Patients with autism spectrum disorder are not sensitive to 'being imitated'

Brain science reveled the reason why they are not sensitive

2014-08-05

(Press-News.org) A Japanese research group led by Prof Norihiro Sadato, a professor of the National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), has found that people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have decreased activity in an area in the brain critical for understanding if his/her movement was imitated by others. These results will be published in Neuroscience Research (available online at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168010214001254).

The research group of Norihiro Sadato, a professor of NIPS, Hirotaka Kosaka, a specially-assigned associate professor of the University of Fukui, and Toshio Munesue, a professor of Kanazawa University measured brain activity by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) when one's movement was imitated by others. The group studied brain activity when a subject saw his/her finger movement imitated or not imitated by others. Normal subjects have increased activity in the extrastriate body area (EBA) when they are imitated compared to when they are not being imitated. The EBA is a region in the visual cortex for visual processing that responds powerfully during the perception of human body parts. On the other hand, because this kind of activity in the EBA of subjects with ASD was not observed, it shows that the EBA of subjects with ASD is not working properly when imitated.

Persons with ASD are known to have difficulty in interpersonal communication and have trouble noticing that their movement was imitated. Behavioral intervention research to alleviate ASD is proceeding and indicates that training utilizing imitation is useful. The result of the above research not only provided clues to ASD, but also can be used in the evaluation of behavioral intervention to alleviate the disorder.

INFORMATION: This research was carried out as part of the "Strategic Research Program for Brain Sciences" of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of MEXT.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Boost for cancer prevention research

2014-08-05

Queen's University scientists are helping to spearhead a new £6 million initiative to find better ways to prevent cancer. The new initiative, led by Cancer Research UK with matching investment from the BUPA Foundation, aims to support cutting-edge research to find better ways to prevent cancer. It is estimated that more than four in ten cancer cases could be prevented by lifestyle changes, such as not smoking, keeping a healthy body weight, cutting back on alcohol, eating a healthy diet, keeping active and staying safe in the sun. Professor Frank Kee, who directs the ...

Research explores why interval walking training is better than continuous walking training

2014-08-05

New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) suggests that training with alternating levels of walking intensity (interval training) could be better than walking at a constant speed to help manage blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. The research is by Dr Thomas Solomon, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues. The effects of exercise on blood sugar (glycaemic) control in individuals with type 2 diabetes are well documented but the optimal exercise intensity and type remains to be defined. ...

Study predicts hepatitis C will become a rare disease in 22 years

2014-08-05

Effective new drugs and screening would make hepatitis C a rare disease by 2036, according to a computer simulation conducted by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. The results of the simulation are reported in the August 5 edition of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. "Hepatitis C (HCV) is the leading cause of liver cancer and accounts for more than 15,000 deaths in the U.S. each year," said Jagpreet Chhatwal, Ph.D., assistant professor of Health Services Research at MD Anderson, and ...

Life expectancy gap between blacks and whites in the US varies considerably across states

2014-08-04

Racial differences in life expectancy have declined nationally but still vary substantially across U.S. states, according to a new study by McGill University researchers. The findings, published in the journal Health Affairs, suggest that state policies could play a key role in further reducing racial differences in mortality. The researchers calculated annual state-specific life expectancies for blacks and whites from 1990 to 2009 and found that progress was uneven across states during the past two decades. "Prior studies in the United States have shown that, for the ...

Medical consultations for surgical patients examined amid payment changes

2014-08-04

The use of medical consultations for surgical patients varied widely across hospitals, especially among patients without complications, in a study of Medicare beneficiaries undergoing colectomy (to remove all or part of their colon) or total hip replacement (THR). Internists and medical subspecialists are frequently called on to assess surgical patients and to help manage their care. As payers move toward bundled payments, hospitals need to better understand variations in practice and resources used during patient care. The authors examined hospital medical consultations ...

Identifying kids, teens with kidney damage risk after first urinary tract infection

2014-08-04

Bottom Line: Children and adolescents with an abnormal kidney ultrasonography finding or with a combination of a fever of at least 102 degrees and infection with an organism other than E.coli appear to be at high risk for renal scarring with their first urinary tract infection (UTI). Author: Nader Shaikh, M.D., of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and colleagues. Background: UTIs are a common and potentially serious bacterial infection in young children. UTIs can lead to permanent renal scarring in up to 15 percent of cases in this population. Significant scarring ...

Study examines midlife hypertension, cognitive change over 20-year period

2014-08-04

Bottom Line: Hypertension in middle age (48 to 67 years) was associated with a greater, although still a modest, decline in cognition over a 20-year period compared with individuals who had normal blood pressure. Author: Rebecca F. Gottesman, M.D., Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues. Background: Evidence suggests hypertension is a risk factor for cognitive change and dementia and midlife hypertension may be the stronger risk factor. How the Study Was Conducted: Authors used the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities ...

Higher chance of hospital death found in areas where emergency departments have closed

2014-08-04

In the first analysis of its kind, UC San Francisco research shows that emergency department closures can have a ripple effect on patient outcomes at nearby hospitals. In a study of more than 16 million emergency admissions to California hospitals between 1999 and 2010, researchers found that patients who were admitted to facilities located in the vicinity of an emergency department (ED) that had recently closed experienced 5 percent higher odds of dying than patients admitted to hospitals that were not near a recently closed ED. The odds of dying were even higher for ...

Poor people with diabetes up to 10 times likelier to lose a limb than wealthier patients

2014-08-04

It's no secret that poverty is bad for your health. Now a new UCLA study demonstrates that California diabetics who live in low-income neighborhoods are up to 10 times more likely to lose a toe, foot or leg than patients residing in more affluent areas of the state. Earlier diagnosis and proper treatment could prevent many of these amputations, the researchers say. The study authors hope their findings, published in the August issue of Health Affairs, will motivate public agencies and medical providers to reach out to patients at risk of late intervention and inspire ...

Cost-saving effort in health care falls short of goals, study finds

2014-08-04

A pilot program intended to implement and test a cost-saving strategy for orthopedic procedures at hospitals in California failed to meet its goals, succumbing to recruitment challenges, regulatory uncertainty, administrative burden and concerns about financial risk, according to a new RAND Corporation study. The outcome represents a disappointing effort to widely adopt bundled payments, a much-touted strategy that pays doctors and hospitals one fee for performing a procedure or caring for an illness. The strategy is seen as one of the most-promising ways to curb health ...

Patients with autism spectrum disorder are not sensitive to 'being imitated'

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: