Neurocognitive and Psychosocial Outcome of Youths With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Condition: Autism Spectrum Disorder
MeSH terms: Autistic Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a common childhood-onset, multi-factorial, highly
      heritable, clinically and genetically heterogeneous, neurodevelopmental disorder. Due to its
      high prevalence and severe lifelong impairment without effective prevention and treatment,
      there is a dearth of investigating its pathogenesis, longitudinal outcome, and biomarkers
      (endophenotypes). The ultimate goals of this 5-year project are to prospectively investigate
      the outcome and changes of psychosocial and neurocognitive functions of a cohort of probands
      with ASD at adolescence and young adulthood as the primary aim; and to test whether
      structural and functional brain connectivity can be effective endophenotypes of ASD using the
      unaffected sibling and follow-up designs as the secondary aims.
    

Detailed description: 
      Primary Aim:

      To investigate the neuropsychological, neuroimaging, social cognitive, and psychosocial
      outcomes at adolescence and young adulthood among children with ASD as compared to typically
      developing (TD) controls.

      Secondary Aims:

        1. To examine the changes and stability of ASD core symptoms, neuropsychological function,
           structured and functional connectivity, psychosocial functions over a 4-7 year follow-up
           period.

        2. To identify early individual (clinical, behavioral, and neurocognitive variables),
           family, school, environmental factors to predict the neurocognitive and psychosocial
           outcomes at adolescence and young adulthood.

        3. To validate the neuropsychological functioning (e.g., set-shifting, executive function,
           and visuo-spatial memory etc.) and structural (morphometric,, cortical thickness,
           gyrification, white matter tract integrity) and functional connectivity (resting-state
           and social task fMRI) in fronto-temporal, cortico-striato-thalamic, default mode
           network, and other circuits as effective imaging endophenotypes (biomarkers) by
           demonstrating the stability of these imaging data and the intermediate position of
           unaffected siblings between ASD probands and age-, sex-, handedness-, and IQ-matched TD
           at Time 1 and follow-up.

        4. To correlate the data from structural and functional connectivity, neuropsychology and
           ASD core symptoms stratifying by proband-unaffected sibling dyads, and different
           developmental stages.

        5. To collect blood sample, and to analyze neurodevelopmental and immune genes, cytokine
           level, and environmental exposure.
    

Observational model: Case-Control
Time perspective: Cross-Sectional
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        373 ASD, aged 10-25, from the cohort of ASD established by NRPGM, who consented to this
        follow-up study at their first assessments in 2007-2011 and 150 age-, and sex-matched TD,
        at the ratio of 2:1.
      
Biospecimen description: 
      The subjects will receive blood withdrawal. The blood sample will be used for establishing
      lymphoblastoid cell lines, which will be used for molecular genetic experiments