Social visual engagement in infants and toddlers with autism: Early developmental transitions and a model of pathogenesis

Klin, Ami; Shultz, Sarah; Jones, Warren R.

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.10.006

Cited by 153 publications

(163 citation statements)

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“…3) seems to be a promising way to tackle a range of neurodevelopmental and drugrelated disorders. In ASD, early motor cognition anomalies resulting in basic motor-understanding difficulties could be one of the crucial neurocognitive markers for ASD detection (Becchio, Pierno, Mari, Lusher, & Castiello, 2007;Cattaneo et al, 2007;Fabbri-Destro et al, 2009;Parma, Bulgheroni, Tirindelli, & Castiello, 2013;Rochat et al, 2013), and potentially they could be tested even in infancy, before the onset of unequivocal behavioral symptoms (for reviews from nonmotor perspectives, see Jones, Gliga, Bedford, Charman, & Johnson, 2014;Keehn, Müller, & Townsend, 2013;Klin, Shultz, & Jones, 2015). Furthermore, considering that ASD is a lifelong condition that usually requires permanent assistance, motor cognition anomalies may assume a pivotal role for setting (early) rehabilitative protocols to improve social functioning (Pineda, Carrasco, Datko, Pillen, & Schalles, 2014;Rogers et al, 2014;Zwaigenbaum, Bryson, & Garon, 2013).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The motor way: Clinical implications of understanding and shaping actions with the motor system in autism and drug addiction

Casartelli

Chiamulera

2015

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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To understand others' minds is crucial for survival; however, it is quite puzzling how access to others' minds can be-to some extent-direct and not necessarily mediated by conceptual reasoning. Recent advances in neuroscience have led to hypothesize a role for motor circuits not only in controlling the elementary physical features of movement (e.g., force, direction, and amplitude), but also in understanding and shaping human behavior. The concept of Bmotor cognition^refers to these aspects, and neurophysiological, neuroimaging, and behavioral studies in human and nonhuman primates support this view. From a clinical perspective, motor cognition represents a challenge in several domains. A thorough investigation of the neural mechanisms mediating motor action/intention understanding and automatized/compulsive behaviors seems to be a promising way to tackle a range of neurodevelopmental and drug-related disorders. On the one hand, anomalies in motor cognition may have cascade effects on social functioning in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); on the other, motor cognition may help explain the pathophysiology of drug-seeking and drug-taking behaviors in the most severe phase of drug addiction (i.e., see drug dependence, motor low-order cue reactivity). This may represent a promising approach that could improve the efficacy of rehabilitative interventions. The only way to shed light on multifactorial disorders such as ASD and drug addiction is through the investigation of their multiple factors. This motor way can promote new theoretical and experimental perspectives that would help bridge the gap between the basic neuroscience approach and clinical practice.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The motor way: Clinical implications of understanding and shaping actions with the motor system in autism and drug addiction

Casartelli

Chiamulera

2015

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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“…Irimia et al (2014) theorized a basis for ASD brain impairment in atypically greater misregulation of nSR100-dependent microexons. Focusing on early visual attention in ASD, Klin et al (2015) posited that the developmental failure of the reward-based interactional eye fixation to co-opt the brain's innate reflexive eye fixation caused ASD.…”

Section: Does Asd Have Neurobiological Validity?mentioning

confidence: 99%

ASD Validity

Waterhouse

London

Gillberg

2016

Rev J Autism Dev Disord

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ASD research is at an important crossroads. The ASD diagnosis is important for assigning a child to early behavioral intervention and explaining a child's condition. But ASD research has not provided a diagnosis-specific medical treatment, or a consistent early predictor, or a unified life course. If the ASD diagnosis also lacks biological and construct validity, a shift away from studying ASD-defined samples would be warranted. Consequently, this paper reviews recent findings for the neurobiological validity of ASD, the construct validity of ASD diagnostic criteria, and the construct validity of ASD spectrum features. The findings reviewed indicate that the ASD diagnosis lacks biological and construct validity. The paper concludes with proposals for research going forward.Keywords DSM-5 . ASD . Autism . Diagnosis . Validity . Comorbidity . HeterogeneityThe goal of the DSM-3 nosology (American Psychiatric Association 1980) was to create reliable and standard categorical psychiatric diagnoses (Robins and Guze 1970). However, in the past 30 years, clinical, genetics, and neuroscience findings have revealed that the DSM diagnoses are not biologically valid. The National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) responded by proposing the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework for a brain-based transdiagnostic psychiatric symptom nosology (Cuthbert and Insel 2013;Insel et al. 2010;Lilienfeld and Treadway 2016). Peterson (2015) and Weinberger et al. (2015) argued that the RDoC could not replace the DSM-5 psychiatric nosology (American Psychiatric Association 2013) or the parallel International Classification of Diseases (ICD) psychiatric nosology (World Health Organization 2012). But BFor the foreseeable future, RDoC is not envisioned as a system of psychiatric classification in its own right. Instead, in the near term, RDoC and DSM-ICD are expected to coexist. Nevertheless, RDoC is intended to provide scaffolding for a large-scale research program that will ultimately yield an alternative to DSM-ICD^ (Lilienfeld and Treadway 2016, p. 445).RDoC advocates accept that DSM-5/ICD psychiatric categories remain necessary in clinical practice, but argue that researchers should shift to RDoC study designs immediately. They assert that studying psychiatric categories lacking biological validity blocks the discovery of brain bases for psychopathology and thus cannot lead to effective medical treatments for specific psychiatric symptoms (Cuthbert and Insel 2013;Insel et al. 2010;Lilienfeld and Treadway 2016;Yee et al. 2015). Against this RDoC imperative for biological validity, Weinberger et al. (2015) countered that current DSM-5 psychiatric behavioral diagnoses were valid when they yielded effective medical treatment, clear prognosis, and a life course specific to a diagnosis.Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research has been productive (Dawson 2016;de la Torre-Ubieta et al. 2016;Szatmari et al. 2016), but no ASD research findings have met the validity criteria of Weinberger et al. (2015). DSM-5 ASD research has found no s...

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“…It has been recently elucidated that infants who later develop ASD in their toddler years already seem to fail in key visual bonding mechanisms at approximately age 2 to 6 months. 8 This failure may interfere with the serve-and-return process and set the course for an abnormal cascade of development, which may manifest in the later years. Recent research focused on premature neonates, a subset of patients traditionally known to be at higher risk for both ASD and ADHD, has confirmed decreased anatomical development of the prefrontal cortex.…”

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

“…8 During later follow-up as infants-premature neonates who underwent structured bonding periods with their parents while they were still in the NICU-showed a "robust" increase in their resting EEG activity in the frontal cortical areas. 10 During extensive psychological testing, these infants showed improvements in many areas relating to social development and attention skills compared to the control group, including significantly lower M-CHAT scores.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Neuroscience, Joy, and the Well-Infant Visit That Got Me Thinking

Ungár

2017

Ann Fam Med

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This essay is the narrative of a seemingly routine well-infant visit and the joyful bond that unites mother and infant and is at the forefront of early infant brain development. An incredible story unfolds. Through this short discourse, I hope to offer a glimmer of insight into the very meaning of being human while encouraging the family physician to foster the mother-infant bond. I explore emerging implications in child mental health, ADHD and ASD; how even during brief interactions of the well-infant and postpartum visits, family physicians can impact the mental development of their little patients in a meaningful way. A seemingly routine well-infant visit has started me thinking. A firsttime mother brought her 4-month old male into my office for a routine check-up. The infant was bottle-fed, born at 36 weeks, playful, with adequate growth; the physical exam was unremarkable. I was just about to wrap up the visit, however, when his mother, a little preoccupied, asked me to recheck his eyes. "It's not that the baby can't see," she explained, "but often it seems like he is staring into blank space." It was difficult for her to pinpoint her exact concern, but during her casual daily interactions with the infant he seemed to recognize her voice, but was unable to localize it.A little perplexed myself, I examined the infant's eyes. Cataracts were absent and the light reflex was symmetric. His gaze fixed intently on objects and he demonstrated the expected "visual behavior." He looked at me with gaping wide eyes. I looked closer. Then I playfully raised my eyebrows, at which point the infant broke into a hearty giggle.Just then, something very important happened. I reassured the mother that the infant's vision seemed fine, but through this seemingly "cute" moment, I was also able to gauge his finely tuned mechanism of mutual gaze. And to think, how much attention developmental neurologists have paid to this simple mode of communication! Mutual gaze has been called a "hidden regulator." Because the parent is closest to the infant, it is mainly her gaze interactions during brief joyful moments that serve to develop the infant's ability to self-regulate emotion.And why is that important? My little patient's mother listened eagerly. According to the literature, 1 mutual gaze seems to be at the core of personality traits important in social situations, moral decision making, behaviors based on reason and judgement, resiliency to stress in childhood, the development of secure attachments with others, and the ability to keep attention… In plain words, mutual gaze interactions serve to develop the infant's own sense of "self"-not a small feat! It is understood that this process is reflected in the early physiology of vision.2 The way infants almost reflexively fix their gaze on the face of the caregiver has been likened to imprinting in ducklings. Unlike animals, however, infants focus particularly on the eyes of the caregiver; a very keen facial recognition during infancy seems to be a uniquely human trait. 81Prox...

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Social visual engagement in infants and toddlers with autism: Early developmental transitions and a model of pathogenesis

Cited by 153 publications

References 196 publications

The motor way: Clinical implications of understanding and shaping actions with the motor system in autism and drug addiction

The motor way: Clinical implications of understanding and shaping actions with the motor system in autism and drug addiction

ASD Validity

Neuroscience, Joy, and the Well-Infant Visit That Got Me Thinking

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