Deep brain stimulation(DBS)is a medical treatment that aims to obtain therapeutic effects by applying chronic electrical impulses in specific brain structures and neurological circuits.Over the years,DBS has been stud...Deep brain stimulation(DBS)is a medical treatment that aims to obtain therapeutic effects by applying chronic electrical impulses in specific brain structures and neurological circuits.Over the years,DBS has been studied for the treatment of many psychiatric disorders.Scientific research on the use of DBS in people with autism has focused this interest mainly on treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder,drug-resistant epilepsy,self-injurious behaviors(SIB),and aggressive behaviors toward the self.Autism spectrum disorder(ASD)includes a group of developmental disabilities characterized by patterns of delay and deviance in the development of social,communicative,and cognitive skills and the presence of repetitive and stereotyped behaviors as well as restricted interests.People with autism often have numerous medical and psychiatric comorbidities that worsen the quality of life of patients and their caregivers.Obsessive-compulsive symptoms can be found in up to 81.3%of people with autism.They are often severe,refractory to treatment,and particularly difficult to treat.SIB has a high prevalence in severely retarded individuals and is often associated with autism.Drug treatment of both autism and SIB presents a therapeutic challenge.To describe the current state of the art regarding the efficacy of DBS in people with ASD,a literature search was conducted for relevant studies using the PubMed database.Thirteen studies have been considered in this paper.Up to date,DBS has been used for the stimulation of the nucleus accumbens,globus pallidus internus,anterior limb of the internal capsule,ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule,basolateral amygdala,ventral capsule and ventral striatum,medial forebrain bundle,and posterior hypothalamus.In the total sample of 16 patients,4 were adolescents,and 12 were adults.All patients had symptoms resistant to multiple drug therapy.Many patients taken into consideration by the studies showed clinical improvements as evidenced by the scores of the psychopathological scales used.In some cases,clinical improvements have varied over time,which may require further investigation.Among the new therapeutic perspectives,DBS could be a valid option.However,further,and more in-depth research is needed in this field.展开更多
Background: In Italy, there is a lack of reliable data on the epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on a national scale. The exact etiopathogenesis of ASDs is still largely unknown, with autism representing t...Background: In Italy, there is a lack of reliable data on the epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on a national scale. The exact etiopathogenesis of ASDs is still largely unknown, with autism representing the final common pathway of different pathological conditions. Aim of the Study: Assessment of the effects produced by the individualised, intensive and holistic rehabilitation programme used by the Il Cireneo Foundation on the daily living skills of people diagnosed with ASD. Materials and Methods: Out of the eighty-seven (n = 87) enrolees, seventy-nine (n = 79), of whom 19 were females (24.1%) and 60 were males (75.9%), with a mean age of 13.41 years (SD = 6.93 years;range = 2 - 33 years) terminated the three-year study. The enrolees were evaluated two times: at the beginning of the rehabilitation programme and at the end of the three-year goal-oriented project. Results: Statistically significant results between T0 and T1 were recorded for CARS (t-4.221;p Conclusions: People diagnosed with autism can be helped to become more autonomous and independent in carrying out activities of daily living thanks to an intensive psycho-educational and cognitive-behavioural rehabilitation programme, of which the Il Cireneo Foundation is the only expression in the Abruzzo region.展开更多
文摘Deep brain stimulation(DBS)is a medical treatment that aims to obtain therapeutic effects by applying chronic electrical impulses in specific brain structures and neurological circuits.Over the years,DBS has been studied for the treatment of many psychiatric disorders.Scientific research on the use of DBS in people with autism has focused this interest mainly on treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder,drug-resistant epilepsy,self-injurious behaviors(SIB),and aggressive behaviors toward the self.Autism spectrum disorder(ASD)includes a group of developmental disabilities characterized by patterns of delay and deviance in the development of social,communicative,and cognitive skills and the presence of repetitive and stereotyped behaviors as well as restricted interests.People with autism often have numerous medical and psychiatric comorbidities that worsen the quality of life of patients and their caregivers.Obsessive-compulsive symptoms can be found in up to 81.3%of people with autism.They are often severe,refractory to treatment,and particularly difficult to treat.SIB has a high prevalence in severely retarded individuals and is often associated with autism.Drug treatment of both autism and SIB presents a therapeutic challenge.To describe the current state of the art regarding the efficacy of DBS in people with ASD,a literature search was conducted for relevant studies using the PubMed database.Thirteen studies have been considered in this paper.Up to date,DBS has been used for the stimulation of the nucleus accumbens,globus pallidus internus,anterior limb of the internal capsule,ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule,basolateral amygdala,ventral capsule and ventral striatum,medial forebrain bundle,and posterior hypothalamus.In the total sample of 16 patients,4 were adolescents,and 12 were adults.All patients had symptoms resistant to multiple drug therapy.Many patients taken into consideration by the studies showed clinical improvements as evidenced by the scores of the psychopathological scales used.In some cases,clinical improvements have varied over time,which may require further investigation.Among the new therapeutic perspectives,DBS could be a valid option.However,further,and more in-depth research is needed in this field.
文摘Background: In Italy, there is a lack of reliable data on the epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on a national scale. The exact etiopathogenesis of ASDs is still largely unknown, with autism representing the final common pathway of different pathological conditions. Aim of the Study: Assessment of the effects produced by the individualised, intensive and holistic rehabilitation programme used by the Il Cireneo Foundation on the daily living skills of people diagnosed with ASD. Materials and Methods: Out of the eighty-seven (n = 87) enrolees, seventy-nine (n = 79), of whom 19 were females (24.1%) and 60 were males (75.9%), with a mean age of 13.41 years (SD = 6.93 years;range = 2 - 33 years) terminated the three-year study. The enrolees were evaluated two times: at the beginning of the rehabilitation programme and at the end of the three-year goal-oriented project. Results: Statistically significant results between T0 and T1 were recorded for CARS (t-4.221;p Conclusions: People diagnosed with autism can be helped to become more autonomous and independent in carrying out activities of daily living thanks to an intensive psycho-educational and cognitive-behavioural rehabilitation programme, of which the Il Cireneo Foundation is the only expression in the Abruzzo region.
