Examining the Neurological Underpinnings of Atypical Multisensory Perception in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have been found to have difficulties with multisensory perception, which would have a significant impact on their cognitive, sensory, language, and social development. The current collection of studies sought to understand the neurological mechanisms underlying this difficulty with multisensory perception across temporal synchrony variations using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). The nature of these multisensory processing deficits were further explored by delineating social and linguistic processing. The overall goal was accomplished by examining multisensory processing in three studies. The first study evaluated and compared various methods of identifying brain regions responsible for multisensory integration in 17 young adults without ASD. This first study found that a newly proposed temporal synchrony method, which compares neural responses to temporally synchronous and asynchronous audiovisual stimuli, was more theoretically valid and more empirically tenable than other previously used methods. In the second study, the temporal synchrony method was used to compare responses to multisensory stimuli across social-linguistic, social-nonlinguistic, and nonsocial-nonlinguistic conditions in individuals with (n = 15) and without (n = 17) ASD using fMRI. The third study explored whole-brain patterns of activity involved in multisensory integration, using a multivariate fMRI analysis approach (partial least squares: PLS) with the same participant groups as study two. Taken together the results of studies two and three reveal that young adults with ASD do not process multisensory stimuli in the same way as young adults without ASD. When using targeted contrasts in study two, individuals with ASD displayed either a lack of multisensory integration or an opposite pattern of response to synchrony variants of multisensory information relative to the group without ASD. Further, the results of study three suggested that when examining synchronous and asynchronous multisensory stimuli, individuals with ASD do not engage the same social- and language-specific networks that were present in individuals without ASD. Based on the results of these studies, a novel hypothesis was proposed to explain the differential response profiles for individuals with and without ASD: the multisensory catalyst nodes hypothesis

Sexual Knowledge and Victimization in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

DOI 10.1007/s10803-014-2093-yThere is a significant gap in understanding the risk of sexual victimization in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and the variables that contribute to risk. Age appropriate sexual interest, limited sexual knowledge and experiences, and social deficits, may place adults with ASD at increased risk. Ninety-five adults with ASD and 117 adults without ASD completed questionnaires regarding sexual knowledge sources, actual knowledge, perceived knowledge, and sexual victimization. Individuals with ASD obtained less of their sexual knowledge from social sources, more sexual knowledge from non-social sources, had less perceived and actual knowledge, and experienced more sexual victimization than controls. The increased risk of victimization by individuals with ASD was partially mediated by their actual knowledge. The link between knowledge and victimization has important clinical implications for interventions.Ontario Mental Health Foundation, Canadian Institute for Health Research, NeuroDevNet, Sinneave Family Foundation, CASDA, Autism Speaks Canada, Health Canada, Spectrum of Hope Autism Foundatio

Symposium on Obesity and Asthma-November 2006

L’asthme et l’obésité sont fréquemment associés et l’obésité est considérée comme un facteur impliqué tant dans l’augmentation de la sévérité que dans le développement de l’asthme. Ce document est un compte-rendu des présentations effectuées dans le cadre d’un symposium du Réseau en santé respiratoire du Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec qui a eu lieu à Montréal le 2 novembre 2006, en collaboration avec le McGill University – Strauss Severe Asthma Program, l’Université Laval (Québec) et l’Université de Montréal. Au cours de cette rencontre, divers aspects de la relation entre obésité et asthme ont été abordés, en regard des modèles animaux, des influences génétiques, hormonales et physiologiques, de l’influence des comorbidités (ex : syndrome d’apnée du sommeil), de l’épidémiologie, des aspects cliniques et psychologiques et, enfin, du traitement de l’asthme chez la personne obèse.Asthma and obesity are frequently associated, and obesity has been considered a factor contributing to both an increase in severity of asthma and to its development. The present document summarizes the proceedings of a symposium held in Montreal, Quebec, on November 2, 2006, under the auspices of the Réseau en santé respiratoire du Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec in collaboration with the McGill University - Strauss Severe Asthma Program, Université Laval (Quebec City) and Université de Montréal. It includes an overview of the various aspects of the relationships between asthma and obesity with regard to animal models; genetic, hormonal and physiological determinants; influence of comorbidities (eg, sleep apnea syndrome); epidemiology; clinical and psychological features; and management of asthma in the obese population

Impaired cholecystokinin-induced gallbladder emptying incriminated in spontaneous “black” pigment gallstone formation in germfree Swiss Webster mice

“Black” pigment gallstones form in sterile gallbladder bile in the presence of excess bilirubin conjugates (“hyperbilirubinbilia”) from ineffective erythropoiesis, hemolysis, or induced enterohepatic cycling (EHC) of unconjugated bilirubin. Impaired gallbladder motility is a less well-studied risk factor. We evaluated the spontaneous occurrence of gallstones in adult germfree (GF) and conventionally housed specific pathogen-free (SPF) Swiss Webster (SW) mice. GF SW mice were more likely to have gallstones than SPF SW mice, with 75% and 23% prevalence, respectively. In GF SW mice, gallstones were observed predominately in heavier, older females. Gallbladders of GF SW mice were markedly enlarged, contained sterile black gallstones composed of calcium bilirubinate and <1% cholesterol, and had low-grade inflammation, edema, and epithelial hyperplasia. Hemograms were normal, but serum cholesterol was elevated in GF compared with SPF SW mice, and serum glucose levels were positively related to increasing age. Aged GF and SPF SW mice had deficits in gallbladder smooth muscle activity. In response to cholecystokinin (CCK), gallbladders of fasted GF SW mice showed impaired emptying (females: 29%; males: 1% emptying), whereas SPF SW females and males emptied 89% and 53% of volume, respectively. Bilirubin secretion rates of GF SW mice were not greater than SPF SW mice, repudiating an induced EHC. Gallstones likely developed in GF SW mice because of gallbladder hypomotility, enabled by features of GF physiology, including decreased intestinal CCK concentration and delayed intestinal transit, as well as an apparent genetic predisposition of the SW stock. GF SW mice may provide a valuable model to study gallbladder stasis as a cause of black pigment gallstones.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Training Grant T32-OD10978-26)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Training Grant P30-ES002109)Kinship Foundation. Searle Scholars Progra

Growth Faltering and Developmental Delay in HIV-Exposed Uninfected Ugandan Infants: A Prospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: HIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) infants are at increased risk of impaired early linear growth and cognitive development. We examined associations between prenatal and postnatal growth and subsequent neurodevelopment in Ugandan HEU infants, hypothesizing that early insults may explain alterations in both somatic growth and brain development. METHODS: We prospectively followed a cohort of HEU infants from birth to 18 months of age, and measured length/height, weight, head, and arm circumference longitudinally. The Malawi Development Assessment Tool (MDAT, 12 and 18 months) and the Color Object Association Test (18 months) were used for developmental assessments. RESULTS: Among 170 HEU infants, the prevalence of low-birth weight and failure to thrive was 7.6% and 37%, respectively. HEU infants had MDAT scores that were similar to the reference population. The mean (SD) score on the Color Object Association Test was 5.5 (3.1) compared with 6.9 (5.3) in developmentally normal children. Developmental ability at age 18 months showed strong cross-sectional correlation with weight-for-age (ρ = 0.36, P < 0.0001), length/height-for-age (ρ = 0.41, P < 0.0001), head circumference-for-age (ρ = 0.26, P = 0.0011), and mid-upper arm circumference-for-age (ρ = 0.34, P = 0.0014). There was a statistically significant correlation between birth weight and MDAT z-score at 18 months (ρ = 0.20, P = 0.010). Failure to thrive was associated with lower MDAT z-score [median -0.13 (IQR -0.75 to +0.14) versus +0.14 (IQR -0.44 to +0.63), P = 0.042]. CONCLUSION: Growth faltering in HEU infants was associated with lower attainment of developmental milestones at age 18 months. Our findings point to a simple screening method for identifying HEU infants at risk for developmental intervention

UNBOUND

UNBOUND showcases the graduating class from the fashion design school at Fanshawe College.https://first.fanshawec.ca/famd_design_fashiondesign_unbound/1007/thumbnail.jp

SMC complexes differentially compact mitotic chromosomes according to genomic context

Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) protein complexes are key determinants of chromosome conformation. Using Hi-C and polymer modelling, we study how cohesin and condensin, two deeply conserved SMC complexes, organize chromosomes in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The canonical role of cohesin is to co-align sister chromatids, while condensin generally compacts mitotic chromosomes. We find strikingly different roles for the two complexes in budding yeast mitosis. First, cohesin is responsible for compacting mitotic chromosome arms, independently of sister chromatid cohesion. Polymer simulations demonstrate that this role can be fully accounted for through cis-looping of chromatin. Second, condensin is generally dispensable for compaction along chromosome arms. Instead, it plays a targeted role compacting the rDNA proximal regions and promoting resolution of peri-centromeric regions. Our results argue that the conserved mechanism of SMC complexes is to form chromatin loops and that distinct SMC-dependent looping activities are selectively deployed to appropriately compact chromosomes