurring conditions, psychosocial and environmental factors (both prenatally and postnatally) may also influence the development of attention and activity level [ 16 ]. Previous work has indicated that amongst infants with FH-ASD, plateaued development of attentional focus is associated with later elevated ADHD traits—but only a minority of FH-ASD infants show this attentional profile [ 93 ]. It is possible that the FH-ADHD and FH-ASD infants in our sample may have included fewer individuals with early attentional difficulties than are commonly found amongst this population, or that our FH-No ADHD/ASD group may have had a higher proportion of attentional difficulties than might typically be expected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural Measures of Infant Activity but Not Attention Associate with Later Preschool ADHD Traits

et al. 2021

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Mapping infant neurocognitive differences that precede later ADHD-related behaviours is critical for designing early interventions. In this study, we investigated (1) group differences in a battery of measures assessing aspects of attention and activity level in infants with and without a family history of ADHD or related conditions (ASD), and (2) longitudinal associations between the infant measures and preschool ADHD traits at 3 years. Participants (N = 151) were infants with or without an elevated likelihood for ADHD (due to a family history of ADHD and/or ASD). A multi-method assessment protocol was used to assess infant attention and activity level at 10 months of age that included behavioural, cognitive, physiological and neural measures. Preschool ADHD traits were measured at 3 years of age using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and the Child Behaviour Questionnaire (CBQ). Across a broad range of measures, we found no significant group differences in attention or activity level at 10 months between infants with and without a family history of ADHD or ASD. However, parent and observer ratings of infant activity level at 10 months were positively associated with later preschool ADHD traits at 3 years. Observable behavioural differences in activity level (but not attention) may be apparent from infancy in children who later develop elevated preschool ADHD traits.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural Measures of Infant Activity but Not Attention Associate with Later Preschool ADHD Traits

et al. 2021

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“…Indeed, early infant profiles may be more relevant in predicting constellations of dimensional traits than categorical diagnoses (e.g., cognitive, adaptive skills or autistic traits, Jones et al, 2020 ). For example, Hendry et al (2020) identified subgroups of infant sibs by their trajectories of development of attention skills; infants who showed a profile of plateauing attentional growth between 10 and 25 months were more likely to have elevated autism and ADHD traits, and lower adaptive function at 3 years. Longer-term follow-up of such cohorts is required to determine whether such early neurodevelopmental profiles make autism more likely to be diagnosed in early development, rather than represent a subtype of autism that meaningfully persists over developmental time.…”

Section: Clinical Applications Of Early Autism Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical dimensions of translational developmental neuroscience research in autism

Manzini

Jones

Charman

et al. 2021

Child Psychology Psychiatry

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Background: Since the 1990s, increasing research has been devoted to the identification of biomarkers for autism to help attain more objective diagnosis; enable early prediction of prognosis; and guide individualized intervention options. Early studies focused on the identification of genetic variants associated with autism, but more recently, research has expanded to investigate neurodevelopmental markers. While ethicists have extensively discussed issues around advances in autism genomics, much less ethical scrutiny has focused on research on early neurodevelopment and on the interventions being developed as a result. Objectives: We summarize the current state of the science on the identification of early markers for autism and its potential clinical applications, before providing an overview of the ethical issues arising from increasing understanding of children's neurodevelopment in very early life. Results: Advances in the understanding of brain and behavioral trajectories preceding later autism diagnosis raise ethical concerns around three themes: (a) New models for understanding autism; (b) Risks and benefits of early identification and intervention; and (c) Communication of early concerns to families. These ethical issues should be further investigated in research conducted in partnership with autistic people and their families. Conclusions: This paper highlights the need for ethical scrutiny of early neurodevelopmental research in autism. Scrutiny requires expertise and methods from the basic sciences and bioethics, as well as constructive collaborations among autistic people, their parents, and autism researchers to anticipate early interventions that serve the community's interests and accommodate the varied experiences and preferences of people on the spectrum and their families.

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“…In parallel, studies have shown that plateaued growth of attentional control is associated with elevated autism trait characteristics and lower adaptive functioning at earlier stages of development [ 33 ]. Meta-analysis has also shown that ASD is associated with DLPFC structure and functional alternation [ 34 , 35 ], which illustrates the important role of the DLPFC in the pathophysiology of ASD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the Left Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Qiu

Kong

et al. 2021

Neural Plasticity

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Recently, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been applied to relieve symptoms in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this prospective, parallel, single-blinded, randomized study, we investigate the modulation effect of three-week tDCS treatment at the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in children with ASD. 47 children with ASD were enrolled, and 40 (20 in each group) completed the study. The primary outcomes are Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), and the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R). We found that children with ASD can tolerate three-week tDCS treatment with no serious adverse events detected. A within-group comparison showed that real tDCS, but not sham tDCS, can significantly reduce the scores of CARS, Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), and general impressions in CARS (15th item). Real tDCS produced significant score reduction in the CSHQ and in CARS general impressions when compared to the effects of sham tDCS. The pilot study suggests that three-week left DLPFC tDCS is well-tolerated and may hold potential in relieving some symptoms in children with ASD.

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Atypical Development of Attentional Control Associates with Later Adaptive Functioning, Autism and ADHD Traits

Cited by 16 publications

References 89 publications

Behavioural Measures of Infant Activity but Not Attention Associate with Later Preschool ADHD Traits

Behavioural Measures of Infant Activity but Not Attention Associate with Later Preschool ADHD Traits

Ethical dimensions of translational developmental neuroscience research in autism

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the Left Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

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