自闭症神经机制研究的新进展

“自闭症”是由美国儿童精神病医生Kanner,L．在1943年首次提出来的。其主要症状包括社会交往障碍、语言发展障碍、认知障碍以及行为刻板反复。现代实验技术手段的发展为探索自闭症病因之迷提供了重要的帮助。大量自闭症的神经机制方面的证据主要来自于运用脑成像技术(如核磁共振成像MRI、正电子发射层描术PET等)、动物脑损伤、尸     

戏剧治疗在自闭症谱系障碍儿童社交能力提升中的应用

社会交往能力的缺乏被认为是自闭症谱系障碍儿童最核心的症状,戏剧治疗被认为能有效提高自闭症谱系障碍儿童的社会交往能力。文章梳理了运用戏剧治疗提升自闭症谱系障碍儿童社会交往能力的理论基础、技术和步骤、实践与疗效,并对该方法的应用进行了简单的总结和展望。技术包括布景、符号表征、视觉形象化和角色法;步骤包括相遇、谐和、习得三个阶段;现有实证研究表明该方法对自闭症谱系障碍儿童的社交能力提升有一定的作用;该方法与其他方法的结合是未来需重视的实践与研究方向。     

封闭世界中的孩子——儿童自闭症的分析与治疗

Kanner教授于1943年最先报道了关于儿童自闭症的详细研究,自闭症作为一种症侯群,其具体症状因人而异。社会交往障碍、语言发育障碍、刻板的行为方式是自闭症的三个主要障碍。本文从儿童自闭症的表现特征、原因、治疗等方面入手,详细阐述了这一发生在婴幼儿时期的发展障碍及其治疗方法,为自闭症儿童的早期发现、训练和矫治提供参考。     

自闭症研究在认知发展领域的新进展

１关于自闭症的界定１．１什么是自闭症儿童的智力发展和身体发育可能会在许多发面出现不正常,形成多种儿童发展障碍,引起行为异常。自闭症是儿童全面发展障碍的一种,又称儿童孤独症。它是起病于儿童早期的一种严重的精神疾患。首先认识到这种障碍,并把它视作一个群体以单独命名的是美国儿童精神科教授Ｋａｎｎｅｒ。他于１９４３年描述并报道了１１名行为异常、社会性退缩的儿童,认为他们是“从生命一开始就表现出与人交流的障碍”。这些儿童在婴幼儿时期表现出明显的仪式性、刻板行为;社会交往障碍;言语发展障碍,这典型的三种症状…     

自闭症谱系障碍社交动机理论：机制及干预探索

自闭症谱系障碍(Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD)表现为社会交往困难以及重复刻板兴趣或行为。社交动机理论提出ASD个体是由于社交动机缺乏导致的社交障碍。目前该理论缺乏理论元素及结构关系的系统论证, 及基于此理论的低龄ASD儿童群体的研究证据。本研究拟采用心理实验法、眼动及近红外脑成像技术, 探索低龄ASD儿童早期社交奖赏、社交定向异常眼动标记及眶额叶脑区活动的神经机制。此外, 通过音乐奖赏强化学习的干预方式改善该理论的核心元素(社交奖赏), 观测能否改善ASD儿童的社交动机。本研究的开展有望对该理论进行系统验证, 并形成改善社交行为的潜在干预方案。     

自闭症谱系障碍个体的焦虑：发生机制、评估与治疗

自闭症谱系障碍是一种神经发育性障碍, 主要表现为社会交往互动障碍和重复刻板性行为。焦虑或焦虑障碍常被认为是自闭症个体最普遍的共病之一。焦虑与自闭症之间的关系尚不明确, 自闭症个体的焦虑与无法忍受不确定性、杏仁核功能和体积、情绪调节策略、消极思维存在一定关联; 目前已经开发出专门用于自闭症个体焦虑的评估工具; 修订版认知行为疗法对自闭症个体焦虑的治疗取得了良好效果。未来的研究应着重探索自闭症个体焦虑的认知与神经机制, 检验专用评估工具的有效性, 继续关注现代技术(如虚拟现实技术)对自闭症个体焦虑的治疗效果。     

自闭症儿童话语多模态个案研究

以多模态理论为基础,从语言、非语言及其跨通道性等方面比较正常男童和两个自闭症男童叙事语言。叙事中,他们讲述一个无字书《青蛙,你在哪里?》的故事并录像。分析多模态语料发现,高功能自闭症儿童和正常儿童的叙事字数、句数,代词、语气词、心理词汇的数量和概念错误数没有显著差别,中度自闭症患儿在这些方面显著不及高功能自闭症儿童。非语言及跨通道方面,高功能自闭症儿童比中等程度患儿表现要好,中等自闭症儿童无法集中注意力,无法独自完成述说故事。针对他们的多模态特征,提出了康复建议。     

探索宗教疗法的积极作用 以自闭症救治为例北大核心CSSCISSCI

美国自闭症与发展性障碍监控（ADDM）网络的最新数据显示,每110名儿童中大约就有1名患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）,我国近期相关调查也显示,自闭症儿童的数量在我国呈现不断增长趋势。自闭症是由器质性病变引发的一种终身精神疾病,其典型症状为认知、语言和社会交往障碍及刻板性行为问题。目前,由于医学上对此疾病暂无有效的治疗方法,因此心理治疗就成为自闭症应对的重要手段。心理学领域利用一切心理资源来探寻应对自闭症的干预方法时,宗教因素受到研究者们极大的关注,主要聚焦于自闭症患者的宗教信仰、宗教在自闭症治疗及其家庭中的作用等方面。     

自闭症谱系儿童模仿缺陷的脑神经机制

模仿在人类生命进化中具有举足轻莺的意义,自闭症儿童的认知发展的研究表明,模仿缺陷是导致自闭症谱系儿童沟通障碍、社交困难的核心缺陷.而镜像神经系统机能失常假设有力地解释了自闭症谱系儿童模仿缺陷的神经机制.尽管镜像神经系统的信息加工过程还存在着MOSAIC模型和EP-M模型的争论.但这两种模型都支持自闭症儿童脑神经功能连通异常的假说.     

泛自闭症障碍执行功能的神经心理学和神经成像研究

文章主要回顾了泛自闭症障碍在四个方面的执行功能缺陷-维持注意、注意定向、反应抑制、和设置转换/认知灵活性.总括了泛自闭症障碍在这些特定的执行功能方面的神经心理学和神经成像研究,并提出了以后研究的建议.     

Exploring cortical activation and connectivity in infants with and without familial risk for autism during naturalistic social interactions: A preliminary study

Behavioral signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are typically observable by the second year of life and a reliable diagnosis of ASD is possible by 2 to 3 years of age. Studying infants with familial risk for ASD allows for the investigation of early signs of ASD risk within the first year. Brain abnormalities such as hyper-connectivity within the first year may precede the overt signs of ASD that emerge later in life. In this preliminary study, we use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), an infant-friendly neuroimaging tool that is relatively robust against motion artifacts, to examine functional activation and connectivity during naturalistic social interactions in 9 high-risk (HR; older sibling with ASD) and 6 low-risk (LR; no family history of ASD) infants from 6 to 9 months of age. We obtained two 30-second baseline periods and a 5-minute social interaction period. HR infants showed reduced right and left-hemispheric activation compared to LR infants based on oxy (HbO₂) and deoxy (HHb) signal trends. HR infants also had greater functional connectivity than LR infants during the pre- and post-social periods and showed a drop in connectivity during the social period. Our findings are consistent with previous work suggesting early differences in cortical activation associated with familial risk for ASD, and highlight the promise of fNIRS in evaluating potential markers of ASD risk during naturalistic social contexts.     

超扫描视角下的社会互动脑机制

超扫描技术可同时记录多名被试在同一认知活动中的脑活动,并通过分析脑间活动同步及其与行为指标间的关系描述社会互动的群体脑机制。本文总结了近十多年超扫描研究在合作与竞争、动作和行为同步、人际交流等领域的成果,在已有研究基础上指出脑间活动同步可刻画社会互动中感觉运动、思维决策以及信息传递等三大层面上的互动情况,可能成为社会互动活动的神经标记,并阐述了超扫描技术研究的局限性及其研究展望与应用潜能。     

抑郁倾向对合作的影响：双人同步近红外脑成像研究

抑郁人群不但表现出注意、记忆等个体认知层面的负性偏向, 还伴随有明显的社会认知障碍。已有研究在抑郁对社会认知的影响方面还考察得不多。本研究采用囚徒困境范式考察抑郁倾向对社会合作的影响。结果显示, 高抑郁倾向组比低抑郁倾向组的合作率更低, 双侧背外侧前额叶的激活更弱, 抑郁对右侧背外侧前额叶及眶额叶的脑间同步性有调节作用; 低抑郁被试与低抑郁被试配对时右侧颞顶联合区脑间同步性强于高抑郁被试与高抑郁被试配对, 或者高抑郁被试与低抑郁被试配对时的右侧颞顶联合区脑间同步性, 该效应当且仅当双方的选择相同时显著。结果表明, 抑郁群体在社会奖赏加工、冲突控制及心理理论脑区均存在功能性缺陷, 这些结果为理解抑郁人群合作意愿下降提供了脑成像证据。     

社会动机理论视角下自闭症谱系障碍者的社交缺陷

社交缺陷是自闭症谱系障碍的核心症状。以往研究更多从社会认知的角度指出该症状是心理理论损伤所致, 但自闭症谱系障碍个体在获得心理理论之前已表现出社会动机不足的特质, 且部分能通过心理理论测试的个体依旧表现出社会动机不足的特点。社会动机理论指出社会动机是促进人类进化、激发和维持个体社会性活动的重要内部动力, 自闭症谱系障碍者的社交缺陷是由于社会动机不足所致。该理论从行为表现、神经科学和生物学三个方面对自闭症谱系障碍者的社交缺陷进行解释。未来应进一步完善自闭症谱系障碍个体社会动机的神经机制研究, 明确社会动机理论在自闭症谱系障碍群体中的适用范围, 探究社会动机理论在评估诊断和临床康复中的应用价值。     

Neuroanatomical substrates of social cognition dysfunction in autism

In this review article, we summarize recent progress toward understanding the neural structures and circuitry underlying dysfunctional social cognition in autism. We review selected studies from the growing literature that has used the functional neuroimaging techniques of cognitive neuroscience to map out the neuroanatomical substrates of social cognition in autism. We also draw upon functional neuroimaging studies with neurologically normal individuals and individuals with brain lesions to highlight the insights these studies offer that may help elucidate the search for the neural basis of social cognition deficits in autism. We organize this review around key brain structures that have been implicated in the social cognition deficits in autism: (1) the amygdala, (2) the superior temporal sulcus region, and (3) the fusiform gyrus. We review some of what is known about the contribution of each structure to social cognition and then review autism studies that implicate that particular structure. We conclude with a discussion of several potential future directions in the cognitive neuroscience of social deficits in autism.     

Distortions and disconnections: disrupted brain connectivity in autism

The past few years have seen considerable interest in findings of abnormal brain connectivity in the autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We review recent work from neuroimaging and other sources, and argue that there is considerable convergent evidence suggesting that connectivity is disrupted in ASD. We point to evidence both of local over-connectivity and of long-distance under-connectivity, and describe some non-uniformities in this picture, most notably that disruptions appear more severe in later-developing cortical regions. We conclude by discussing a number of extant questions. Firstly, we consider whether aberrant connectivity should be seen as part of the primary pathogenesis of autism, or whether disrupted connectivity in ASD emerges over time. Secondly, we consider how the patterns of disrupted connectivity found in ASD might relate to those being found in a range of other disorders.     

A connectionist model of category learning by individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show atypical patterns of learning and generalization. We explored the possible impacts of autism-related neural abnormalities on perceptual category learning using a neural network model of visual cortical processing. When applied to experiments in which children or adults were trained to classify complex two-dimensional images, the model can account for atypical patterns of perceptual generalization. This is only possible, however, when individual differences in learning are taken into account. In particular, analyses performed with a self-organizing map suggested that individuals with high-functioning ASD show two distinct generalization patterns: one that is comparable to typical patterns, and a second in which there is almost no generalization. The model leads to novel predictions about how individuals will generalize when trained with simplified input sets and can explain why some researchers have failed to detect learning or generalization deficits in prior studies of category learning by individuals with autism. On the basis of these simulations, we propose that deficits in basic neural plasticity mechanisms may be sufficient to account for the atypical patterns of perceptual category learning and generalization associated with autism, but they do not account for why only a subset of individuals with autism would show such deficits. If variations in performance across subgroups reflect heterogeneous neural abnormalities, then future behavioral and neuroimaging studies of individuals with ASD will need to account for such disparities.     

Attributing social and physical meaning to ambiguous visual displays in individuals with higher-functioning autism spectrum disorders

The weak central coherence (WCC) account of autism characterizes the learning style of individuals with this condition as favoring localized and fragmented (to the detriment of global and integrative) processing of information. This pattern of learning is thought to lead to deficits in aspects of perception (e.g., face processing), cognition, and communication (e.g., focus on disjointed details rather than "gist" or context), ultimately leading to social impairments. This study was carried out to examine whether WCC applies to social and to non-social aspects of learning alike, or, alternatively, some areas of learning (e.g., physical reasoning) are spared in autism. classic social animation as quantified in the Social Attribution Task (SAT) () and a novel animation involving physical reasoning (the Physical Attribution Task; PAT) were used to test the domain specificity of the WCC hypothesis. A pilot study involving a reference group of typically developing young adults and a group of individuals with higher-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) revealed gender differences in the reference group in regards to performance on the PAT (males outperformed females). In a follow-up case-control comparison involving only males where the ASD group was matched on age and IQ to a typically developing (TD) group of children, adolescents, and adults, the ASD group showed lower SAT scores and comparable PAT scores relative to the TD group. The interaction of diagnostic group by task was highly significant, with little overlap between the groups in the distributions of SAT minus PAT scores. These results indicated preserved integrative skills in the area of physical attribution in the ASD group, thus failing to support the WCC account as a domain-independent (or more general) model of learning in autism, while highlighting the centrality of the social deficits in the characterization of learning style in the autism spectrum disorders.     

孤独症儿童的情绪共情能力及情绪表情注意方式

研究探讨了孤独症儿童的情绪共情能力及情绪表情注意方式的特点。各选取15名孤独症儿童以及作为对照组的智力障碍儿童和普通儿童各15名, 完成情绪共情实验, 同时使用生物反馈仪记录自主生理反应, 眼动仪记录眼动轨迹。结果发现孤独症儿童对情绪表情的自动模仿及感知能力显著低于智力障碍儿童与普通儿童; 对面孔的总注视时间、总注视点数均显著少于智力障碍儿童、普通儿童; 对眼部、嘴部的注视时间比及注视点数比均显著低于普通儿童; 对高兴和悲伤表情的注意较多而对恐惧则较少。这提示孤独症儿童的情绪共情能力不足、对情绪表情的注意方式异常。