The aim of the present study was to assess the cognitive profiles of children with autistic spectrum disorder and of their healthy siblings (Siblings). With the term cognitive profile, we indicate the relationship extant among the values of verbal and performance subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. The conducted statistical analyses indicated that, although siblings showed a normal intelligent quotient and did not differ in this aspect from typically developing group, their cognitive profile was amazingly similar to that of their relatives affected by autism. A k-means clustering analysis on the values of single subtests further confirmed this result, showing a clear separation between typically developing children on the one side, and autistics and their siblings on the other. We suggest that the common cognitive profile observed in autistic children and their siblings could represent a marker of liability to autism and, thus, a possible intermediate phenotype of this syndrome.

Cognitive abilities in siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders / Gizzonio, Valentina; Avanzini, Pietro; FABBRI DESTRO, Maddalena; C., Campi; Rizzolatti, Giacomo. - In: EXPERIMENTAL BRAIN RESEARCH. - ISSN 0014-4819. - 232:(2014), pp. 2381-2390. [10.1007/s00221-014-3935-8]

Cognitive abilities in siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders.

GIZZONIO, Valentina;AVANZINI, Pietro;FABBRI DESTRO, Maddalena;RIZZOLATTI, Giacomo
2014-01-01

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to assess the cognitive profiles of children with autistic spectrum disorder and of their healthy siblings (Siblings). With the term cognitive profile, we indicate the relationship extant among the values of verbal and performance subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. The conducted statistical analyses indicated that, although siblings showed a normal intelligent quotient and did not differ in this aspect from typically developing group, their cognitive profile was amazingly similar to that of their relatives affected by autism. A k-means clustering analysis on the values of single subtests further confirmed this result, showing a clear separation between typically developing children on the one side, and autistics and their siblings on the other. We suggest that the common cognitive profile observed in autistic children and their siblings could represent a marker of liability to autism and, thus, a possible intermediate phenotype of this syndrome.
2014
Cognitive abilities in siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders / Gizzonio, Valentina; Avanzini, Pietro; FABBRI DESTRO, Maddalena; C., Campi; Rizzolatti, Giacomo. - In: EXPERIMENTAL BRAIN RESEARCH. - ISSN 0014-4819. - 232:(2014), pp. 2381-2390. [10.1007/s00221-014-3935-8]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2731330
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