Autism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder

from Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology

Rates of diagnosis of autism have risen since 1980, raising the question of whether some children who previously had other diagnoses are now being diagnosed with autism. We applied contemporary diagnostic criteria for autism to adults with a history of developmental language disorder, to discover whether diagnostic substitution has taken place. A total of 38 adults (aged 15-31y; 31 males, seven females) who had participated in studies of developmental language disorder during childhood were given the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule – Generic. Their parents completed the Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised, which relies largely on symptoms present at age 4 to 5 years to diagnose autism. Eight individuals met criteria for autism on both instruments, and a further four met criteria for milder forms of autistic spectrum disorder. Most individuals with autism had been identified with pragmatic impairments in childhood. Some children who would nowadays be diagnosed unambiguously with autistic disorder had been diagnosed with developmental language disorder in the past. This finding has implications for our understanding of the epidemiology of autism.

Discovery May Help Stroke Patients To Speak, UK

from Medical News Today.com

An important breakthrough in our understanding of how the brain works could help stroke patients to regain their speech.

Balance improvement in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

from Clinical Rehabilitation

Objective: To investigate the effect of an additional vestibular stimulated exercise programme on balance for patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Medical centre.

Subjects: Twenty-six subjects with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo involving the unilateral posterior semicircular canal.

Interventions: Subjects were randomized into experimental or control groups. Thirteen subjects in the experimental group received the canalith repositioning manoeuvre and vestibular stimulated exercise training three times a week for four weeks. Thirteen subjects in the control group received only the canalith repositioning manoeuvre.

Main measures: Static balance tests, tandem walk test, Dynamic Gait Index and subjective rating of the intensity of vertigo were measured at baseline, two-week and four-week assessments.

Results: Compared with the control group, subjects in the experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in single leg stance with eyes closed at the two-week assessment (P<0.05). Furthermore, stance on foam surface with eyes closed, single-leg stance with eyes closed, and Dynamic Gait Index at the four-week assessment were also significantly improved (P<0.05).

Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that additional exercise training, which emphasizes vestibular stimulation, can improve balance ability and functional gait performance among patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo who had already undergone the canalith repositioning manoeuvre.

Listening to Musical Rhythms Recruits Motor Regions of the Brain

from Cerebral Cortex

Perception and actions can be tightly coupled; but does a perceptual event dissociated from action processes still engage the motor system? We conducted 2 functional magnetic resonance imaging studies involving rhythm perception and production to address this question. In experiment 1, on each trial subjects 1st listened in anticipation of tapping, and then tapped along with musical rhythms. Recruitment of the supplementary motor area, mid-premotor cortex (PMC), and cerebellum was observed during listen with anticipation. To test whether this activation was related to motor planning or rehearsal, in experiment 2 subjects naively listened to rhythms without foreknowledge that they would later tap along with them. Yet, the same motor regions were engaged despite no action–perception connection. In contrast, the ventral PMC was only recruited during action and action-coupled perceptual processes, whereas the dorsal part was only sensitive to the selection of actions based on higher-order rules of temporal organization. These functional dissociations shed light on the nature of action–perception processes and suggest an inherent link between auditory and motor systems in the context of rhythm.

Taking Audiology Issues to Capitol Hill

from the ASHA Leader

More than 28 million Americans—or one in every 10—is affected by hearing loss, a number expected to increase to 78 million by the year 2030. Advocacy ensures that public policies represent the rights and best interests of patients, consumers, and the professions. Please consider joining the effort in supporting our profession—ASHA’s legislative staff is ready to assist you!