Autism Spectrum Disorder Flashcards
what is ASD
lifelong developmental disability
currently no biomarker so diagnosis based purely on behaviour
what is ASD diagnosis based on
persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction
restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests and activities
what is meant by social communication?
facial expressions
tone of voice
jokes and sarcasm
what is meant by social interaction
appear to be insensitive, seek out time alone when overloaded by other people
what is the prevalence of autism
1 in 100 children
more common in boys than girls
what chance of autism do identical twins sharing genome have?
77%
is ASD heritable
highly heritable through a combination of common, rare and denovo variation
why do we need clinical models of asd?
it has multiple origins so there is complex interplay between genetics and environment
early behavioural interventions are not effective for all children
lack of pharmacological and neurobiological solutions for core symptoms
and there is lack of understanding of ASD neurobiology
what is construct validity of an animal model
how well the animal model mirrors the underlying causes of human disease
what is face validity of the animal model
how closely the observable symptoms/outcomes in animal models match those seen in human patients
e.g repetitive behaviours for asd
what is predictive validity in animal models
how closely animal model reacts to treatment used in human diseases
if it works same way in animal and humans the animal has predictive validity
why do we need to use non-human primates for asd research?
it is extremely difficult to obtain biological samples e.g brain tissue from asd people
we rely too much on animal models that lack cognitive and social ability like mice
primates are related to humans in genetics neurobiology and behaviour
what brain structures do rodents not have
prefrontal cortex
what is an SRS score
social responsiveness scale score
are autistic-like traits continuously distributed across general populations of non human primates?
macaque social responsiveness scale was made derived from human SRS - just removed itemns related to language
it is pretty good screening tool
what is needed to perform the primate SRS
you need to know the animal really well - like 2 years
what are some of the criteria for NHP SRS
fidgetiness
confidence
would rather be alone than with others
interactions with other monkeys
socially awkward
the monkey is silly
does the MACAQUE SRS have high face validity
yes because their behaviours reflect those of humans
what is CANTAB
cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery
computer cognitive assessment system - tests memory and learning, working memory, visual memory, attention and reaction time, decision making
what is the link between eye tracking and ASD
front et al 2019
autistic people look outside of centre of vision
what are the key social brain areas in asd
both human and nhp brains share critical ‘social brain’ regions such as amygdala, anterior cingulate, prefrontal and temporal cortices - all which exhibit similar developmental trajectories
