Autism Spectrum Disorder results in deficit in social interaction, non-verbal communication and s... more Autism Spectrum Disorder results in deficit in social interaction, non-verbal communication and social reciprocity. Cognitive tasks pertaining to emotion processing are often preferred to distinguish the ASD children from the typically developing ones. We analysed the role of face and emotion processing in ASD and explored the feasibility of using EEG as a neural marker for detecting ASD. Subjects performed a visual perceptual task with face and nonface stimuli. Successful ASD detection was possible as early as 50 ms. post stimulus onset. Alpha and Beta oscillations seem to best identify autistic individuals. Multivariate pattern analysis and source localization studies points to the role of early visual processing and attention rather than emotion and face processing in detecting autism.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, Jan 14, 2016
Investigation into the earliest signs of autism in infants has become a significant sub-field of ... more Investigation into the earliest signs of autism in infants has become a significant sub-field of autism research. This work invokes specific ethical concerns such as use of 'at-risk' language, communicating study findings to parents and the future perspective of enrolled infants when they reach adulthood. This study aimed to ground this research field in an understanding of the perspectives of members of the autism community. Following focus groups to identify topics, an online survey was distributed to autistic adults, parents of children with autism and practitioners in health and education settings across 11 European countries. Survey respondents (n = 2317) were positively disposed towards early autism research, and there was significant overlap in their priorities for the field and preferred language to describe infant research participants. However, there were also differences including overall less favourable endorsement of early autism research by autistic adults rela...
Background: Onset of autism is usually described by two patterns: an early onset when a child sho... more Background: Onset of autism is usually described by two patterns: an early onset when a child shows typical symptoms within the first year of life and a regressive one when a child has a period of apparently tipical development, followed by a lost of communicative and social skills during the second year of life. Recent studies describe a third pattern of onset in which the children demonstrate mild delays during the first year of life followed by later regression. Objectives: To describe early development, clinical characteristics of regression and later severity of autistic symptoms in children with different type of onset. Methods: A retrospective measure, the Early Development Questionnaire (EDQ), has been used to collect parent-reported information about social development in the first 18 months of life and regression of skills, in 50 under-six children with a diagnosis of autism or PDD-NOS. Different instrument (ADOS-G, CARS and CBCL) were used to assess symptoms severity. Res...
General movements (GMs) are a distinct movement pattern carried out spontaneously without externa... more General movements (GMs) are a distinct movement pattern carried out spontaneously without external stimulation and seen in fetuses of 9 weeks gestational age till 21 weeks postterm. GMs are helpful in the early diagnosis of an impaired central nervous system and the specific prediction of later neurological deficits. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving a life-long deficit in several aspects of the social and communicative behavior. Recently there appeared studies proving that children with ASD demonstrate disorders of motor development. To detect whether abnormalities in spontaneous motor activity can be observed already in the first months of life in infants with ASD. A retrospective study was performed by analyzing the family videos provided by parents of 20 children (male 17, female 3) later diagnosed as ASD. Home videos provided by parents of a control group of healthy children (n=20; male 10, female 10) matched for age with the ASD subjects...
European child & adolescent psychiatry, Jan 30, 2015
Interictal electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities are frequently associated with autism spectru... more Interictal electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities are frequently associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), although their relationship with the clinical features of ASD, particularly the regressive onset, remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the characteristics of interictal EEG abnormalities might help to distinguish and predict definite phenotypes within the heterogeneity of ASD. We reviewed the awake and sleep interictal EEGs of 220 individuals with idiopathic ASD, either with or without a history of seizures. EEG findings were analyzed with respect to a set of clinical variables to explore significant associations. A brain morphometry study was also carried out on a subgroup of patients. EEG abnormalities were seen in 154/220 individuals (70 %) and were mostly focal (p < 0.01) with an anterior localization (p < 0.001). They were detected more frequently during sleep (p < 0.01), and were associated with a regressive onset of AS...
Background: Several retrospective, prospective and postmortem studies have reported increased inc... more Background: Several retrospective, prospective and postmortem studies have reported increased incidences of macrocephaly (head circumference > 97th centile). On the basis of this findings, it has been suggested that macrocephaly could represent a clinical marker for grouping individuals with autism. Objectives: The present study aims to describe head circumference developmental course in the first 14 months of life in a large group of children with ASD. Methods: 50 patients with ASD were recruited at Centre for Autism at the Stella Maris Scientific Institute in Pisa. All patients were full term at birth and parents were in possession of the pediatric records reporting head circumference (HC), height (H) and weight (W) measurements at four age periods: birth (T0); 1-to-2 months (T1); 3-to-5 months (T2) and 6-to-14 months (T3). HC, height and weight data from 100 healthy children, from healthy pediatric population followed by several italian pediatrician in the metropolitan area of...
Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are often not diagnosed until children reach 3-4 yea... more Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are often not diagnosed until children reach 3-4 years of age. So far, the study of the early symptoms of ASDs is mainly based on retrospective analysis of home videotapes, usually recorded during children's first birthday party, or prospective studies of infant siblings of children with ASDs using the Autism Observation Scale for Infants, which measures visual attention, response to name, social babbling, eye contact and sensory behaviors. Neither home video analysis nor high risk infants studies, detected consistent abnormalities before 1 year of age. Early identification of young children with ASDs, possibly through a set of behavioral and neurophysiological indexes, is crucial in light of findings indicating that early intervention is much more effective than interventions starting in later childhood. Objectives: Aim of our study is to identify early diagnostic markers through the assessment of neurobiological and developmental pa...
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, Jan 17, 2015
In the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) field of research there is scientific consensus on the imp... more In the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) field of research there is scientific consensus on the importance of early identification (and subsequently, of timely treatment) for a better prognosis. For this reason, early diagnosis represents a common challenge for clinicians and an area of great interest for researchers. In the past decades, many studies have focused on identifying subclinical signs of ASD with different types of experimental designs and methods, both retrospectively and prospectively. The purpose of this narrative review is to present changes in methodology, from a historical point of view, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of different research designs. Conclusions are drawn taking into account potentialities of prospective designs for the study of early predictors of ASD.
General movements (GMs) are a distinct movement pattern carried out spontaneously without externa... more General movements (GMs) are a distinct movement pattern carried out spontaneously without external stimulation and seen in fetuses of 9 weeks gestational age till 21 weeks postterm. GMs are helpful in the early diagnosis of an impaired central nervous system and the specific prediction of later neurological deficits. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving a life-long deficit in several aspects of the social and communicative behavior. Recently there appeared studies proving that children with ASD demonstrate disorders of motor development. To detect whether abnormalities in spontaneous motor activity can be observed already in the first months of life in infants with ASD. A retrospective study was performed by analyzing the family videos provided by parents of 20 children (male 17, female 3) later diagnosed as ASD. Home videos provided by parents of a control group of healthy children (n=20; male 10, female 10) matched for age with the ASD subjects...
A simple method of illustrating and comparing performances of grid-connected PV (photovoltaic) po... more A simple method of illustrating and comparing performances of grid-connected PV (photovoltaic) power stations has been developed. The method is based on the introduction of some normalized parameters referring to system efficiency, insolation, and operation and maintenance data. It can be used for an immediate comparison of the performances of different PV power plants operating in different sites. Operating data
Autism Spectrum Disorder results in deficit in social interaction, non-verbal communication and s... more Autism Spectrum Disorder results in deficit in social interaction, non-verbal communication and social reciprocity. Cognitive tasks pertaining to emotion processing are often preferred to distinguish the ASD children from the typically developing ones. We analysed the role of face and emotion processing in ASD and explored the feasibility of using EEG as a neural marker for detecting ASD. Subjects performed a visual perceptual task with face and nonface stimuli. Successful ASD detection was possible as early as 50 ms. post stimulus onset. Alpha and Beta oscillations seem to best identify autistic individuals. Multivariate pattern analysis and source localization studies points to the role of early visual processing and attention rather than emotion and face processing in detecting autism.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, Jan 14, 2016
Investigation into the earliest signs of autism in infants has become a significant sub-field of ... more Investigation into the earliest signs of autism in infants has become a significant sub-field of autism research. This work invokes specific ethical concerns such as use of 'at-risk' language, communicating study findings to parents and the future perspective of enrolled infants when they reach adulthood. This study aimed to ground this research field in an understanding of the perspectives of members of the autism community. Following focus groups to identify topics, an online survey was distributed to autistic adults, parents of children with autism and practitioners in health and education settings across 11 European countries. Survey respondents (n = 2317) were positively disposed towards early autism research, and there was significant overlap in their priorities for the field and preferred language to describe infant research participants. However, there were also differences including overall less favourable endorsement of early autism research by autistic adults rela...
Background: Onset of autism is usually described by two patterns: an early onset when a child sho... more Background: Onset of autism is usually described by two patterns: an early onset when a child shows typical symptoms within the first year of life and a regressive one when a child has a period of apparently tipical development, followed by a lost of communicative and social skills during the second year of life. Recent studies describe a third pattern of onset in which the children demonstrate mild delays during the first year of life followed by later regression. Objectives: To describe early development, clinical characteristics of regression and later severity of autistic symptoms in children with different type of onset. Methods: A retrospective measure, the Early Development Questionnaire (EDQ), has been used to collect parent-reported information about social development in the first 18 months of life and regression of skills, in 50 under-six children with a diagnosis of autism or PDD-NOS. Different instrument (ADOS-G, CARS and CBCL) were used to assess symptoms severity. Res...
General movements (GMs) are a distinct movement pattern carried out spontaneously without externa... more General movements (GMs) are a distinct movement pattern carried out spontaneously without external stimulation and seen in fetuses of 9 weeks gestational age till 21 weeks postterm. GMs are helpful in the early diagnosis of an impaired central nervous system and the specific prediction of later neurological deficits. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving a life-long deficit in several aspects of the social and communicative behavior. Recently there appeared studies proving that children with ASD demonstrate disorders of motor development. To detect whether abnormalities in spontaneous motor activity can be observed already in the first months of life in infants with ASD. A retrospective study was performed by analyzing the family videos provided by parents of 20 children (male 17, female 3) later diagnosed as ASD. Home videos provided by parents of a control group of healthy children (n=20; male 10, female 10) matched for age with the ASD subjects...
European child & adolescent psychiatry, Jan 30, 2015
Interictal electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities are frequently associated with autism spectru... more Interictal electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities are frequently associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), although their relationship with the clinical features of ASD, particularly the regressive onset, remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the characteristics of interictal EEG abnormalities might help to distinguish and predict definite phenotypes within the heterogeneity of ASD. We reviewed the awake and sleep interictal EEGs of 220 individuals with idiopathic ASD, either with or without a history of seizures. EEG findings were analyzed with respect to a set of clinical variables to explore significant associations. A brain morphometry study was also carried out on a subgroup of patients. EEG abnormalities were seen in 154/220 individuals (70 %) and were mostly focal (p < 0.01) with an anterior localization (p < 0.001). They were detected more frequently during sleep (p < 0.01), and were associated with a regressive onset of AS...
Background: Several retrospective, prospective and postmortem studies have reported increased inc... more Background: Several retrospective, prospective and postmortem studies have reported increased incidences of macrocephaly (head circumference > 97th centile). On the basis of this findings, it has been suggested that macrocephaly could represent a clinical marker for grouping individuals with autism. Objectives: The present study aims to describe head circumference developmental course in the first 14 months of life in a large group of children with ASD. Methods: 50 patients with ASD were recruited at Centre for Autism at the Stella Maris Scientific Institute in Pisa. All patients were full term at birth and parents were in possession of the pediatric records reporting head circumference (HC), height (H) and weight (W) measurements at four age periods: birth (T0); 1-to-2 months (T1); 3-to-5 months (T2) and 6-to-14 months (T3). HC, height and weight data from 100 healthy children, from healthy pediatric population followed by several italian pediatrician in the metropolitan area of...
Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are often not diagnosed until children reach 3-4 yea... more Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are often not diagnosed until children reach 3-4 years of age. So far, the study of the early symptoms of ASDs is mainly based on retrospective analysis of home videotapes, usually recorded during children's first birthday party, or prospective studies of infant siblings of children with ASDs using the Autism Observation Scale for Infants, which measures visual attention, response to name, social babbling, eye contact and sensory behaviors. Neither home video analysis nor high risk infants studies, detected consistent abnormalities before 1 year of age. Early identification of young children with ASDs, possibly through a set of behavioral and neurophysiological indexes, is crucial in light of findings indicating that early intervention is much more effective than interventions starting in later childhood. Objectives: Aim of our study is to identify early diagnostic markers through the assessment of neurobiological and developmental pa...
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, Jan 17, 2015
In the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) field of research there is scientific consensus on the imp... more In the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) field of research there is scientific consensus on the importance of early identification (and subsequently, of timely treatment) for a better prognosis. For this reason, early diagnosis represents a common challenge for clinicians and an area of great interest for researchers. In the past decades, many studies have focused on identifying subclinical signs of ASD with different types of experimental designs and methods, both retrospectively and prospectively. The purpose of this narrative review is to present changes in methodology, from a historical point of view, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of different research designs. Conclusions are drawn taking into account potentialities of prospective designs for the study of early predictors of ASD.
General movements (GMs) are a distinct movement pattern carried out spontaneously without externa... more General movements (GMs) are a distinct movement pattern carried out spontaneously without external stimulation and seen in fetuses of 9 weeks gestational age till 21 weeks postterm. GMs are helpful in the early diagnosis of an impaired central nervous system and the specific prediction of later neurological deficits. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving a life-long deficit in several aspects of the social and communicative behavior. Recently there appeared studies proving that children with ASD demonstrate disorders of motor development. To detect whether abnormalities in spontaneous motor activity can be observed already in the first months of life in infants with ASD. A retrospective study was performed by analyzing the family videos provided by parents of 20 children (male 17, female 3) later diagnosed as ASD. Home videos provided by parents of a control group of healthy children (n=20; male 10, female 10) matched for age with the ASD subjects...
A simple method of illustrating and comparing performances of grid-connected PV (photovoltaic) po... more A simple method of illustrating and comparing performances of grid-connected PV (photovoltaic) power stations has been developed. The method is based on the introduction of some normalized parameters referring to system efficiency, insolation, and operation and maintenance data. It can be used for an immediate comparison of the performances of different PV power plants operating in different sites. Operating data
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Papers by Fabio Apicella