Comparing virtual vs real faces expressing emotions in children with autism: An eye-tracking study

AbstractDifficulties in processing emotional facial expressions is considered a central characteristic of children with autism spectrum condition (ASC). In addition, there is a growing interest in the use of virtual avatars capable of expressing emotions as an intervention aimed at improving the social skills of these individuals. One potential use of avatars is that they could enhance facial recognition and guide attention. However, this aspect needs further investigation. The aim of our study is to assess differences in eye gaze processes in children with ASC when they see avatar faces expressing emotions compared to real faces. Eye-tracking methodology was used to compare the performance of children with ASC between avatar and real faces. A repeated-measures general linear model was adopted to understand which characteristics of the stimuli could influence the stimuli's fixation times. Survival analysis was performed to understand differences in exploration behaviour between avatar and real faces. Differences between emotion recognition accuracy and the number of fixations were evaluated through a paired t-test. Our results confirm that children with autism have higher capacities to process and recognize emotions when these are presented by avatar faces. Children with autism are more attracted to the mouth or the eyes depending on the stimulus type (avatar or real) and the emotion expressed by the stimulus. Also, they are more attracted to avatar faces expressing negative emotions (anger and sadness), and to real faces expressing surprise. Differences were not found regarding happiness. Finally, they show a higher degree of exploration of avatar faces. All these elements, such as interest in the avatar and reduced attention to the eyes, can offer important elements in planning an efficient intervention

An Innovative Approach to Development of Social Abilities in Individuals with Autism: A Pilot Study

Recent evidence suggests that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) show a significant impairment in social abilities. There are no treatments that have demonstrated evidence of being effective at improving social skills and promoting independence. The transition to adulthood, which often involves loss of school support and child and adolescent mental health services, is a challenge in the rehabilitation field. Our pilot study is the first that describes a novel approach to involving young adults with ASD in metacognitive exercise focused on social cognition. In treatment proposed, participants with ASD help each other to create software aimed at improving children with ASD's understanding of emotions. Our results showed an qualitative and quantitative improvement of their cognitive empathic abilities, as witnessed by parents and of the post- treatment assessment. This pilot study highlights the importance to help individuals with ASD to fulfil their potential in areas of strength

The Relationship between Compulsive Behaviour and Internet Addiction

A variety of behavioural and emotional problems among university students is due to Internet Addiction (Alavi et al. 2012, Rusconi et al. 2012). In 2013 a survey is conducted on a sample of 532 students of University of L’Aquila. The purpose is to investigate Internet use patterns and the correlation between Internet Addiction disorder and compulsive behaviour. Two self-administered questionnaires are used: the Internet Addiction Test and the Cognitive Behavioural Assessment 2.0. 517 students show signs of Internet Addiction, which is moderate for 31% of respondents and severe for 1% of them. 5% shows intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviours. The symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder are statistically associated with Internet Addiction (chi² test=23.53, p=0.000). Among young people there is a relationship between compulsive behaviour and Internet Addiction. This relationship has significant effects on treatment of Internet Addiction

P02-10 Abnormal emotional responses to pleasant and unpleasant visual stimuli in first episode schizophrenia: f-MRI investigation

Aims:Affective deficits (flat affect, a diminished expression of emotion, anhedonia, and lowered ability to experience pleasure) are very common in schizophrenia. In emotion feeling, the crucial role of the insula, rather than of the primary somatosensory cortices, strongly suggests that the neural substrate for emotions is not merely sensorial. It is more likely that the activation of the insula representation of the viscero-motor activity is responsible for feeling of disgust. A recent MRI study demonstrated specific left anterior insular volume reduction in chronic schizophrenia patients: sustainable is the suggestion that emotion of disgust or of taste may be related to the experience of pleasure, which probably is compromise in schizophrenics.We investigated fMRI brain activations in first episode schizophrenic subjects with negative symptoms and in healthy subjects elicited by pleasant and unpleasant visual stimuli.Method:Ten first-episode schizophrenic subjects with normal IQ were recruited from the psychiatric service "SMILE" of San Salvatore Hospital and 10 healthy volunteers matched for age and education were scanned during observation of pleasant and unpleasant visual stimuli. Functional images were acquired with a 1.5T MRI scanner. Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast was obtained using EPI T2* weighted images.Results:The most important result of the study was the demonstration that anterior insula was activated by the exposure to disgusting stimula in normal subjects but not in schizophrenic subjects.Conclusion:This failure of the neural systems used to support emotional attribution is consistent with pervasive problems in experiencing emotions by schizophrenics

Stem-Skilled Parents and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Offspring: A Case-Control Study

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopment disorder characterised by a range of deficits in two specific domains: social communication and social interaction and repetitive patterns of behaviour. Several studies have explored the link between ASD and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or other mathematics-grounded disciplines), but results are still uncertain. Objective of the study was to estimate the potential role of systemising abilities in parents as a risk factor for ASD in the offspring, using the achievement of a degree in STEM disciplines as a proxy characteristic of the exposure. There were 1,316 participants overall. There were 658 incident consecutive cases of definite ASD, diagnosed in a Reference Centre for ASD in Italy, from 2001 to 2020. The main exposure variable was parental education level. The risk of ASD in the offspring associated with the main exposure variable and the exposure covariates (e.g. use of neurotropic drugs during the first trimester of the mother’s pregnancy, perinatal outcomes of participants and/or preterm birth) was studied by using conditional logistic regression analysis. In addition, we carried out a mediation analysis to investigate whether and the extent to which covariates significantly associated with ASD risk mediate the relationship between parental education level and ASD in offspring. A STEM degree in parents was significantly associated with risk of ASD in offspring (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.03-2.54). Familiarity was weakly associated with the risk of ASD (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.00-1.66) and is the stronger mediator (PME 28%). Sensitivity analysis did not show deviations related to gender or ASD level. Our study moves in the direction of confirming the risk of occurrence of ASD in the offspring of parents with elevated systemising abilities

Register-based cumulative prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders during childhood and adolescence in Central Italy

Background: Studies have evaluated the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), focusing on different ages during childhood and adolescence. How cumulative prevalence increases before adulthood remains unclear.  Methods: We used data from the Autism Register of the Regional Reference Centre for Autism in L’Aquila, Central Italy, to retrieve information on individuals born in 2001–2012 with any of the inclusion diagnoses of ASD (DSM criteria) for the period 2001 to 2018. Cumulative prevalence on L’Aquila district population data was calculated as percentages for three-year age strata.  Results: All prevalence data were estimated at December 31st, 2018. The overall crude prevalence was 0.95% (352 cases over 36938 population). Cumulative prevalence was 1.19% among those born in 2001-2003 (15 to 17 years of follow up), 1.15% among those born in 2004-2006 (12 to 14 years of follow up), 1.04% among those born in 2007-2009 (9 to 11 years of follow up), 0.80% among those born in 2010-2012 (6 to 8 years of follow up), and 0.57% among those born in 2013-2015 (3 to 5 years of follow up). The proportion of ASD diagnoses until the age of 5 years, compared to the group diagnosed 6 to 8 years of age, showed a significant increasing trend over calendar time (53.6% for those born in 2001-2003, to 77.0% for those born in 2010-2012).  Conclusions: Cumulative prevalence by time period provides a better understanding of ASD occurrence than a point prevalence. We did not find any difference in frequency of diagnosis comparing age strata and year of birth, suggesting that frequencies of ASD diagnosis remained roughly constant from 2001 to 2015. Results show that cumulative prevalence of autism diagnosis does not substantially change over time; instead, diagnosis of ASD is more likely at earliest ages over time, although new cases of ASD are also detected at later ages.&nbsp

Genomic signatures of adaptive introgression from European mouflon into domestic sheep

Mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) became extinct from mainland Europe after the Neolithic, but remnant populations from the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia have been used for reintroductions across Europe since the 19th-century. Mouflon x sheep hybrids are larger-bodied than mouflon, potentially showing increased male reproductive success, but little is known about genomic levels of admixture, or about the adaptive significance of introgression between resident mouflon and local sheep breeds. Here we analysed Ovine medium-density SNP array genotypes of 92 mouflon from six geographic regions, along with data from 330 individuals of 16 domestic sheep breeds. We found lower levels of genetic diversity in mouflon than in domestic sheep, consistent with past bottlenecks in mouflon. Introgression signals were bidirectional and affected most mouflon and sheep populations, being strongest in one Sardinian mouflon population. Developing and using a novel approach to identify chromosomal regions with consistent introgression signals, we infer adaptive introgression from mouflon to domestic sheep related to immunity mechanisms, but not in the opposite direction. Further, we infer that Soay and Sarda sheep carry introgressed mouflon alleles involved in bitter taste perception and/or innate immunity. Our results illustrate the potential for adaptive introgression even among recently diverged populations

Cotard’s Syndrome: Clinical Case Presentation and Literature Review

In 1880 French neurologist Jules Cotard described a condition characterized by delusion of negation (nihilistic delusion) in a melancholia context. Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in Cotard’s syndrome. The most prominent symptoms of Cotard’s Syndrome are depressive mood, nihilistic delusions concerning one’s own body and one’s own existence, delusions of guilt, immortality and hypochondria. The aim of the present paper is to review literature evidences concerning Cotard’s syndrome and to describe a clinical case keeping in the background the recent trends on its psychopathological implications. In the clinical study, the following sequence of stages emerged: the dissociative side, expressed as a loss of body-mind cohesion; the ‘mixed’ mood disorder, with depressive-manic episodes, and a persecutory background, all coexisting in the anguish of the idea of a body falling apart, the anguish of a descent towards the abyss of melancholia and/or an ascent to unlimited euphoria, characteristic of an “uncommon alarm” for loss of Self cohesion

The role of melatonin in mood disorders

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) has been discovered as a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, even though it is also synthetized in various other organs, tissues, and cells. The circadian rhythm of melatonin is often used as an indicator phase position since it is a well-defined, high-amplitude rhythm controlled by the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei. Melatonin production is controlled by this endogenous circadian timing system. It peaks during the night and is suppressed by daylight. Mood spectrum disorders, including bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and seasonal affective disorder (SAD), have been observed to be accompanied by circadian dysregulation as well as dysregulation in melatonin secretion. Simultaneously, it has also been documented that disruptions in circadian rhythms, including the sleep/wake cycle, though environmental means can produce mood-related problems in vulnerable individuals. These findings suggested that altered circadian rhythms might be biological markers of these disorders. As melatonin is considered a chronobiotic factor, ie, able to entrain the circadian rhythms of several biological functions (eg, activity/rest, sleep/wake, body temperature, endocrine rhythms, etc), its use may provide a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of affective disorders. However, the available evidence is controversial. This review summarizes the data published so far about reliable evidence on the role of melatonin in affective disorder