Since COVID-19 has become a pandemic, everyday life has seen dramatic changes affecting individuals, families, and children with and without autism. Among other things, these changes entail more time at home, digital forms of communication, school closures, and reduced support and intervention. Here, we assess the effects of the pandemic on quality of life for school-age autistic and neurotypical children and adolescents. First, we provide a comprehensive review of the current relevant literature. Next, we report original data from a survey conducted in several countries, assessing activities, well-being, and social life in families with autism, and their changes over time. We focus on differences between children with and without autism from within the same families, and on different outcomes for children with high- or low-functioning autism. While individuals with autism scored lower in emotional and social functioning than their neurotypical siblings, both groups of children showed comparable decreases in well-being and increases in anxiety, compared to before the pandemic. By contrast, decreases in adaptability were significantly more pronounced in autistic children and adolescents compared to neurotypical children and adolescents. Overall, although individual families reported some positive effects of pandemic restrictions, our data provide no evidence that these generalize across children and adolescents with autism, or even just to individuals with high-functioning autism. We discuss the increased challenges that need to be addressed to protect children and adolescents’ well-being under pandemic conditions, but also point out potentials in the present situation that could be used towards social participation and success in older children and young adults with autism.

Background: Selective amygdalohippocampectomy is one of the main approaches for treating medial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). We herewith describe seven cases of amygdala lesions treated with selective amygdalectomy with the hippocampus saving procedure. Furthermore, we explain the trans-middle temporal gyrus transventricular approach for selective amygdalectomy.Methods: We studied patients with TLE who underwent selective amygdalectomy with hippocampal saving procedure between March 2012 and July 2018. We preferred the trans-middle temporal gyrus transventricular approach. We adopted pterional craniotomy with extensive exposure of the base and posterior of the temporal lobe. The posterior margin of resection in the intraventricular part of the amygdala was considered the inferior choroidal point. Medially anterior part of the uncus was resected until reaching the ambient cistern. We applied the transcortical transventricular approach for selective amygdalectomy in all patients.Results: We present 11 cases having an amygdala lesion in our series, seven of whom underwent selective amygdalectomy with hippocampal sparing. Nine patients had neoplastic lesions, and in two of them, gliosis was evident. Total resection of the lesion was achieved in all cases based on postoperative magnetic resonance imaging. No unusual complication or surgically-related new neurological deficit occurred.Conclusion: We consider the resection of the amygdala until the inferior choroidal point sufficient for the disconnection of its circuits, which results in more effective control of seizures and reduction of surgery time and complications.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by a range of symptoms, including restrictive behaviors and deficient social skills. We investigated EEG correlates of social attention, face, and non-face perception by applying a continuous performance test (CPT) with two different sets of stimuli (letters and faces). The CPT required participants to respond to a specific target stimulus (e.g., “X”) only when it followed a specific preceding stimulus (e.g., “O”). Event-related potential (ERP) components, including P100, N170, P200, N250, P300, and continuous negative variation (CNV), were analyzed in 19 young adults with ASD and 19 typically developed (TD) individuals that were matched for intelligence, age, and gender. TD participants had higher accuracies only for the target condition and regardless of stimulus type. No ERP differences between the two groups were found for the CPT with letter stimuli. By contrast, autistic individuals exhibited lower amplitudes of P300 and CNV during face CPT. Results suggest diminished allocation of attentional resources and response preparation towards socially relevant face stimuli.

Background: Since COVID-19 has become pandemic, everyday life has seen dramatic changes affecting individuals, families, and children with and without autism. These entail, among other things, more time at home, digital forms of communication, school closures, and reduced support and intervention. Aim: Here we aim to systematically assess the effects of the pandemic on autistic and neurotypical (NT) children, and pursue a pre-registered hypothesis suggested by initial observations that some children with autism might respond comparatively well to a situation of constrained, predictable, and digital social communication during the pandemic. Methods: We provide a systematic review of current relevant work, including 76 papers selected from a database search until February 1, 2021. We then report survey data from several countries assessing activities, well-being (PedsQLTM), and social life in families with autism, and their respective change at various stages of the pandemic. We focus on differences between children with and without autism from within the same families, and on different outcomes for children with high- or low-functioning autism. Results: While children with autism scored lower in emotional and social functioning than their NT siblings, comparable decreases in well-being and increases in anxiety were seen for both groups, compared to before the pandemic. By contrast, decreases in adaptability were significantly more pronounced in autistic than NT children. Preliminary results suggest that changes were comparable for children with high- and low-functional autism overall, but individual differences prevail. Conclusions: Overall, although individual families do report some positive effects of pandemic restrictions, our data give no clear evidence that these generalize across children with autism, or even just to children with high-functioning autism. We discuss significant challenges for children with and without autism that need to be addressed to protect childrens’ well-being under pandemic conditions but also point to potential in the present situation that could be used towards social participation and success in older children and young adults with autism.

Suppression of the mu rhythm (∼8-12 Hz, recorded over sensorimotor areas) has been reported as a potential EEG marker for the activation of the human mirror neuron system (MNS). However, the baseline plays a crucial role in EEG experiments, and non-homogeneous baselines could contribute to inconsistencies in the literature. Here, 24 neurotypical participants underwent EEG recording during rest and observation of two-minute silent videos showing a) Non-biological movements (moving balls), b) Non-goal-directed biological actions (simple hand movements), c) Goal-directed actions toward an object (complex hand movements), and d) Social interactions (involving three people). We assessed mu power (8-12 Hz) using two different baselines, both of which are common in the literature: eyes open in a resting condition and non-biological movements. With the resting baseline, frequency analysis showed mu suppression during the observation of simple hand movements and social interactions. With the non-biological movements baseline, there was no mu suppression, and even mu enhancement while observing complex actions. To determine the overlap of these data with areas implicated for the MNS by imaging studies, the minimum norm approach was employed to reconstruct cortical sources, and permutation analysis was used to calculate mu suppression in source space. Significant clusters of mu suppression emerged in areas attributed to the MNS, alongside clusters showing mu enhancement relating to top-down inhibitory control processes of social cognition, with both baselines. Larger clusters of mu suppression in key areas of MNS (e.g., inferior parietal lobule) were observed with the non-biological baseline than the resting baseline. We speculate that the counterintuitive mu enhancement in the frequency analysis of simple and social conditions with the non-biological baseline is mainly mediated through high alpha rhythm from the occipital sites. In conclusion, although the mu rhythm seems a promising marker for investigating the human MNS, baseline choice requires serious consideration.

Research on motion perception and the mirror neuron system in humans relies on non-invasive techniques such as electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging. However, these techniques depend upon the observation of concrete stimulus sets, the design and perception of which are expected to align with the researcher's definitions. Consequently, rating studies are conducted in experimental psychology to ensure consistency. Despite their significance, data from rating experiments are often omitted from publications. This manuscript provides access to a stimulus set and associated rating experiments’ data to address this gap and to allow other researchers to employ it. Over the course of two experiments to which participants were randomly assigned, data were collected on the perceived source (origin), intentionality, and category of movements, as well as the attention captured by stimuli, all assessed via six-point Likert scales. It was revealed that participants rated the stimuli showing moving balls as a rather nonbiological and unintentional movement, which attracted relatively high attention. Simple hand movements were perceived as more biological and intentional movements, which captured fairly low attention compared to other stimuli and were assigned to the non-goal-directed biological category. Complex hand movements were rated as rather biological and intentional. Assigned to the category of goal-directed movements, these complex videos only moderately captured participants’ attention, similar to the simple category. Finally, social scenario videos were perceived as highly biological and intentional movements, which gained comparatively high attention and were categorized as social interactions.