From a preeminent researcher, this book looks at the key role of joint attention in both typical and atypical development. Peter C. Mundy shows that no other symptom dimension is more strongly linked to early identification and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). He synthesizes a wealth of knowledge on how joint attention develops, its…

Executive function (EF) skills are the attention-regulation skills that make it possible to sustain attention, keep goals and information in mind, refrain from responding immediately, resist distraction, tolerate frustration, consider the consequences of different behaviors, reflect on past experiences, and plan for the future. As EF research…

Purpose: To review the principles of neural plasticity and make recommendations for research on the neural bases for rehabilitation of neurogenic speech disorders. Method: A working group in speech motor control and disorders developed this report, which examines the potential relevance of basic research on the brain mechanisms involved in neural…

This evaluation of seven high functioning adults with autism utilized positron emission tomography on a visual vigilance task. Although the subjects, as a group, did as well as normal controls on the task, there was a lack of normal hemispheric asymmetry in glucose metabolic rate. A heterogeneous etiology for autism is suggested to explain…

The hypothesis that autistics may experience a degree of stimulus overload was supported by an experiment in which visual event-related potentials and cognitive effects were recorded for five male autistic children (ages 6-14 years) and five matched controls. (DB)

This paper summarizes results of research on functional and structural abnormalities of the brain in autism. The current concept of causation is seen to involve multiple biologic levels. A consistent profile of brain function and dysfunction across methods has been found and specific neuropathologic findings have been found; but some research…

Analysis of 54 autistic patients and 72 controls found no intergroup differences in startle modulation by inhibitory or facilitatory prestimulation, short-term habituation of startle amplitude, long-term habituation of startle amplitude or latency, or unmodulated startle amplitude. Differences included prolongation of unmodulated startle onset…

This study examined whether stuttering speakers (N=10) differed from fluent speakers in relations between the neural control systems for speech and life support. It concluded that in some stuttering speakers the relations between respiratory controllers are atypical, but that high participation by the high frequency oscillation-producing circuitry…

Auditory evoked responses (AERs) were recorded for 16 autistic children (ages 2-10 years) and age matched normal and retarded controls. The pattern characterizing the effects on AERs of coupling sound and light (conditioning phenomenon) was observed for both autistic and normal controls, but not for retarded children. (Author/DB)

Fourteen right-handed stutterers and 14 normal speakers responded to monaurally presented stimuli with their right and left hands. Results suggested a bilateral model of neurolinguistic organization for stutterers in which both hemispheres must participate simultaneously in the decoding process. (Author/DB)

This paper reviews neuroanatomic studies on syndromes classified as Pervasive Developmental Disorders. Findings in autism and Asperger's syndrome suggest that these two disorders may represent a continuum along a neurobiological spectrum with a common neuroanatomic substrate, while Rett syndrome appears to be clinically and anatomically distinct…

This review of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in autism addresses three questions: (1) what structural anomalies of the brain have been identified by MRI? (2) why are these collective findings inconclusive? and (3) where should neuroimaging research go from here? It is noted that the vast majority of MRI scans in autism are clinically…

This study investigated whether neuromotor differences between adults who stutter (n=10) and gender- and age-matched non-stuttering adults (n=10) are not limited to the movements involved in speech production. Results revealed significant differences between groups on measures of lip and jaw closing (but not opening) movements during speech and in…

Assessment of the neurotransmitter dopamine through measurement of the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid (HVA) in adult subjects with mental retardation and with high rates of body stereotypy (n=12), compulsive behaviors (n=9), or neither (n=12) found lowest HVA concentrations in the stereotypy group and highest in the compulsive group. (DB)

Fourteen individuals who stutter and 14 nonstuttering individuals were assessed for the magnitude of their eye blink responses to noise bursts as a measure of temperament. Eye blink response to the initial noise burst and the mean of 10 responses were significantly greater for the stuttering group. Additionally, the Nervous subscale of the…