Effect of the Ketogenic Diet on Behavioral Symptoms of Autism in the Poly(IC) Mouse Model

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological disorder characterized by decreased sociability, deficits in communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviors. The ketogenic diet (KD), a high-fat, low-carbohydrate, and moderate-protein diet has been shown to improve these three behavioral symptoms in the BTBR mouse model of autism. However, further research is required to strengthen the body of knowledge surrounding the potential of KD as diet therapy for autism. Epidemiological observations have shown that maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy increases the risk of autism in offspring. Based on these observations, the polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly(IC)) mouse model was developed as an animal model to study autism. Poly(IC) is a synthetic analog of double stranded RNA and acts as a viral mimic. It is injected into a pregnant dam, activating an immune response without causing an infection. The offspring of this protocol are the poly(IC) MIA mouse model. They have been shown to have the autistic symptoms of deficits in sociability and communication as well as increased repetitive behaviors. In this study, pregnant dams were injected with poly(IC) or the saline vehicle during the late first trimester. The offspring were separated into control and test groups. At 5 weeks of age, the test group was placed on a 6:1 fat:(carbohydrates + protein) KD while the control groups remained on standard chow. After three weeks on the diet, we assessed sociability, repetitive behavior, and communication. Our results showed that KD reversed increased self-grooming in poly(IC) mice. Results did not indicate autistic-like behavior in our poly(IC) mice for social contact, sociability, grooming during the 3-chamber test, or repetitive behavior in the marble-burying test. However, KD increased social contact in poly(IC) mice. It also increased sociability and decreased 3-chamber grooming in poly(IC) males. Poly(IC) mice did not have a deficit in the social transmission of food preference task, a previously unused assessment of the poly(IC) mouse model. While our study did not succeed in replicating several autistic behaviors in the poly(IC) mouse model, KD had influence on behavior in multiple measures, increasing sociability and decreasing grooming. This suggests that KD may be an effective diet therapy for autism

Exercise and progressive supranuclear palsy : the need for explicit exercise reporting

Background Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) is the most frequent form of atypical Parkinsonism. Although there is preliminary evidence for the benefits of gait rehabilitation, balance training and oculomotor exercises in PSP, the quality of reporting of exercise therapies appears mixed. The current investigation aims to evaluate the comprehensiveness of reporting of exercise and physical activity interventions in the PSP literature. Methods Two independent reviewers used the Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT) to extract all exercise intervention data from 11 studies included in a systematic review. CERT items covered: ‘what’ (materials), ‘who’ (instructor qualifications), ‘how’ (delivery), ‘where’ (location), ‘when’, ‘how much’ (dosage), ‘tailoring’ (what, how), and ‘how well’ (fidelity) exercise delivery complied with the protocol. Each exercise item was scored ‘1’ (adequately reported) or ‘0’ (not adequately reported or unclear). The CERT score was calculated, as well as the percentage of studies that reported each CERT item. Results The CERT scores ranged from 3 to 12 out of 19. No PSP studies adequately described exercise elements that would allow exact replication of the interventions. Well-described items included exercise equipment, exercise settings, exercise therapy scheduling, frequency and duration. Poorly described items included decision rules for exercise progression, instructor qualifications, exercise adherence, motivation strategies, safety and adverse events associated with exercise therapies. Discussion The results revealed variability in the reporting of physical therapies for people living with PSP. Future exercise trials need to more comprehensively describe equipment, instructor qualifications, exercise and physical activity type, dosage, setting, individual tailoring of exercises, supervision, adherence, motivation strategies, progression decisions, safety and adverse events. Conclusion Although beneficial for people living with PSP, exercise and physical therapy interventions have been inadequately reported. It is recommended that evidence-based reporting templates be utilised to comprehensively document therapeutic exercise design, delivery and evaluation

Decline of the edentulism epidemic in Australia

The document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included. Prepared by LA Crocombe and GD SladeAustralian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, The University of Adelaide, South Australia; prepared by LA Crocombe and GD Slad

Attentional shifting differences in autism: Domain general, domain specific, or both?

Atypical attention is considered to have an important role in the development of autism. Yet, it remains unclear whether these attentional difficulties are specific to the social domain. The study aimed to examine attentional orienting in autistic (A) and non-autistic (NA) adults from and to non-social and social stimuli. We utilized a modified gap-overlap task with schematic images (Experiment 1: A=27, NA=26) and photographs (Experiment 2: A=18, NA=17). Eye-tracking data (i.e., saccadic latencies) were then compared across condition and type of stimulus (social or non-social) using multi-level modelling. Autistic adults exhibited mostly typical gap and overlap effects, as well as a bias towards social stimuli. Yet, autistic participants benefited from exogenous disengagement when orienting to social information more than non-autistic participants. Neither a domain general nor social domain specific account for attentional atypicalities in autism was supported separately. Yet, subtle combined domain differences were revealed in the gap condition

Adult education and migration in Scotland: policies and practices for inclusion

Globally, there is an ‘inadequate’ amount of data on the participation of migrants and refugees in adult learning and education. This paper makes a contribution to filling this knowledge gap by presenting new empirical research and analysis on the broad adult learning and education policy framework for refugees and asylum seekers in Scotland. Scotland has responded to the migration ‘crisis’ in Europe through various coordinated policies that explicitly promote inclusion for refugees and asylum seekers. Drawing on Schweisfurth’s Learner-Centred Education framework, this paper presents qualitative data on four aspects of community-based ‘English for Speakers of Other Languages’: motivation, fluid nature of knowledge in the classroom, flexible delivery of provision and friendly classroom relations. Findings revealed evidence of good practice, skilled provision of community-based English for Speakers of Other Languages and underfunding. Scotland is a leader in Europe with respect to inclusive policy, but underfunding and jurisdictional authority could undermine its promise

Recovery:an international perspective

SUMMARY. Aims To review developments in recovery-focussed mental health services internationally. Methods Two forms of recovery which have been used in the literature are considered, and international examples of recovery-focussed initiatives reviews. A litmus test for a recovery-focussed service is proposed. Results Clinical recovery has emerged from professional literature, focuses on sustained remission and restoration of functioning, is invariant across individuals, and has been used to establish rates of recovery. Personal recovery has emerged from consumer narratives, focuses on living a satisfying, hopeful and contributing life even with limitations caused by the illness, varies across individuals, and the empirical evidence base relates to stages of change more than overall prevalence rates. Clinical and personal recovery are different. Two innovative, generalisable and empirically investigated examples are given of implementing a focus on personal recovery: the Collaborative Recovery Model in Australia, and Trialogues in German-speaking Europe. The role of medication is an indicator: services in which all service users are prescribed medication, in which the term compliance is used, in which the reasoning bias is present of attributing improvement to medication and deterioration to the person, and in which contact with and discussion about the service user revolves around medication issues, are not personal recovery-focussed services. Conclusions The term Recovery has been used in different ways, so conceptual clarity is important. Developing a focus on personal recovery is more than a cosmetic change it will entailfundamental shifts in the values of mental health services

Inclined to see it your way: do altercentric intrusion effects in visual perspective taking reflect an intrinsically social process?

It has been suggested that some aspects of mental state understanding recruit a rudimentary, but fast and efficient, processing system, demonstrated by the obligatory slowing down of judgements about what the self can see when this is incongruent with what another can see. We tested the social nature of this system by investigating to what extent these altercentric intrusions are elicited under conditions that differed in their social relevance and, further, how these related to self-reported social perspective taking and empathy (Davis, 1983). In Experiment 1, adult participants were asked to make ‘self’ or ‘other’ perspective-taking judgements during congruent (‘self’ and ‘other’ can see the same items) or incongruent conditions (‘self’ and ‘other’ cannot see the same items) in conditions that were social (i.e., involving a social agent), semi-social (an arrow) or non-social (a dual-coloured block). Reaction time indices of altercentric intrusion effects were present across all conditions, but were significantly stronger for the social compared to the less social conditions. Self-reported perspective taking and empathy correlated with altercentric intrusion effects in the social condition only. In Experiment 2, the significant correlations for the social condition were replicated, but this time with gaze duration indices of altercentric intrusion effects. Findings are discussed with regard to the degree to which this rudimentary system is socially specialized and how it is linked to more conceptual understanding

Exploring planning as a technology of hope

Following Baum’s (1997) proposition that planning be understood as “the organization of hope” there has been limited scholarly engagement with what might be involved in fostering hope through planning practices. Reflecting on three years of participatory action learning and research on a deprived housing estate in Sheffield in northern England, we explore core challenges raised by appealing to hope as an objective of community-led planning. Overall, we argue for further work to explore how the organizational technologies of planning relate to core dimensions of hope, including the ways in which unevenly developed capacities to aspire shape diverse modes of hoping