An evaluation of potential biomarkers and interventions for social learning in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterised by social communication difficulties and restricted and repetitive behaviours. At present, there is no pharmacological intervention for the core social difficulties experienced in ASD. Broadly, this thesis has three main themes. Firstly, it explores novel approaches to the pharmacological enhancement of social learning in paediatric ASD, with a particular focus on the potential of oxytocin nasal spray. Secondly, it examines the potential of biological markers, such as GABA levels, to better characterise the development of ASD and to understand and evaluate the efficacy of intervention in ASD. Thirdly, the thesis proposes a novel conceptual model that brings biological markers, social learning interventions and oxytocin into a clinical trial framework that can be implemented to identify divergent development and test novel personalised social learning approaches for young children with ASD. To address these themes, the first chapter explores the potential of oxytocin nasal spray as an intervention for social difficulties in paediatric ASD. The second chapter then explores the safety and tolerability of oxytocin administration specifically for paediatric populations. The third chapter proposes a unified model of the neural circuits that guide social learning in paediatric ASD. The final section of this thesis focuses specifically on investigating the potential of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for the measurement of biological markers, including GABA levels, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Chapter five describes the recruitment of a heterogenous group of children with ASD in a clinical trial of oxytocin nasal spray and reports on the acceptability, tolerability and success of the MRI-based procedures for collecting data across timepoints. Finally, in chapter six, GABA levels in the left parietal lobe are compared between children with ASD and typically developing children.
Author: Marilena M. DeMayo
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3043547032