Copyright
©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Jun 22, 2014; 4(2): 42-48
Published online Jun 22, 2014. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v4.i2.42
Published online Jun 22, 2014. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v4.i2.42
Cognitive inflexibility in Japanese adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders
Yuka Yasuda, Kazutaka Ohi, Michiko Fujimoto, Masatoshi Takeda, Department of Psychiatry, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka 5650871, Japan
Ryota Hashimoto, Molecular Research Center for Children’s Mental Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Osaka 5650871, Japan
Ryota Hashimoto, Hidenaga Yamamori, 2nd Department of Psychiatry, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka 5650871, Japan
Hidenaga Yamamori, Satomi Umeda-Yano, Department of Molecular Neuropsychiatry, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka 5650871, Japan
Haruo Fujino, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Osaka 5650871, Japan
Author contributions: Yasuda Y was critically involved in the data collection and analysis, wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and contributed intellectually to the interpretation of the data; Hahimoto R supervised the entire project, collected the data, wrote the manuscript, was critically involved in the design of the project and was responsible for performing the literature review; all authors were critically involved in the data collection and helped to edit the manuscript.
Supported by Research grants from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, No. H22-seishin-ippan-001; the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) through a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, No. 22390225, No. 25293250 and No. 24591680; Challenging Exploratory Research, No. 23659565; the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) through a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Comprehensive Brain Science Network), No. 25129704; Priority Areas-Research on the Pathomechanisms of Brain Disorders, No. 18023045; and the Japan Foundation for Neuroscience and Mental Health
Correspondence to: Ryota Hashimoto, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Molecular Research Center for Children’s Mental Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, D3, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 5650871, Japan. hashimor@psy.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-6-68793074 Fax: +81-6-68793074
Received: November 22, 2013
Revised: February 17, 2014
Accepted: April 11, 2014
Published online: June 22, 2014
Revised: February 17, 2014
Accepted: April 11, 2014
Published online: June 22, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: We investigated executive function (EF) in Japanese adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared to strictly matched controls. EF was assessed using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. To exclude confounding factors, the participants were matched for gender, age, years of education, full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ), performance IQ, verbal IQ, and attention level. Symptoms were assessed by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient Japanese version. We confirm that Japanese adolescents and adults with ASD have cognitive inflexibility, as suggested by previous findings. Furthermore, the present study results also indicate that subjects with ASD may not use negative feedback effectively.