Executive function and functional and structural brain differences in middle‐age adults with autism spectrum disorder

Braden, B. Blair; Smith, Christopher J.; Thompson, Amiee; Glaspy, Tyler K.; Wood, Emily T.; Vatsa, Divya; Abbott, Angela E.; Mcgee, Samuel C.; Baxter, Leslie C.

doi:10.1002/aur.1842

Cited by 78 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(124 reference statements)

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“…Thus, in older autistic men with a late adulthood ASC diagnosis and (above) average IQ, EF problems in daily life are clearly reported on, while this is not reflected in their cognitive test performance and is not differentially impacted by their age. The consistency of findings across the current study and the Davids et al (2016) study, is in sharp contrast with the lack of consistency across the broader range of studies including older autistic adults (Braden et al 2017;Geurts and Vissers 2012;Lever and Geurts 2016a, b;Powell et al 2017;Tse et al 2019;Walsh et al 2019). This inconsistency in findings could be due to differences in sample characteristics (age, sex, IQ level), type of cognitive tasks included, chosen statistical analyses, and how intelligence levels were accounted for.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 66%

“…Cognitive flexibility the digital version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) was used (Berg 1948; the paper and pencil version was used in Braden et al 2017; the abbreviated version in Geurts and Vissers 2012). The WCST consists of four stimulus cards that vary along three dimensions (colour, shape, and number).…”

Section: Objective Ef Assessment: Neuropsychological Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There were, however, also some differences in the cognitive measures used which might account for the discrepancy in findings. In two other small studies [Braden et al 2017; N ASC = 14 to 16, N non-ASC = 17, age 40-64 years; Walsh et al 2019; N ASC = 24 to 25, N non-ASC = 15 to 21, age 18 to 70 years (note, they included specific subgroups aged 40-70 with mean age over 45 years)] with slightly younger participants, EF differences emerged on a cognitive flexibility task similar to the one used in Geurts and Vissers (2012) study, 1 but not on a planning task which was similar to the one used in the Davids et al (2016) study. So even when similar tasks were used, the findings in across the different small studies are still inconsistent.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

“…To our knowledge only seven papers reported on objective clinical EF measures of a (clinically) diagnosed ASC adult sample of which approximately 50% of the participants was over 45 years of age (Braden et al 2017;Davids et al 2016;Geurts and Vissers 2012;Lever and Geurts 2016a;Powell et al 2017;Tse et al 2019;Walsh et al 2019). The findings, however, are inconsistent.…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

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Executive Functioning in 60+ Autistic Males: The Discrepancy Between Experienced Challenges and Cognitive Performance

Geurts

Pol

Lobbestael

et al. 2020

J Autism Dev Disord

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As executive functioning (EF) is especially sensitive to age-related cognitive decline, EF was evaluated by using a multimethod assessment. Fifty males (60-85 years) with a late adulthood autism spectrum condition (ASC) diagnosis and 51 non-ASC males (60-83 years) were compared on cognitive tests across EF domains (cognitive flexibility, planning, processing speed, and working memory) and a self-and proxy report of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version. While no objective performance differences emerged, autistic males and their proxies did report more EF challenges than non-ASC males on the subjective measure. In order to know how to support the older autistic men who received their ASC diagnosis in late adulthood with their daily life EF challenges, it is important to understand what underlies these subjective EF problems.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 66%

Section: Objective Ef Assessment: Neuropsychological Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 93%

mentioning

confidence: 98%

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Executive Functioning in 60+ Autistic Males: The Discrepancy Between Experienced Challenges and Cognitive Performance

Geurts

Pol

Lobbestael

et al. 2020

J Autism Dev Disord

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“…Of the reviewed studies quantifying hippocampal volume, outlined in Supplementary Table 5, there were mixed findings regarding hippocampus volume differences in ASD patients, with 3 studies reporting a decrease in hippocampus volume in patients with autism (Braden et al, 2017; Eilam‐Stock et al, 2016; Yarkoni et al, 2011). One of these studies utilised the MAGeT‐Brain multi‐atlas segmentation approach, which has been shown to achieve more accurate hippocampal volumes than FreeSurfer or FIRST on an Alzheimer's disease dataset (Pipitone et al, 2014).…”

Section: Structural Biomarkers Of Asdmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of structural MRI biomarkers in autism spectrum disorder: A machine learning perspective

Pagnozzi

Conti

Calderoni

et al. 2018

Intl J of Devlp Neuroscience

119

101

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1% of the population and leads to impairments in social interaction, communication and restricted, repetitive behaviours. Establishing robust neuroimaging biomarkers of ASD using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important step for diagnosing and tailoring treatment, particularly early in life when interventions can have the greatest effect. However currently, there is mixed findings on the structural brain changes associated with autism. Therefore in this systematic review, recent (post-2007), high-resolution (3 T) MRI studies investigating brain morphology associated with ASD have been collated to identify robust neuroimaging biomarkers of ASD. A systematic search was conducted on three databases; PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, resulting in 123 reviewed articles. Patients with ASD were observed to have increased whole brain volume, particularly under 6 years of age. Other consistent changes observed in ASD patients include increased volume in the frontal and temporal lobes, increased cortical thickness in the frontal lobe, increased surface area and cortical gyrification, and increased cerebrospinal fluid volume, as well as reduced cerebellum volume and reduced corpus callosum volume, compared to typically developing controls. Findings were inconsistent regarding the developmental trajectory of brain volume and cortical thinning with age in ASD, as well as potential volume differences in the white matter, hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus and basal ganglia. To elucidate these inconsistencies, future studies should look towards aggregating MRI data from multiple sites or available repositories to avoid underpowered studies, as well as utilising methods which quantify larger-scale image features to reduce the number of statistical tests performed, and hence risk of false positive findings. Additionally, studies should look to perform a thorough validation strategy, to ensure generalisability of study findings, as well as look to leverage the improved image resolution of 3 T scanning to identify subtle brain changes related to ASD.

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Patterns of Nonsocial and Social Cognitive Functioning in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2019

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IMPORTANCE Many studies have investigated impairments in cognitive domains in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Yet, to date, a comprehensive overview on the patterns of cognitive functioning is lacking.OBJECTIVE To provide an overview of nonsocial and social cognitive functioning in various domains in adults with ASD, allowing for comparison of the severity of deficits between different domains. DATA SOURCES A literature search performed in an academic medical setting was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, and Medline databases with the combination of the following free-text and Medical Subject Headings where applicable: [cogniti* OR neurocogniti* OR neuropsycholog* OR executive function* OR IQ OR intelligence quotient OR social cognition OR emotion perception OR affect perception OR emotion recognition OR attribution OR ToM OR mentalising OR mentalizing OR prosody OR social knowledge OR mind reading OR social cue OR social judgment] AND [autis* OR ASD OR Asperger OR Asperger's OR PDD OR pervasive developmental disorder]. The search was further limited to studies published between 1980 (first inclusion of autism diagnosis in the DSM-III) and July 2018.STUDY SELECTION Studies included were published as a primary peer-reviewed research article in English, included individuals with ASD 16 years or older, and assessed at least 1 domain of neurocognitive functioning or social cognition using standard measures.DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Of 9892 articles identified and screened, 75 met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review and meta-analysis.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Hedges g effect sizes were computed, and random-effects models were used for all analyses. Moderators of between-study variability in effect sizes were assessed using meta-regressions. RESULTSThe systematic review and meta-analysis included 75 studies, with a combined sample of 3361 individuals with ASD (mean [SD] age, 32.0 [9.3] years; 75.9% male) and 5344 neurotypical adults (mean [SD] age, 32.3 [9.1] years; 70.1% male). Adults with ASD showed large impairments in theory of mind (g = −1.09; 95% CI, −1.25 to −0.92; number of studies = 39) and emotion perception and processing (g = −0.80; 95% CI, −1.04 to −0.55; n = 18), followed by medium impairments in processing speed (g = −0.61; 95% CI, −0.83 to −0.38; n = 21) and verbal learning and memory (g = −0.55; 95% CI, −0.86 to −0.25; n = 12). The least altered cognitive domains were attention and vigilance (g = −0.30; 95% CI, −0.81 to 0.21; n = 5) and working memory (g = −0.23; 95% CI, −0.47 to 0.01; n = 19). Meta-regressions confirmed robustness of the results. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEResults of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that adults with ASD show impairments in social cognitive domains and in specific nonsocial cognitive domains. These findings contribute to the understanding of the patterns of cognitive functioning in adults with ASD and may assist in the identification of targets for cognitive interventions.

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Executive function and functional and structural brain differences in middle‐age adults with autism spectrum disorder

Cited by 78 publications

References 88 publications

Executive Functioning in 60+ Autistic Males: The Discrepancy Between Experienced Challenges and Cognitive Performance

Executive Functioning in 60+ Autistic Males: The Discrepancy Between Experienced Challenges and Cognitive Performance

A systematic review of structural MRI biomarkers in autism spectrum disorder: A machine learning perspective

Patterns of Nonsocial and Social Cognitive Functioning in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder

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