Inter-individual cognitive variability in children with Asperger's syndrome (original) (raw)
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Neuropsychological aspects of Asperger Syndrome in adults: a review
Neuropsychological Trends
Despite distinctive clinical characteristics, Asperger Syndrome (AS) is actually included in the broad spectrum of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Usually, to evaluate AS in adulthood, diagnostic tools are referred to autistic traits; furthermore, AS' neuropsychological profile features are still unclear. The aim of the present review is to shed light on the cognitive characteristics of adults with AS. Limited number of studies have investigated the neuropsychological profile of adults with AS: individuals with AS have intellectual abilities in the normal range and show strengths in verbal memory, inhibitory control and decision making. Disagreement exists about the presence of deficits in attentional functions, visual-spatial memory, cognitive flexibility, planning and verbal fluency. The present work underlines the need for a neuropsychological assessment in order to delineate the cognitive profile of adults with AS, which could help in the diagnosis of AS in adulthood and to design rehabilitative protocols.
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2021
Background: There has been an extensive debate about a potential association between intelligence and social cognition. In this study, we aimed to assess the association between social cognition as measured with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET) and intelligence as measured with the fourth edition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) in children and adolescents diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS).Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 84 children diagnosed with AS aged 6–16 years (mean = 11.64; standard deviation = 2.75; 92.9% males). We analyzed the association between RMET performance and WISC-IV total score as well as the association between RMET performance and each of the four WISC-IV indexes (processing speed index, PSI; working memory index, WMI; perceptual reasoning index, PRI, and verbal comprehension index, VCI).Results: We found a positive correlation between RMET performance and full-scale intelligence quotient (r = 0.340; p...
Conceptual and Perceptual Set-shifting executive abilities in young adults with Asperger's syndrome
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2013
Impairments in executive functions (EF) have been implicated in the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) literature since empirical investigation of EF began over two decades ago (Ozonoff, South, & Provencal, 2005), however, the neural substrates of EF in Asperger's syndrome (AS) are still not well understood. One of the most prominent brain regions implicated in EF is the frontal cortex and its connections to striatal brain regions (Schroeter, Zysset, Wahl, & von Cramon, 2004). Anatomical and metabolic abnormalities in frontostriatal pathways have been reported in adults with ASD (Abell et al., 1999; Carper & Courchesne, 2005; McAlonan et al., 2002). Moreover, frontal lobe pathology has been hypothesized by some to represent the underlying cause of the clinical symptoms of ASD, such as perseveration, rule-bound behaviours, and obsessionality (Russell, 1997). Further, deficits in cognitive flexibility and empathy often observed in individuals with ASD are also evident in the behaviour of individuals with frontal lobe damage (Grattan, Bloomer, Archambault, & Eslinger, 1990). 1.2. Frontal-striatal pathways and set-shifting abilities One method of investigating the integrity of the frontal-striatal cortex in AS is to examine set-shifting performance and in particular, to compare extradimensional (ED) and intradimensional (ID) set-shifts. Successful set-shifting performance on
Brief report: Thought disorder in asperger syndrome: Comparison with high-functioning autism
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1995
to show a variety of deficits of thought processes. Abnormalities such as poor reality testing, perceptual distortions, and areas of cognitive slippage have been described using the Rorschach inkblot test . Since AS has been conceptualized as a mild variant of autism, we hypothesized that persons with AS will have fewer abnormalities on the Rorschach test compared to persons with HFA. To test this hypothesis, we compared 12 subjects with AS (ICD-IO, 10 male, mean age = 12.2 + 3.3 years, mean full-scale 1Q = 99.6) with 8 subjects with HFA (ICD-IO/DSM-III-R, 7 male, mean age = 12.2 + 3.8years, mean full-scale 1Q = 83.4) on the Rorschach test. AS subjects demonstrated a trend towards greater levels of disorganized thinking than the HFA group. They were also more likely to be classified as "Introversive" suggesting that AS subjects may have more complex inner lives involving elaborate fantasies. Also, AS subjects tended to be more focused on their internal experiences. However, overal~ the Rorschach test was not found to differentiate the two diagnostic groups on the majority of structural variables. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to the diagnostic validity of Asperger syndrome.
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2012
Researchers have focused on a description and characterization of executive functions (EFs) in individuals with Asperger's syndrome (AS) (e.g., Ozonoff, Rogers, & Pennington, 1991). Despite reports documenting EF deficits, there are no consistent findings describing the specific EF abilities of individuals with AS, nor is there unequivocal evidence differentiating AS from related disorders, such as Autistic Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, based on EF dysfunction. This study investigated EF abilities in adolescents and young adults with AS via a bottom-up empirical design to understand better the specific EF strengths and weaknesses of these individuals.
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1994
Seven children and young adults with definite signs of Asperger syndrome were administered a battery of tests designed to test: intelligence; left and right cerebral hemisphere functioning; ability to discriminate eye gaze; and social judgment. The subjects revealed a non significant tendency to have a higher verbal IQ than visual IQ; and their right hemisphere functioning seemed impaired. They were also poorer at discriminating eye gaze and revealed difficulties in making hypothetical social judgments. The data are considered with reference to Rourke's (1988) work on non-verbal learning disabilities together with the ideas of Tantam (1992) on the "social gaze response" and Baron-Cohen's (1993) Eye-Detection Detector model. The possible links between social judgment and theory of mind (Frith, 1991) are briefly explored.
[Assessment of executive/attentional performance in Asperger's disorder]
Türk psikiyatri dergisi = Turkish journal of psychiatry, 2010
Deficient executive functioning (EF) has been reported in several neurodevelopmental disorders, including autistic spectrum disorders; however, many studies included heterogeneous groups and few have focused on EF in individuals with Asperger's disorder (AD) in relation to attentional performance. The aim of the present study was to compare executive/attentional performance in children and adolescents with AD to that in controls, and to assess the influence of comorbid attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on that performance. In total, 21 individuals with AD aged between 8 and 16 years (diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria) and 18 age- gender-, education-, and IQ-matched volunteer controls were administered the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Stroop Test, and verbal fluency tests. The participants with AD had more perseverative responses and errors, and fewer conceptual level responses, and generated fewer categories on the WCS...
“Theory of Mind” in Asperger's Syndrome Dermot M. Bowler
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1992
Abstract— Two studies are reported in which the ability of people with Asperger's syndrome to understand problems of the type “Peter thinks that Jane thinks that …” was tested. The results showed that in contrast to younger or more handicapped autistic individuals, Asperger subjects were able to solve problems of the type just outlined, i.e. that they possessed a second-order theory of mind. When asked to explain their solutions however, they typically did not use mental state terms but did not differ in this respect either from non-handicapped or socially impaired, chronic schizophrenic controls. The implications of the results for current cognitive theories of autistic impairment are discussed.
Autism, 2011
The extent to which the socioemotional impairments of Asperger syndrome (AS) might be extreme manifestations of individual differences within the general population remains under-explored. We compared the trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) profiles of 30 individuals with AS against the profiles of 43 group-matched controls using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue). Participants with AS scored significantly lower than controls on 12 of the 15 TEIQue facets (η p 2 = 0.09 to 0.49) as well as on all four factors and the global score of the construct (η p 2 = 0.07 to 0.41). There was a significant main effect of gender, with men generally scoring higher than women. Results are discussed from the perspective of trait EI theory, with emphasis on its implications for the socioemotional impairments associated with AS.