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This article will share what science has revealed about stereotypic behaviors, and how this information can be applied to better manage and thus improve the welfare of horses with stereotypic behavior. Written by Carissa Wickens and Camie Heleski, and published by the Veterinary Medicine—Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, UF/IFAS Extension, January 2024.

Autism is a neurobiologically based neurodevelopmental disorder with high prevalence and a clear predominance in males. It is characterized by deficits in social cognition and communication, restricted interests, and stereotyped behaviors, frequently associated with sensory dysfunction others neurodevelopmental conditions, neuropsychiatric disorders, epilepsy, and/or sleep disorders. This condition will accompany people throughout their lives, which will generate various support and treatment needs. People with autism often need to "fit in" and for this they use techniques such as camouflage, also called masking. This attitude has been observed in people with typical development and in people with autism in childhood, adolescence and adult life, although in autistic people this behavior is more intense and takes longer and with more frequency and intensity in autistic adult women. This could explain the underreporting of autism, the later diagnosis, the delay in the therapeutic approach, and the greater presence of anxiety and depression disorders related to the effort that "appearing normal" implies. Even though camouflage people appear to be "normal" and fit in perfectly, this is not an attitude that we should promote and, on the contrary, it is imperativeto work to improve the environment and the understanding of each person. In this paper we will analyze the clinical aspects, their relationship with age, sex, and ways of detecting it.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social cognition and communication, restricted interests, and stereotyped behaviors. Frequently associated with sensory dysfunction, other neurodevelopmental disorders, neuropsychiatric disorders, epilepsy and/or sleep disorders. This condition will accompany people throughout their lives, which will generate various support and treatment needs. Although there are no drugs that modify the core symptoms of autism, various drugs have shown their usefulness in associated conditions. Atypical antipsychotics for hyperactivity, impulsivity, agitation, auto or heteroaggression crises. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors, to decrease anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and irritability/agitation. Stimulants and atomoxetine used for hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. Clonidine and guanfacine show some efficacy on hyperactivity and stereotyped behaviors. Buspirone has been used for restrictive behaviors and anxiety. There are drugs in the research phase such as oxytocin, vasopressin and even some developed for specific entities related to autism such as arbaclofen in Fragile X and Trofinetide that has just been approved for use in Rett syndrome. As specific entities and their pathophysiology are identified, it is likely that tailored treatments will be developed for each entity associated with autism..

Objective. To determine the prevalence of classic stereotypies in Thoroughbred racehorses at the Club Hípico Concepción (CHC) in Chile and its association with sex and age. Materials and methods. The entire population of resident horses at the CHC was studied (n=341). Each horse trainer (n=23) was asked for the name, sex and age of the horses under his/her supervision. After that, all the animals were continuously observed inside their stalls for 8 hours by only one person, to record the absence or presence of classic stereotypies (cribbing, weaving, stall-walking). To analyze the data, the animals were divided by sex into 3 groups: stallions, geldings and mares. According to age, they were divided into 2 groups: < 5 years old and 5 years old or more. Descriptive statistics were used and association was tested using the chi square test using p≤0.05. Results. 13.2% of all CHC’s horses displayed stereotypies: cribbing (4.99%), weaving (2.93%) and stall-walking (5.28%). No association was found between the presence of stereotypies and sex or age. Conclusions. Thoroughbred race horses at the CHC showed a high prevalence of classic stereotypies, especially stall-walking.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a qualitative alteration in social interaction and communication, associated with restricted interests and stereotyped behaviors. It can be associated with medical problems such as epilepsy, gastrointestinal dysfunction, sleep disorders, other neurodevelopmental disorders such as language impairment, intellectual disability, sensory dysfunction, ADH/D, motor clumsiness, and/or neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, catatonia, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorders, behavioral and impulsive disorders, among others. Catatonia is recognized as a neuropsychiatric syndrome identified in all major mood and psychotic disorders, due to general medical conditions or as a syndrome not otherwise specified; this allows catatonia to be coded in the context of other psychiatric or neurodevelopmental disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or autism. It is characterized by abnormal motor, vocal, and behavioral symptoms, with impaired volition and vegetative function. It is estimated that approximately 8-11% of autistic people suffer from catatonia. It is probable that there is an underreporting of catatonia, especially in people with autism, due to the lack of alertness about it, the clinical heterogeneity and the similarity of many of its symptoms with manifestations of autism. Many times it can even express itself as a late autistic regression from puberty to adult life. Its neurobiological bases are still not clear and the treatment is based on the administration of bensodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy although there is still a long way to go to investigate these issues.

We start from the evidence that confirms a greater vulnerability to anxiety in people with autism and to wonder to what extent the intolerance to the uncertainty mediates in that anxiety. In addition, the alterations of the predictive abilities in autism could explain the coherence between greater intolerance to uncertainty and some peculiarities inherent in autism such as patterns of restrictive and stereotyped behaviors, interests and activities, and particularities in the processing of sensory information. This information will allow us to develop interventions specifically focused on this construct for the prevention and improvement of anxiety symptoms in autism in cases that the severity of intolerance to uncertainty constitutes a significant risk factor.

Introduction: Mutism is absence of verbal expression with conservation of language comprehension. The origin of mutism is multifactorial and may followed from cranial trauma surgery of the posterior fossa, acquired epileptic syndromes and psychogenic origin., Objective: To refer patients who had presented mutism of diverse etiology., Clinical Cases: We analysed three children who had presented mutism originated by diverse causes. Case 1. A child with family and school problems, attention deficits and limited communication resources. Neurological examination and other auxiliary test (EEG) were normal. He presented no alteration in language or speech. We recommended the change of the school and a psychotherapeutic orientation. Case 2. A 4 year old female child who has suffered varicella 15 days earlier and presented limitations in her verbal expression despite maintain her linguistically capacity. She showed a indifferent behavior and her movements were without finality. Neurological examination was normal. The girl understood and followed instruction properly. However her verbal communication was absent. Total recuperation occurred in 72 hours. Case 3. A 12 years old child who had suffered a cranial traumatism with loss of consciousness ten days earlier. After this traumatism, he presented behavior changes, disorientation and blurred vision. Additionally he presented stereotypies and limitations in psychosocial connections. Despite his mutism, he conserved the structure and content of language. SPECT showed hypoperfusion in orbitotemporal region. Improvement was total 20 days after his traumatism., Conclusions: The mutism has multifactorial etiology. References were made to three cases who's mutism was related to emotional causes, post-varicella complications and posttraumatic events.

Rett Syndrome was first described in 1966 by Andreas Rett. The disorder is characterized by a progressive loss of cognitive and motor skills as well as development o stereotyped hand movements, occurring after an apparently normal development. Authors present three typical cases, and, another one atypical, being all of them female. This study takes into account ten different areas about chronology, age and reasons in the first consultation, some milestones of psychomotor development, the diagnostic criteria--according to Rett Syndrome Diagnostic Criteria Work Group (R.S.D.C.W.G.), they consists of necessary, supportive and exclusion criteria-, some signs and symptoms that authors consider frequently associated with Rett syndrome, some diagnostic tests with neurophysiologic technics--E.E.G.--, as well as neuroimagins technics--C.T. and M.R.I.--; routine laboratory studies, development scales and something else, the DAS-SV scale which is usually used to study different handicaps and therapeutic interventions such as: psychosocial, clinical, pharmacological (valproic acid, carbamacepine, clorpromacine, etc.) and institutional. Three tables and 72 bibliographic notes are included.

The case of a girl carrier of the Rett syndrome is presented. During the first year of life general growth and psychomotor development were normal. Afterwards progressive neurological and mental impairment, loss of ability for the intentional use of hands together with stereotyped movements were seen. At the same time autistic behaviour, progressively abnormal EEG and microcephalia as well as bruxism were evident. Clinical diagnosis was done according to internationally accepted criteria.