Development and Pathogenesis study of the diagnostic marker with sensory impairments in the autism spectrum disorders

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K09865
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Yasuda Yuka 大阪大学, 医学部附属病院, 特任助教(常勤) (20448062)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 山森 英長 大阪大学, 医学系研究科, 講師 (90570250) ; 藤本 美智子 大阪大学, 医学系研究科, 特任助教(常勤) (50647625) ; 藤野 陽生 大阪大学, 人間科学研究科, 招へい研究員 (20707343)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 自閉スペクトラム症 / 診断マーカー / 感覚障害

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Sensory processing abnormalities in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is included in the latest diagnostic criteria; DSM-5. However, there is no standard method to evaluate sensory abnormalities in individuals with ASD. We compared objective pain sensitivity for 3 different stimuli. Then, we compared both the subjective pain sensitivity assessed by the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the quality of pain assessed by the short form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) for maximum tolerable pain intensities of each stimulation. The pain detection thresholds and pain tolerances of ASD were not impaired, which suggests that differences do not exist between groups with regard to the somatic perception of pain. However, ASD were significantly hyposensitive with regard to subjective pain intensity and affective aspects of pain sensitivity compared with controls. Our results suggest that the cognitive pathways for pain processing are impaired in ASD.

Free Research Field

生物学的精神医学