Examining the Relationship between Executive Functions and Restricted, Repetitive Symptoms of Autistic Disorder

Abstract

The executive function theory was utilized to examine the relationship between cognitive process and the restricted, repetitive symptoms of Autistic Disorder (AD). Seventeen adults with AD were compared to 17 nonautistic controls on a new executive function battery (Delis-Kaplin Executive Function Scales). Restricted, repetitive symptoms were measured by a variety of instruments (i.e., the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, Gilliam Autism Rating Scale, and the Aberrant Behavior Checklist). The study replicated the executive function profile that has been reported in adults with AD. In addition to the replication findings, the study found several executive processes (i.e., cognitive flexibility, working memory, and response inhibition) were highly related to the restrictive, repetitive symptoms of AD; whereas, other executive process (i.e., planning and fluency) were not found to be significantly correlated with restricted, repetitive symptoms. Similarly, we found an executive function model consisting of relative strengths and deficits was the best predictor of restricted, repetitive symptoms of autism. The implications for the executive function theory and how the theory predicts core symptoms of autism are discussed.

Cognitive flexibility in autism spectrum disorder: Explaining the inconsistencies?

“…Deficient performance: Goldstein et al (2001) and Minshew et al (2002). Remark: Both studies showing a deficient performance in ASD only looked at the performance on part B, without controlling for group differences on part A. e Lopez et al (2005). with ASD compared to typically developing controls.…”

The Neural Circuitry Mediating Shifts in Behavioral Response and Cognitive Set in Autism

“…Finally, because EF deficits might correlate with restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism (16), an exploratory region of interest (ROI) analysis examined the relationship between blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal change to target stimuli and the severity of restricted, repetitive behaviors (RRB) for the HFA participants. Regions were selected on the basis of imaging results from a previous study using this task (28) and consisted of the DLPFC (Brodmann area [BA] 9 and 46), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; BA 24 and 32), the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) within posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and the basal ganglia (BG).…”

“…Individuals with autism perform poorly on certain tests of EF, such as the Tower of London (TOL), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and extradimensional shifts in the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) (5,(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13). Although not all studies have found EF deficits in ASD (13)(14)(15), impairments seem to be most profound and universal in the domains of cognitive flexibility, set shifting, and inhibition of prepotent responses (5,7,8,16,17). Poor performance on these measures and related EF tasks has also been observed in individuals with damage to the frontal lobes (18,19) or the basal ganglia (20,21), suggesting that these regions are critical for intact EF abilities.…”

“…Despite neuropsychological evidence of some impairment in EF abilities in ASD and empirical evidence that certain EF deficits correlate with restricted and repetitive behaviors (16), little is known about the brain mechanisms mediating EF deficits in the disorder. Rather, most neuroimaging studies in autism have focused on social deficits, despite evidence that social deficits might be accompanied by EF deficits in this disorder (31)(32)(33).…”

Increased Exposure to Rigid Routines can Lead to Increased Challenging Behavior Following Changes to Those Routines

“…Whilst there has been some debate on the issue (White, 2013), converging evidence suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorders also show deficits in measures of shifting (Russo, Flanagan, Iarocci, Berringer, Zelazo & Burack, 2007). Importantly, performance on shifting tasks has been associated specifically with the repetitive /restricted preferences domain of autism spectrum behavior; a domain which comprises the preference for predictability (D'Cruz et al, 2013;Lopez et al, 2005). These data suggest that the preference for predictability observed across several neurodevelopmental disorders -even those with distinctly different causes and phenotypesmay be associated with the same cognitive features.…”