Figurative language comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analytic review

We present a meta-analysis of studies that compare figurative language comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and in typically developing controls who were matched based on chronological age or/and language ability. A total of 41 studies and 45 independent effect sizes were included based on predetermined inclusion criteria. Group matching strategy, age, types of figurative language, and cross-linguistic differences were examined as predictors that might explain heterogeneity in effect sizes. Overall, individuals with autism spectrum disorder showed poorer comprehension of figurative language than their typically developing peers (Hedges’ g = –0.57). A meta-regression analysis showed that group matching strategy and types of figurative language were significantly related to differences in effect sizes, whereas chronological age and cross-linguistic differences were not. Differences between the autism spectrum disorder and typically developing groups were small and nonsignificant when the groups were matched based on the language ability. Metaphors were more difficult to comprehend for individuals with autism spectrum disorder compared with typically developing controls than were irony and sarcasm. Our findings highlight the critical role of core language skills in figurative language comprehension. Interventions and educational programmes designed to improve social communication skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorder may beneficially target core language skills in addition to social skills

Genomic Relationships, Novel Loci, and Pleiotropic Mechanisms across Eight Psychiatric Disorders

Genetic influences on psychiatric disorders transcend diagnostic boundaries, suggesting substantial pleiotropy of contributing loci. However, the nature and mechanisms of these pleiotropic effects remain unclear. We performed analyses of 232,964 cases and 494,162 controls from genome-wide studies of anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and Tourette syndrome. Genetic correlation analyses revealed a meaningful structure within the eight disorders, identifying three groups of inter-related disorders. Meta-analysis across these eight disorders detected 109 loci associated with at least two psychiatric disorders, including 23 loci with pleiotropic effects on four or more disorders and 11 loci with antagonistic effects on multiple disorders. The pleiotropic loci are located within genes that show heightened expression in the brain throughout the lifespan, beginning prenatally in the second trimester, and play prominent roles in neurodevelopmental processes. These findings have important implications for psychiatric nosology, drug development, and risk prediction.Peer reviewe

Effects of exogenous oxytocin administration on non-social executive function in humans: A preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Oxytocin has received considerable research attention for its role in social cognition and behavior. However, there is emerging evidence that oxytocin may operate in a more domain-general way by also moderating non-social cognition in both animals and humans. This protocol describes a planned systematic review and meta-analysis that will investigate if oxytocin facilitates executive function outside social contexts and which factors may moderate this effect

The effects of oxytocin administration on social and repetitive behaviors in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Oxytocin administration has demonstrated considerable promise for providing additional support for people with autism who have a desire for such interventions. However, results from studies evaluating the effects of oxytocin administration on autistic characteristics have been mixed. Here we describe a protocol for a planned systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on the effect of oxytocin administration on social and repetitive behaviors in autism, which adopts recently devel-oped methods to more precisely assess the potential impact of effect size dependency and publica-tion bias

Oxytocin receptor expression patterns in the human brain across development.

Oxytocin plays a vital role in social behavior and homeostatic processes, with animal models indicating that oxytocin receptor (OXTR) expression patterns in the brain influence behavior and physiology. However, the developmental trajectory of OXTR gene expression is unclear. By analyzing gene expression data in human post-mortem brain samples, from the prenatal period to late adulthood, we demonstrate distinct patterns of OXTR gene expression in the developing brain, with increasing OXTR expression along the course of the prenatal period culminating in a peak during early childhood. This early life OXTR expression peak pattern appears slightly earlier in a comparative macaque sample, which is consistent with the relative immaturity of the human brain during early life compared to macaques. We also show that a network of genes with strong spatiotemporal couplings with OXTR is enriched in several psychiatric illness and body composition phenotypes. Taken together, these results demonstrate that oxytocin signaling plays an important role in a diverse set of psychological and somatic processes across the lifespan

The effects of oxytocin administration on social and routinized behaviors in autism: A preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis

Oxytocin administration has demonstrated considerable promise for providing individualized support for people with autism. However, studies evaluating the effects of oxytocin administration on autistic characteristics have yielded inconsistent results. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates the effect of oxytocin administration on social and routinized behaviors in autism using advanced methods to accurately assess potential impact of effect size dependency and publication bias. Our frequentist meta-analysis yielded a significant summary estimate for the effect of oxytocin administration on social outcomes in autism (d = 0.22, p < 0.001), and an effect that was on the threshold of statistical significance for routinized behavior outcomes (d = 0.16, p = 0.07). Frequentist and Bayesian assessments for publication bias, as well as results from Robust Bayesian meta-analysis of oxytocin effects on social outcomes in autism, indicated that the summary effect size might be inflated due to publication bias. Future studies should aim to reduce bias by preregistering analysis plans and implementing rigorous study designs, and to increase precision with larger sample sizes

Oxytocin receptor expression patterns in the human brain across development

Oxytocin plays a vital role in social behavior and homeostatic processes, with animal models indicating that oxytocin receptor (OXTR) expression patterns in the brain influence behavior and physiology. However, the developmental trajectory of OXTR gene expression is unclear. By analyzing gene expression data in human post-mortem brain samples, from the prenatal period to late adulthood, we demonstrate distinct patterns of OXTR gene expression in the developing brain, with increasing OXTR expression along the course of the prenatal period culminating in a peak during early childhood. This early life OXTR expression peak pattern appears slightly earlier in a comparative macaque sample, which is consistent with the relative immaturity of the human brain during early life compared to macaques. We also show that a network of genes with strong spatiotemporal couplings with OXTR is enriched in several psychiatric illness and body composition phenotypes. Taken together, these results demonstrate that oxytocin signaling plays an important role in a diverse set of psychological and somatic processes across the lifespan

Oxytocin receptor expression patterns in the human brain across development

Background: Oxytocin plays a vital role in social behavior and homeostatic processes, with animal models indicating that oxytocin receptor (OXTR) expression patterns in the brain influence behavior and physiology. However, the developmental trajectory of OXTR gene expression is unclear, which is considerable knowledge gap as many psychiatric illnesses emerge early in life and genes tend to be differentially regulated across development. Methods: We calculated spatiotemporal expression patterns for 16660 genes in the human brain using transcriptome data from 57 donors across the lifespan. Next, we explored the evolutionary origin of these patterns using a comparative gene expression dataset from 38 macaque donors. Finally, we determined the functional significance of OXTR spatiotemporal co-expression patterns via the annotation of genetic associations with psychiatric and body composition phenotypes. Results: OXTR expression in the brain accelerated before birth with a peak in early childhood and OXTR expression was highly correlated with dopamine receptor D2 expression across development. These gene expression patterns were not observed in a comparative macaque sample, suggesting they might be evolutionarily new features. In addition, a network of genes strongly spatiotemporally coupled with OXTR was enriched in schizophrenia, cognitive, and body composition phenotypes, with elements of this gene network having undergone positive selection in humans but not macaques. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that oxytocin signaling plays an important role in a diverse set of psychological and physiological processes across the lifespan. Identifying a critical window of OXTR expression in the brain, together with associated genes, may help illuminate our understanding of disease etiology