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Abnormal Psych > Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) > Flashcards

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Flashcards

1
Q

ASD was not described until

A

1940s

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2
Q

What are the DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for ASD?

A

o Deficits in social emotional reciprocity
o Deficits in nonverbal communication
oDeficits in developing, maintaining relationships
o Stereotyped, repetitive movements, speech, etc.
o Insistence on the sameness of routines of rituals
o Fixated interests of unusual intensity or focus
o Hypo or hyper activity to sensory input

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3
Q

what are some Stereotyped, repetitive movements, speech, etc. seen in ASD

A

→ Lining up/stacking toys in the same way over and over
→ Echolalia – repeating what other people say
→ Idiosyncratic phrases that are repeated frequently

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4
Q

how are ASD kids Hypo or hyper activity to sensory input

A

→Apparent indifference to pain, temperature
- self injury (banging head)
→Adverse response to specific sounds, textures, etc.
- bright lights, loud noises disturb them
→Excessive smelling, touching of objects
- Unusual ways of exploring objects (tactile), also towards people

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5
Q

ASD kids have the Highest level of comorbidity with what other disorder?

A

intellectual disability (formally called retardation)

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6
Q

What are some specifications for ASD

A

o With or without intellectual impairment or language impairment
o Associated with medical, genetic, environmental conditions
o Associated with another mental, behavioural disorder
o With Catatonic Excitement: excessive movement – slightly resembles hyperactivity in ADHD

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7
Q

What is APA treatment?

A

o Training the individual to use language (linking words with objects)

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8
Q

what are some associated features of ASD not necessary for diagnosis?

A
  • Intellectual and/or language impairment
  • Motor deficits
  • Self-injury
  • Disruptive or challenging behaviours
  • Prone to anxiety, depression (adolescents or adults)
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9
Q

In what type of ASD is self injury most common?

A

o In the lower 40-50% it is very prevalent to the point where bones are broken

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10
Q

prevalence of ASD according to DSM-5?

A

100/10,000 = 1%

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11
Q

list the increase in prevalence (2003-2010) By Age.

A

o In 2-4 yr olds: 170% increase
o In 5-9 yr olds: 108% increase
o In 10-14 year olds: 204% increase

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12
Q

list the increase in prevalence (2003-2010) By Sex.

A

o Boys: 142% increase

o Girls: 161% increase

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13
Q

between 1987 and 1998 there was a ____% increase in prevalence

A

270

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14
Q

Why was there such a large increase in the prevalence of ASD?

A 
• Increased awareness
• Earlier Diagnosis (1 or 2 yrs)
• Changes in diagnostic practice
• Diagnostic substitution 
(kids with ASD were labeled as having only intellectual disability)
• More Environmental toxins = more cases
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15
Q

What is the sex bias in ASD

A

• 4-5 times as common in boys than girls

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16
Q

Where is the lowest male/female ratio?

A

extreme low range of cognitive function

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17
Q

where is the highest male/female ratio?

A

normal range of cognitive function

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18
Q

____% of ASD will meet criteria for another disorder, ____% will meet two or more

A

70%, 40%

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19
Q

What disorders is ASD comorbid for? (%)

A

→intellectual disability: 70%
→ Anxiety of phobic disorder: 42%
→ ADHD: 40%
→ Opposition defiant Disorder: 28%

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20
Q

What psychological processes do ASD kids excel at?

A

o visuo-spatial processing
o Attention to detail
o Rote memory

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21
Q

What are savant abilities, who develops them?

A

o An island of special ability in a sea of deficits

- the lower half of the autism spectrum, in as high as 10%

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22
Q

What are some examples of savant abilities

A

o Mathematics, esp. rapid calculation
o Music – very quickly learn an instrument and repeat a musical piece after having heard it just once
o Calendar calculations

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23
Q

What are 2 hypothesis about savant abilities?

A

1) Whatever the diathesis deficits are also code for savant talent
2) We all have these abilities but they are somehow shutdown by our normal neurodevelopment

24
Q

What are some motor development problems and the percentages associated with each?

A
  • 60% = dysdiadochokinesia (Trouble with rapid alternating movement)
  • 33% = Problems with gait or balance
  • 15% = abnormal muscle tone
  • 5% = abnormal reflexes
  • 5% = Abnormal motor coordination
25
Q

What is the Theory of mind view of ASD?

A

Deficit in understanding mental states
→States of Knowledge or ignorance
o can’t know what other people know/don’t know
→ Have difficulty understanding Pretense, deception and lying
→ Trouble with jokes, irony and sarcasm

26
Q

What are some criticisms of the theory mind view of autism?

A

→ Social impairment before precursors of ToM
o showing symptoms in infancy before ToM develops
→ ToM & communication emerge independently
→ ToM found in High functioning autism
→ ToM deficits in mental retardation (not specific to autism)

27
Q

What are some abnormalities ASD kids exhibit when perceiving faces/emotions?

A

o Sort faces by physical features not emotions
→ difficulty sorting by emotion
o scan faces by looking at the exterior of the face
o ERP differences between familiar/unfamiliar objects, not faces (mother vs. stranger)
o Superior temporal gyrus activates during face perception (the same area that TD kids use to process objects)

28
Q

What is the extreme male brain theory of ASD?

A

Males=systematizers, females=empathizers.

ASD kids have extreme male brain, explains lack of empathy and insistance on routine

29
Q

What evidence supports the extreme male brain theory?

A

→Parents of autistic children (POA) faster on embedded figures test
• POA are more likely to have systemizing fathers
• POA show male patterns of brain activation
• POA higher on self-reported autistic trait
• 2 systematizing parents = higher chance of having a child with autism

30
Q

What is the intense world theory of ASD?

A

o Hypersensitivity to stimulus = meaning there is hyperactivity in the brain
o Autism = extreme introversion to
cope with choas
o Brain has too many connections
o Amygdala (overactive) = rapid conditioning of fear
o High intra-connectivity, low inter-connectivity

31
Q

In what ways do ASD kids cope with internal choas?

A

• Social withdrawal = language decrement
• Repetition, stereotypy = controlling chaos
• face perception problems
→ They have difficulty organizing the multiple stimulations that arise from perceiving a face
• fear of world & withdrawal

32
Q

WHat research has been done with Valproic acid

A

VPA in pregnant women = increased risk of ASD (10%)
VPA in rat puppies = brainstem damage, social withdrawal, hyper reactive to stimuli, more cortical cells and connections (higher arousal)

33
Q

What are the 2 types of empathy?

A
  • Cognitive (CE) = understanding others’ epistemic mental states (same as ToM)
  • Emotional (EE) = Feeling what others feel as a result of other’s emotions
34
Q

What is the Empathy imbalance hypothesis?

A

o Autism = High EE, deficient CE

o Autistic symptoms (withdrawal) = protection from intense empathic emotions by avoiding social interaction.

35
Q

What evidence supports the empathy imbalance hypothesis?

A
  • ASD kids = more facial affect than other in an empathy arousal paradigm study.
  • Adults with autism show more facial EMG when shown expressions of happiness, fear
  • look away from images images of distressed people
  • Asperger’s adults report high levels of distress to others’ suffering
  • eye contact with others is “painful” for people with autism
36
Q

What are some problems with the empathy imbalance hypothesis?

A

→ What about high comorbidity with mental retardation
→ What about language development and idiosyncratic language
→ What about face-processing deficits
→ What about early eye-tracking data, and cuddling failure (how is this related to empathy imbalance since empathy doesn’t develop until 2 years old)

37
Q

list the 5 theories of autism

A 
• Theory of mind
• Intense World theory
• Extreme Male Brain Theory 
• Empathy Imbalance Hypothesis
• Executive Function Theory (deficits in function in the prefrontal
 cortex)
38
Q

what are the 3 major deficits in autism?

A
  • Social Cognition (Face recognition, Emotion processing)
  • Language and communication
  • Motor behaviour and coordination
39
Q

What are mirror neurons?

A

They get active when we perform some kind of behaviour
→ Also become activated when someone else does the exact same behaviour
• ASD kids have problems in mirror neuron functioning
→ Only fire for own activity, not for others

40
Q

What brain areas have fewer cells/ fewer dendritic connection in ASD?

A

Amygdala, Cerebellum, Prefrontal cortex (also has lower bloodflow), Temporal lobe

41
Q

What are some size differences in brain areas of ASD patients?

A

o Reduced corpus callosum size (long range interconnectivity)
o Brain volume and ventricle volume is larger = large head circumference

42
Q

What happens in language areas of ASD kids

A

→ Reduced activity between areas during language processing

43
Q

FFA and ASD?

A

→ Abnormal FFA activity (temporal lobe) in face perception

44
Q

what is the rate of seizures in autism, who gets them?

A

o High rate (33%) of seizure acidity

→ More frequent in females (because they are typically at the lower levels)

45
Q

what percent of ASD kids show abnormal EEG results?

A

o EEG abnormalities in 50% of ASD kids

46
Q

Excessive connections in _______ and too few with the __________

A

Frontal cortex, rest of the brain

47
Q

What neurotransmitters have been linked to autism?

A

DOPAMINE
o Role of dopamine in movement problems
o Dopamine-blocking agents
SEROTONIN
•Elevated blood levels of serotonin in 33% of autism patients
o Synthesis of serotonin rises to 150% of normal adult level between ages 2 and 15 years old

48
Q

What are the concordance rates of ASD as shown through twin studies?

A

o MZ concordance = 65-75% (0.9)

o DZ concordance = 3-10% (0.5)

49
Q

what genetic conditions is autism associated with?

A

o Fragile X syndrome, PKU, Congenital rubella (German measles)
o Chromosome 15 duplication

50
Q

Social/communication impairments are found in __% of siblings of ASD

A

20

51
Q

What is Pleiotropy?

A

o Genes that code for heightened risk of autism also confer susceptibility to other disorders (depression, schizophrenia)

52
Q

Parents of children with ASD also have higher probability of having what disorders?

A

Anxiety, depression, substance abuse

53
Q

how many chromosomes have been implicated in ASD

A

15 of 22

54
Q

What are some environmental risk factors associated with ASD?

A
  • Maternal smoking in 1st trimester
  • Caesarian delivery (conditions that make it necessary)
  • Baby small for gestational age
  • Older fathers
  • Maternal prenatal exposure to pesticides or air pollution
  • Prenatal German measles infection (rubella)
  • Mother not born in Europe or North America ( do not have built in immunity to viral infections)
  • Summer conception
55
Q

What are some treatments of ASD?

A 
• Applied Behaviour Analysis
• Teaching social skills (high functioning cases)
• Pharmacotherapy
o Tranquillizers (Neuroleptics)
  and Antidepressants

Abnormal Psych (8 decks)

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