Autism Spectrum Disorders

Description

Accurate and exhaustive, this book provides a wide overview of the current knowledge on phenotypes, mechanisms and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. It covers topics on diagnostic issues, comorbid conditions and therapeutic strategies along with a detailed discussion on the actual understanding of the pathophysiology of autism disorders. More specifically, this book reviews in detail the current knowledge on the comorbidity between mental and medical disorders, describes abnormal cognitive and social development and gives a thorough overview on genetic as well as brain imaging abnormalities observed in autism spectrum disorders. In addition, the current literature on environmental risk factors which may provide an explanation for the increased prevalence of autism is being described. The last chapter gives an extensive review of early detection and early therapeutic interventions encompassing psycho-social and pharmacological strategies. Each chapter is easy to read and gives the reader access to the most important information on each topic covered. This book provides innovative reading material for medical students, psychologists, researchers and clinicians who need accurate information on the best available diagnostic and therapeutic strategies as well as on up-to-date research data.

Informations

• Publié par: S. Karger AG
• Date de parution: 11 février 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 7
• EAN13: 9783318026023
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Autism Spectrum Disorders
Key Issues in Mental Health
Vol. 180
Series Editors
Anita Riecher-Rössler Basel
Norman Sartorius Geneva
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Phenotypes, Mechanisms and Treatments
Volume Editors
Marion Leboyer Créteil
Pauline Chaste Paris
5 figures, 4 in color, and 6 tables, 2015
Key Issues in Mental Health
Formerly published as ‘Bibliotheca Psychiatrica’ (founded 1917)
______________________ Prof. Marion Leboyer Université Paris-Est, INSERM, AP-HP Pôle de Psychiatrie des Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor 40 rue de Mesly FR-94010 Créteil (France)
______________________ Dr. Pauline Chaste Centre Hospitalier Sainte Anne 1 rue Cabanis FR-75014 Paris (France)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Autism spectrum disorders (Leboyer)
Autism spectrum disorders: phenotypes, mechanisms, and treatments / volume editors, Marion Leboyer, Pauline Chaste.
p. ; cm. –– (Key issues in mental health ; vol. 180)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-3-318-02601-6 (alk. paper) –– ISBN 978-3-318-02602-3 (e-ISBN)
I. Leboyer, Marion, editor. II. Chaste, Pauline, editor. III. Title. IV. Series: Key issues in mental health ; v. 180.
[DNLM: 1. Child Development Disorders, Pervasive. W1 BI429 v.180 2015 / WS 350.8.P4]
RJ506.A9
618.92'85882––dc23
2014027395
Bibliographic Indices. This publication is listed in bibliographic services.
Disclaimer. The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publisher and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements in the book is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
Drug Dosage. The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any change in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
© Copyright 2015 by S. Karger AG, P.O. Box, CH-4009 Basel (Switzerland)
www.karger.com
Printed in Germany on acid-free and non-aging paper (ISO 9706) by Kraft Druck, Ettlingen
ISSN 1662-4874
e-ISSN 1662-4882
ISBN 978-3-318-02601-6
e-ISBN 978-3-318-02602-3
Contents
From Autism to Autism Spectrum Disorders
Mercati, O.; Chaste, P. (Paris)
Autism Spectrum Disorders and Coexisting Mental Health Problems
Ståhlberg, O.; Nilsson, T.; Lundström, S.; Anckarsäter, H. (Gothenburg)
Autism and Medical Comorbidities
Schiff, M. (Pittsburgh, Pa./Paris); Asato, M.R. (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
The Cognitive Profile in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Mandy, W.; Murin, M.; Skuse, D. (London)
Social Functioning in Autism
Merhoum, N.; Mengarelli, F.; Mottolese, R.; Andari, E.; Sirigu, A. (Bron)
Sensory Processing in Autism
Behrmann, M.; Minshew, N.J. (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
On the Neuroimaging of Autism in the Context of Human Brain Diversity
Houenou, J. (Créteil/Gif sur Yvette); Chaste, P. (Paris)
Architecture of the Genetic Risk for Autism
Chaste, P. ; Devlin, B. (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Molecular Pathways in Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Gallagher, L. (Dublin); Shen, S. (Galway); Anney, R. (Dublin)
Environmental Factors and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Persico, A.M. (Rome/Milan); Merelli, S. (Milan)
Early Signs and Early Intervention
Freitag, C.M. (Frankfurt am Main)
Psychotropic Treatment of Autism
Pallanti, S. (Florence/New York, N.Y.); Bencini, L.; Cantisani, A. (Florence); Hollander, E. (New York, N.Y.)
Author Index
Subject Index
Leboyer M, Chaste P (eds): Autism Spectrum Disorders. Phenotypes, Mechanisms and Treatments. Key Issues Ment Health. Basel, Karger, 2015, vol 180, pp 1-4 (DOI: 10.1159/000366575)
______________________
From Autism to Autism Spectrum Disorders
Oriane Mercati a , b Pauline Chaste c
a Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, b Université Paris Descartes, Paris V, and c Centre Hospitalier Sainte Anne, Paris, France
The diagnosis of autism is based exclusively on clinical assessment in the absence of specific biomarkers. The current reference evaluation is based on standardized tools, the most widely used being the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) [ 1 ] and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) [ 2 ]. The ADI-R consists of an interview of the parents, which assesses the developmental history of the patient with a focus on social interactions, social communication, and repetitive behaviors. The ADOS consists of an assessment of the patient during standardized sequences of play and interviews. These tools were primarily developed to provide a categorical diagnosis, that is to say they allow determination of the presence or absence of an autistic disorder, although the concept of autism per se has never been clearly validated and has varied widely since its first description.
The oldest known cases of autism far preceded the first descriptions of this disorder by psychiatrists, which were made only 70 years ago. Indeed, as early as the 12th century, one of the disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi, Brother Juniper, was described as a man of absolute honesty and candor, unable to measure the consequences of his actions. Nicknamed the ‘toy of God’, he was mocked for his excessive and absurd behavior. At the end of the 18th century, the wild child Victor of Aveyron, according to the physician Itard who provided valuable descriptions, had persistent alterations of social interactions, repetitive swinging movements, and a particular sensory perception after several years of education [ 3 ].
The term autism (from the Greek autós or self) was used for the first time in the early 20th century by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler [ 4 ], who thus referred to the social withdrawal and loss of contact with reality observed in schizophrenic patients. In 1943, the American child psychiatrist Leo Kanner [ 5 ], founder of the first hospital department of child psychiatry, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., USA, proposed this term to qualify a child disorder, regardless of coexisting schizophrenia. In his article ‘Autistic disturbances of affective contact’, he described 11 children, i.e. 8 boys and 3 girls, aged 2-11 years, all with an ‘innate inability to form the usual, biologically provided affective contact with people’ and an ‘anxiously obsessive desire for the maintenance of sameness’ [ 5 ].
Although some children in this group had been previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, Kanner [ 5 ] indicated that withdrawal differs from that described in schizophrenia in that it is present from the beginning of life, while patients with schizophrenia, children or adults, show an essentially normal development followed by changes in their behavior and progressive social withdrawal.
Independently of this work, in 1944 the Austrian psychiatrist Hans Asperger [ 6 ] used the term ‘autistic psychopathy’ to describe 4 boys aged 6-11 years who showed a fundamental breakdown (...) causing significant and very typical difficulties in social integration, sometimes, however, compensated by an originality of the thinking and experience that could lead subsequently to outstanding achievements. This article by Asperger [ 6 ], written in German, remained unknown for a long time. In 1981, the British psychiatrist Lorna Wing [ 7 ] contributed to exposing these works to a larger audience. Notably, based on the descriptions of Asperger [ 6 ] and 34 other cases from the clinic she managed, she proposed a definition of Asperger’s syndrome [ 7 ].
In his 1943 paper, Kanner [ 5 ] provided detailed descriptions of his patients and their common characteristics but did not formalize diagnostic criteria. In 1956, with the American psychiatrist Leon Eisenberg, he defined 2 criteria that he considered essential:
– a profound lack of affective contact
– elaborate repetitive and ritualistic behavior [ 8 ].
In 1978, Michael Rutter [ 9 ], the first professor of child psychiatry in the UK and one of the first to develop child psychology, suggested 4 criteria to define autism:
– impaired social development that does not match the intellectual level of the child
– delayed and deviant language that does not correspond to the intellectual level of the child
– a need for immuability which leads to stereotyped games, unusual preoccupations, and resistance to change
– onset of the disorder before the age of 30 months.