Abstract | AIM: METHOD: Participants were diagnosed by experienced clinicians strictly according to DSM-IV criteria. Participants with HFA (nine males, two females; mean age 16y 8mo, SD 4y 5mo) or Asperger disorder (11 males, three females; mean age 19y 1mo, SD 4y 2mo) and neurotypical participants (eight males, three females; mean age 19y 0mo, SD 3y 1mo) were administered a paired-pulse TMS paradigm intended to assess motor cortical inhibition and excitability. Responses to TMS were recorded by electromyography. RESULTS: INTERPRETATION: Cortical inhibition deficits may underlie motor dysfunction in autism, and perhaps even relate to specific clinical symptoms (e.g. repetitive behaviours). These findings provide novel evidence for a possible neurobiological dissociation between HFA and Asperger disorder based on GABAergic function.
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Authors | Peter G Enticott, Nicole J Rinehart, Bruce J Tonge, John L Bradshaw, Paul B Fitzgerald |
Journal | Developmental medicine and child neurology
(Dev Med Child Neurol)
Vol. 52
Issue 8
Pg. e179-83
(Aug 2010)
ISSN: 1469-8749 [Electronic] England |
PMID | 20370810
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Topics |
- Adolescent
- Arousal
(physiology)
- Asperger Syndrome
(diagnosis, physiopathology)
- Autistic Disorder
(diagnosis, physiopathology)
- Brain
(physiopathology)
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
- Female
- Humans
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Male
- Motor Skills Disorders
(diagnosis, epidemiology, physiopathology)
- Neural Inhibition
(physiology)
- Severity of Illness Index
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
(methods)
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