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Biomedical subjects

F J Symons

Publications and source records attributed to F J Symons.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

The early development of stereotypy and self-injury: a review of research methods.

BACKGROUND: The origin and developmental course of stereotypic and self-injurious behaviour among individuals with developmental disabilities such as intellectual disability (ID) or pervasive development disorders such as autism is not well understood. METHOD: Twelve studies designed to document the prevalence, nature, or development of stereotypic and/or self-injurious behaviour in children under 5 years of age and identified as at risk for developmental delay or disability were reviewed. Comparisons were made with similar studies with typically developing children. RESULTS: It appears that the onset of naturally occurring rhythmic motor stereotypies is delayed in young at-risk children, but that the sequencing may be similar. A very small database, differences in samples, measures, and designs limited the degree to which comparisons could be made across studies. CONCLUSION: Future work is needed based on appropriately designed prospective comparison studies and uniform quantitative measures to provide an empirical basis for new knowledge about the early development of one of the most serious behaviour disorders afflicting children with ID and related problems of development.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed2005

Blink rate in boys with fragile X syndrome: preliminary evidence for altered dopamine function.

BACKGROUND: Dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in motor and cognitive functioning, can be non-invasively measured via observation of spontaneous blink rates. Blink rates have been studied in a number of clinical conditions including schizophrenia, autism, Parkinsons, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder with results implicating either hyper or hypo dopaminergic states. METHODS: This study examined spontaneous blink rate in boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Blink rates of boys (4-8 years old) with FXS (n = 6) were compared with those of age-matched typically developing boys (n = 6) during active and passive tasks. Blink rates (blinks per minute) for each task were compared between the two groups. Then, the relation between blink measures and core FXS-related features [problem behaviours, arousal, fmr 1 protein (FMRP)] were examined within the group of boys with FXS. RESULTS: Blink rate in boys with FXS was significantly higher than typically developing boys during passive tasks. Within the FXS group, there were significant correlations between blink rate and problem behaviours and physiological arousal (i.e. heart activity) but not with FMRP. CONCLUSIONS: Observed differences in spontaneous blink rate between boys with and without FXS and the relation between blink rate and physiological and behavioural measures in boys with FXS suggests that further work examining dopamine dysfunction as a factor in the pathophysiology of FXS may be warranted.

Arousal↗
PubMed2001

Sequential analysis of the effects of naltrexone on the environmental mediation of self-injurious behavior.

Accumulated evidence shows that biology and the environment can mediate self-injurious behavior (SIB) in persons with mental retardation. Whether pharmacological treatment alters the environmental mediation of self-injury is unclear. Opioid antagonist effects on sequential dependencies for self-injury were studied in the context of experimental single-subject double-blind placebo-controlled designs. Direct observational data were collected for 4 adult subjects in real time on daily rate of SIB and staff interactions. Clinically significant reductions (i.e., > or = 33%) in SIB rate were observed for 3 of the 4 subjects. For all subjects, the magnitude of the sequential dependency between staff behavior and self-injury was significantly greater during treatment with naltrexone than during treatment with a placebo. Results are discussed in relation to behavioral mechanisms of action regulating medication effects for self-injury.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Preliminary study of altered skin temperature at body sites associated with self-injurious behavior in adults who have developmental disabilities.

In this study, the sensory status of 4 nonverbal adults with mental retardation and severe self-injury was examined using skin temperature measures prior to opiate antagonist treatment. Double-blind, placebo-controlled, experimental ABAB designs were used to evaluate the effects of naltrexone hydrochloride (1.5 mg/kg/day). For each participant, the body site targeted most frequently for self-injury was associated with altered skin temperature and reduced by naltrexone. In all cases, neither infrequent self-injury body sites nor non-self-injury body sites were associated with altered skin temperature. Further controlled studies are warranted to examine the value of assessing pain status and skin temperature in nonverbal patients with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities who present with tissue-damaging SIB.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Varieties of repetitive behavior in autism: comparisons to mental retardation.

Systematic study of abnormal repetitive behaviors in autism has been lacking despite the diagnostic significance of such behavior. The occurrence of specific topographies of repetitive behaviors as well as their severity was assessed in individuals with mental retardation with and without autism. The occurrence of each behavior category, except dyskinesias, was higher in the autism group and autistic subjects exhibited a significantly greater number of topographies of stereotypy and compulsions. Both groups had significant patterns of repetitive behavior co-occurrence. Autistic subjects had significantly greater severity ratings for compulsions, stereotypy, and self-injury. Repetitive behavior severity also predicted severity of autism. Although abnormal repetition is not specific to autism, an elevated pattern of occurrence and severity appears to characterize the disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Treatment of self-injurious behavior and quality of life for persons with mental retardation.

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is a highly problematic and damaging behavior with profound implications for a person's quality of life. Despite numerous reports documenting changes in self-injury, it is not well-known how these changes relate to systematic improvements in quality of life. We surveyed 41 journals from 1978 to 1996 to identify use of quality of life outcome measures following self-injury treatment. A sample of 138 research articles involving 436 subjects with self-injury was reviewed. Forty articles (29%) were found that contained some quality of life measure. Very little detailed information was available concerning the specific nature of change in life-style based on immediate changes in SIB. This lack of information and its possible implications are discussed.

Humans↗
PubMed1999

Self-injurious behavior and Prader-Willi syndrome: behavioral forms and body locations.

With few exceptions (e.g., Lesch-Nyhan syndrome), the specific nature of self-injury in relation to identified genetic syndromes associated with mental retardation is poorly understood. In the present study we surveyed the families of 62 persons with Prader-Willi syndrome to determine the prevalence, topographies, and specific body locations of self-injurious behavior. Self-injury was reported for 81% of the participants. Skin-picking was the most prevalent form, with the front of the legs and head being disproportionately targeted as preferred self-injury body sites. Individuals with the 15q11-q13 deletion injured significantly more body sites than did individuals with maternal disomy 15. Results are discussed in relation to previous self-injury body site findings and implications for the relevance of syndrome-specific behavioral phenotypes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Self-injurious behaviour and body site preference.

Self-injury by people with intellectual disabilities is a highly problematic and damaging behaviour with profound implications for quality of life. To date, very little detailed descriptive information has been available on the distribution and location of body sites that are injured. This study presents preliminary information on the locations of the self-injury body sites of 29 school-age individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities who self-injured daily. Teaching staff in school-based special education programmes independently recorded the body locations of where their student's self-injured. Approximately 80% of the reported self-injury was directed disproportionately toward the head and hands. Three-quarters of head-directed self-injury was located on the front of the head, and 83% of hand-directed self-injury was located on the back of the hands. Furthermore, 32% of the body sites toward which self-injury was directed were located on stimulation-produced analgesia body sites. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the opioid hypothesis of self-injurious behaviour, and with regard to future research investigating functional diagnostic strategies considering both social and biological variables.

Acupuncture Therapy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Self-injurious behavior and sleep disturbance in adults with developmental disabilities.

Sleep patterns of 30 individuals with self-injurious behavior and mental retardation were compared with those of 30 matched controls residing in the same residential facility that did not self-injure. Individuals were recorded as asleep or awake during 30 min intervals for eight hours per night. The results of a Wilcoxon signed-ranks test (p < .05) indicated that individuals with self-injury slept significantly less than individuals without self-injury. chi2 analyses (p < .01) indicated significantly greater variability in the number of intervals recorded as asleep among individuals with self-injury than their matched controls. These results are congruent with previous findings of sleep disturbance among persons with mental retardation and behavior problems. The possibility of neurochemical dysregulation in sleep disturbance among individuals with daytime self-injury is discussed.

Adult↗