Reconnaissance des visages chez les enfants autistes (étude de l'utilisation des fréquences spatiales)

Les visages sont des stimuli visuels porteurs d'informations que les sujets autistes semblent être en difficulté de percevoir. Sur des photos de visages traitées avec des filtres de fréquences spatiales, les détails sont perçus à l'aide des hautes fréquences et la configuration est perçue grâce aux basses fréquences. Dans l'autisme, des auteurs défendent l'hypothèse d'un déficit de vision configurale (globale), au profit de la vision des détails. Dans notre étude, 17 enfants témoins et 17 enfants autistes de haut niveau ont dû catégoriser des visages selon l'identité, le genre et l'expression faciale. Les enfants autistes ont plus utilisé les hautes fréquences que les témoins pour reconnaître l'identité et l'expression. Cependant, comme les témoins, ils ont utilisé les basses fréquences pour reconnaître le genre. Ce résultat contredit l'hypothèse d'un défaut de perception visuelle de l'information configurale dans l'autisme et est en faveur d'une perception atypique mais non déficitaire.AIX-MARSEILLE2-BU Méd/Odontol. (130552103) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Impact of an implicit social skills training group in children with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability: A before-and-after study.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have problems with social skills. Social skills training groups are among the proposed therapeutic strategies, but their efficacy still needs to be evaluated.To evaluate the efficacy of an implicit social skills training group in children with ASDs without intellectual disability.A before-and-after study of children with ASD without intellectual disability was conducted in a child psychiatry day hospital, where they participated in an implicit group with cooperative games. Their social skills were assessed using the Social-Emotional Profile (SEP), the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and the empathy quotient (EQ) before and after 22 weeks.Six patients aged 9 to 10 years old were evaluated. A significant increase in overall adaptation and social skills (median 8 and 7.7 points) in the SEP was demonstrated in addition to a significant reduction in the CARS score (median: 4 points), including in the field of social relationships. The EQ increased two-fold.This implicit group improved the children's social skills. It would be interesting to evaluate the maintenance of these skills over time, examine more widespread results, and compare implicit and explicit groups

Median EQ results before (T1) and after (T2) the group.

<p>Median EQ results before (T1) and after (T2) the group.</p

Flow chart.

<p>Flow chart.</p

Baseline characteristics of the population.

<p>Baseline characteristics of the population.</p

Median SEP results before (T1) and after (T2) the group.

<p>Median SEP results before (T1) and after (T2) the group.</p

Early-Onset Schizophrenia in a paediatric population of French psychiatric and medico-social care centres: A cross sectional study.

BackgroundEarly-Onset Schizophrenia (EOS) is rare but severe mental health disorder in children and adolescents. Diagnosis of schizophrenia before the age of 18 years remains complex and challenging, especially in young children. In France, there are no recent reliable epidemiological data about the prevalence of EOS. The present study evaluates the EOS rate in a target clinical population of children and adolescents in psychiatric and medico-social care centres in the South-East of France.MethodsPsychiatric and medico-social centres for children and adolescent in the geographical area have been contacted, and after receiving their agreement to participate in the study, eligible patients corresponding to inclusion criteria were selected based on patients' medical records. Main inclusion criteria were age 7 to 17 years and intelligence quotient > 35. EOS categorical diagnosis was assessed by Kiddie-SADS Present and Lifetime psychosis section.Results37 centres participated and 302 subjects have been included in the study. The main result was the categorical diagnosis of EOS in 27 subjects, corresponding to a rate of 8.9% in the study population. Half of the patients presented mild to moderate intellectual deficiency. Interestingly, only 2.3% had a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder noted in their medical records before standardized assessment.ConclusionsThe results of the study highlight the importance of using a standardized diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of schizophrenia in the paediatric population. In fact, EOS might be underdiagnosed in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders and subnormal cognitive functioning.Trial registrationNCT01512641. Registered 19 January 2012; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01512641