Bio-behavioral model of aggression in autism spectrum disorders-pilot study

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have a high rate of irritability and aggressive symptoms which have significant impact on their lives, families and society. The etiology of aggression in humans is likely complex and includes both biological and behavioral causes. Biological approaches have focused on hormones and neurotransmitters that are hypothesized to contribute to the etiology and clinical manifestation of aggressive behavior in humans. Testosterone is a male sex hormone and some studies suggest that it can play a role in the complex etiology of aggressive behavior. Two specific subtypes of aggression have been identified: explosive and non-explosive. Explosive aggression is accompanied by a raged affect and is usually more dangerous and not immediately responsive to behavioral treatment. We propose that individuals with ASD and explosive aggression will have higher androgen activity and higher arousal than neurotypical children and children with ASD without explosive aggression. We employed a unique method for aggression assessment- functional behavioral analysis- to obtain objective and quantitative measures of aggression and arousal signs. In our pilot study, we proposed to determine bio-behavioral model of explosive aggression in children with ASD which will predict which children will be most responsive to antiandrogen therapy and behavioral therapy (Tab. 1, Fig. 1, Ref. 31).