Últimos Artigos Científicos

 Cristiane Souzaa , Moreno I. Cocoa,b , Sandra Pinhoc , Carlos N. Filiped , Joana C. Carmoa,  

Background: According to the context blindness hypothesis (Vermeulen, 2012) individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience difficulties in processing contextual information. This study re-evaluates this hypothesis by examining the influence exerted by contextual information on visual short-term memory. Method: In a visual short-term memory task, we test high-functioning individuals with ASD (N = 21) and a typically developed (TD) group (N = 25) matched on age, education and IQ. In this task, participants are exposed to scenes (e.g., the photo of a restaurant), then shown a target-object that is manipulated according to its contextual Consistency with the scene (e.g., a loaf of bread versus an iron) and finally asked whether they saw the target-object or not. 

Keywords: Visual short-term memory, Contextual expectations, Autism spectrum disorder

  Joana C. Carmo and Carlos N. Filipe 

 It has been proposed that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle both with response initiation and with response inhibition, both of which are functions of the executive system. Experimental tasks are unlikely pure measures of a single cognitive domain, and in this study we aim at understanding the contributions of response initiation difficulties to possible deficits in inhibitory control in autism. A sample of adults diagnosed with ASD and a control sample participated in this study. To participants it was asked to perform a sentence-completion task with two different condition: Part A—targeting response initiation and Part B—engaging inhibitory processes. Importantly, we have analyzed the B-A latencies that have been proposed for the removal of the response initiation confound effect. 

Keywords: response initiation, response inhibition, autism spectrum disorder, Hayling test, sentence-completion task, executive system

 Joana C. Carmo, Cristiane Souza, Filipe Gonçalves, Sandra Pinho, Carlos N. Filipe & Thomas Lachmann 

 We tested whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are impaired in visuospatial working memory or in the use of the semantic system, in particular in categorization processes at the service of working memory. The performance of highfunctioning individuals with ASD (N = 21) in a visual same–different task adapted from Lachmann and van Leeuwen [e.g., Lachmann, T., & van Leeuwen, C. (2010). Representational economy, not processing speed, determines preferred processing strategy of visual patterns. Acta Psychologica, 134(3), 290–298] was compared to those of typically developed controls (N = 25). 

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Categorization; Semantic system; Visual–spatial cognition; Visuospatial working memory

  Sandra JJ Kooij, Susanne Bejerot, Andrew Blackwell, Herve Caci, Miquel Casas-Brugué, Pieter J Carpentier, Dan Edvinsson, John Fayyad, Karin Foeken, Michael Fitzgerald, Veronique Gaillac, Ylva Ginsberg, Chantal Henry, Johanna Krause, Michael B Lensing, Iris Manor, Helmut Niederhofer, Carlos Nunes-Filipe, Martin D Ohlmeier, Pierre Oswald, Stefano Pallanti, Artemios Pehlivanidis, Josep A Ramos-Quiroga, Maria Rastam, Doris Ryffel-Rawak, Steven Stes, Philip Asherson 

 Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common psychiatric disorders of childhood that persists into adulthood in the majority of cases.  Results: Besides information on the genetics and neurobiology of ADHD, three major questions are addressed in this statement: (1) What is the clinical picture of ADHD in adults? (2) How can ADHD in adults be properly diagnosed? (3) How should ADHD in adults be effectively treated? 

 J. C. Carmo . F. Gonçalves . C. Souza . S. Pinho . C. N. Filipe . R. I. Rumiati 

Over-imitation refers to the human tendency to imitate actions with such high fidelity, that even irrelevant action steps are reproduced to the expenses of task efficiency. A couple of studies have evaluated the pattern of over-imitation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but contradictory results were reported. In the present study we employed a two-method approach paradigm and directly tested whether the availability of causal information could explain the disparate findings reported.  We also evaluate whether participants with ASD copied the exact methods used to perform both relevant and irrelevant action steps. 

 Keywords: Imitation; Emulation; Over-imitation; Autism spectrum disorder; Action sequencing 

  Joana C. Carmo, Elsa Duarte, Sandra Pinho, Carlos N. Filipe & J. Frederico Marques  

 In this study, we aimed to evaluate further the functioning and structuring of the semantic system in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We analyzed the performance of 19 high-functioning young adults with ASD and a group of 20 age-, verbal IQ- and education-matched individuals with the Proactive Interference (PI) Paradigm to evaluate semantic functioning in ASD (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, we analyzed the performances of both groups in a PI paradigm with manipulation of the level of typicality. In both experiments, we observed significant effects of trial and group but no trial by group interactions, which we interpreted as robust evidence of preserved PI (build up effect) that indicated the preservation of semantic mechanisms of encoding and retrieval. 

Keywords Autism spectrum disorder;  Semantic memory; Categorization; Typicality; Episodic memory 

  Joana C. Carmo, Elsa Duarte, Cristiane Souza, Sandra Pinho & Carlos N. Filipe  

 In the present study we aim at providing further  evidences for the validity of an initiation processes impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We applied different verbal fluency tasks designed to decrease or enhance this  limitation. A group of high-functioning individuals with ASD  and a group of typically developed individuals matched for  -age, -IQ and -education, were tested in three verbal fluency  tasks. In task 1, we replicated previous findings of an initiation impairment. In tasks 2 and 3, with simple manipulations,  we observed that the differences between the groups were  respectively eliminated or enhanced.  We have not only provided further evidence of impairments in the initiation of a  response, but we remarkably show how to circumvent them. 

Keywords Executive system · Response initiation ·  Autism spectrum disorder · Verbal fluencyy

Joana Costa do Carmo, Elsa Margarida Rodrigues Dias Duarte, Sandra Kátia Lopes Ferreira de Pinho, Carlos Nunes Filipe, José Frederico Marques  

 The present study evaluated the functioning and structuring of semantic knowledge for natural categories in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). A sample of high-functioning adults (HFA) with ASD (n = 20) and a sample of typical developed individuals (n = 20) (matched for age, education, and verbal IQ) performed two tasks with natural concepts: a task of semantic access from pictures (the Camel and Cactus test) and a semantic matching-to-sample task, designed to evaluate cate- gory boundaries and structure. Overall, the HFA group show  preserved access to conceptual knowledge but some irregularities in category structure as reflected by the increased in typical errors found in the matching-to-sample task.

 Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, categorization, semantic memory, typicality 

http://www.eunetworkadultadhd.com/ 

Background Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common psychiatric disorders of childhood that often persists into adulthood and old age. Yet ADHD is currently underdiagnosed and undertreated in many European countries, leading to chronicity of symptoms and impairment, due to lack of, or ineffective treatment, and higher costs of illness. Methods The European Network Adult ADHD and the Section for Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan (NDAL) of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA), aim to increase awareness and knowledge of adult ADHD in and outside Europe. This Updated European Consensus Statement aims to support clinicians with research evidence and clinical experience from 63 experts of European and other countries in which ADHD in adults is recognized and treated. 

 Keywords: Adult ADHD Updated European Consensus Statement Diagnosis Treatment European Network Adult ADHD EPA

Vera M. Fernandes de Lima, Jan Pieter Pijn, C. Nunes Filipe and Fernando Lopes da Silva

The role of the forebrain commissures and the septal area in the interhemispheric transfer of hippocampal afterdischarges (ADs) was investigated in the rat under halothane anesthesia. Electrical seizures were elicited from the dorsal hippocampus before and after commissurotomy. The degree of relatedness between EEG signals recorded from homologous sites of both hippocampi was quantified using two approaches: (i) a time domain analysis considering an AD as a succession of discrete bursts; the onset times of such bursts were measured and used to estimate interhemispheric onset delays; (ii) using signal analysis the linear (r²) and non-linear (h²) regression coefficients between pairs of EEG signals were computed as a function of time shift between the two signals.

Keywords: Epilepsy; Hippocampal commissures; interhemispheric spread; regression analysis; Time delay

  C. Nunes Filipe, J.P. Pijn, V.M. Femandes de Lima and F.H. Lopes da Silva 

 Afterdischarges(ADs) were elicited in the hippocampus of the rat under halothane anesthesia. Records were made along the septo-temporal axis of the hippocampal formation (dorsal (DHF), splenial (SP) and ventral (VHF) regions). For comparison records were also made from the contralateral DHF. The propagation of ADs was quantified using linear and non-linear regressionanalysis.The values of non-linear association were in generallarger than those of linear association. Values of association and time delays between pairs of EEG signalsrecorded from different regions were estimated as function of elapsed time during the ADs.

Keywords: Hippocampus; Epileptic seizures; Propagation; Septo-temporal axis; Non-linear regression