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Song Y, Hakoda Y. Selective Impairment of Basic Emotion Recognition in People with Autism: Discrimination Thresholds for Recognition of Facial Expressions of Varying Intensities. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 48:1886-1894. [PMID: 29274008 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3428-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by early onset qualitative impairments in reciprocal social development. However, whether individuals with ASD exhibit impaired recognition of facial expressions corresponding to basic emotions is debatable. To investigate subtle deficits in facial emotion recognition, we asked 14 children diagnosed with high-functioning autism (HFA)/AS and 17 typically developing peers to complete a new highly sensitive test of facial emotion recognition. The test stimuli comprised faces expressing increasing degrees of emotional intensity that slowly changed from a neutral to a full-intensity happiness, sadness, surprise, anger, disgust, or fear expression. We assessed individual differences in the intensity of stimuli required to make accurate judgments about emotional expressions. We found that, different emotions had different identification thresholds and the two groups were generally similar in terms of the sequence of discrimination threshold of six basic expressions. It was easier for individuals in both groups to identify emotions that were relatively fully expressed (e.g., intensity > 50%). Compared with control participants, children with ASD generally required stimuli with significantly greater intensity for the correct identification of anger, disgust, and fear expressions. These results suggest that individuals with ASD do not have a general but rather a selective impairment in basic emotion recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongning Song
- Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Yuji Hakoda
- Faculty of Human Development and Education, Kyoto Women's University, Kyoto, Japan
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McCrackin SD, Itier RJ. Perceived Gaze Direction Differentially Affects Discrimination of Facial Emotion, Attention, and Gender - An ERP Study. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:517. [PMID: 31178686 PMCID: PMC6543003 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Accepted: 05/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The perception of eye-gaze is thought to be a key component of our everyday social interactions. While the neural correlates of direct and averted gaze processing have been investigated, there is little consensus about how these gaze directions may be processed differently as a function of the task being performed. In a within-subject design, we examined how perception of direct and averted gaze affected performance on tasks requiring participants to use directly available facial cues to infer the individuals' emotional state (emotion discrimination), direction of attention (attention discrimination) and gender (gender discrimination). Neural activity was recorded throughout the three tasks using EEG, and ERPs time-locked to face onset were analyzed. Participants were most accurate at discriminating emotions with direct gaze faces, but most accurate at discriminating attention with averted gaze faces, while gender discrimination was not affected by gaze direction. At the neural level, direct and averted gaze elicited different patterns of activation depending on the task over frontal sites, from approximately 220-290 ms. More positive amplitudes were seen for direct than averted gaze in the emotion discrimination task. In contrast, more positive amplitudes were seen for averted gaze than for direct gaze in the gender discrimination task. These findings are among the first direct evidence that perceived gaze direction modulates neural activity differently depending on task demands, and that at the behavioral level, specific gaze directions functionally overlap with emotion and attention discrimination, precursors to more elaborated theory of mind processes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Roxane J. Itier
- Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
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Attentional Patterns to Emotional Faces Versus Scenes in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 49:1484-1492. [PMID: 30536217 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3847-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Previous research has shown attentional biases in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) when processing distressing information. This study examined these attentional patterns as a function of the type of stimulus (scenes and faces) and the stimulus valence (happy, sad, threatening, neutral) using a within-subject design. A dot-probe was applied to ASD (n = 24) and typically developing (TD) children (n = 24). Results showed no differences between the groups for happy and sad stimuli. Critically, ASD children showed an attentional bias toward threatening scenes but away from threatening faces. Thus, the type of stimuli modulated the direction of attentional biases to distressing information in ASD children. These results are discussed in the framework of current theories on cognitive and emotional processing in ASD.
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54
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Specific Patterns of Emotion Recognition from Faces in Children with ASD: Results of a Cross-Modal Matching Paradigm. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 48:844-852. [PMID: 29164447 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3389-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Children with ASD show emotion recognition difficulties, as part of their social communication deficits. We examined facial emotion recognition (FER) in intellectually disabled children with ASD and in younger typically developing (TD) controls, matched on mental age. Our emotion-matching paradigm employed three different modalities: facial, vocal and verbal. Results confirmed overall FER deficits in ASD. Compared to the TD group, children with ASD had the poorest performance in recognizing surprise and anger in comparison to happiness and sadness, and struggled with face-face matching, compared to voice-face and word-face combinations. Performance in the voice-face cross-modal recognition task was related to adaptive communication. These findings highlight the specific face processing deficit, and the relative merit of cross-modal integration in children with ASD.
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Metcalfe D, McKenzie K, McCarty K, Pollet TV. Emotion recognition from body movement and gesture in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder is improved by situational cues. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2019; 86:1-10. [PMID: 30614445 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2018.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2018] [Revised: 11/11/2018] [Accepted: 12/18/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Research shows people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have poorer emotion recognition (ER) compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. However, it is not known whether this is the case when stimuli are limited to gesture and posture, and lack facial expressions. METHOD Fifty-four children with (n = 27) and without (n = 27) ASD, matched on age and gender, completed an ER task, that used dynamic stimuli. Processing style bias, Autistic-like-traits and empathy were also measured. With ER as the outcome variable, a multilevel logistic model was created. RESULTS Children with ASD were found to be significantly less accurate in identifying emotions, compared to the control group. Presence of situational cues aided both groups. Autistic-like-traits and empathy were found to correlate too highly with the diagnosed condition to use in the multilevel model. Processing style did not significantly impact ER ability. CONCLUSIONS This study supports previous research which finds ER ability in people with ASD to be poorer than that of TD peers and that situational cues can aid ER ability. Importantly, the latter is true for people with ASD. The implication of these findings are programmes that aim to improve ER should consider using cues. Limitations of the study are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dale Metcalfe
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, UK.
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Impaired Recognition of Negative Facial Expressions is Partly Related to Facial Perception Deficits in Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 50:1596-1606. [DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-03915-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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57
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Wieckowski AT, Swain DM, Abbott AL, White SW. Task Dependency When Evaluating Association Between Facial Emotion Recognition and Facial Emotion Expression in Children with ASD. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 49:460-467. [PMID: 30173309 PMCID: PMC6365171 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3712-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The impact of facial emotion recognition (FER) deficits on facial emotion expression (FEE) during interaction with a novel computerized system was investigated in children with ASD (n = 20), in comparison to typically developing (TD) peers (n = 20). Although there was not clear evidence of impaired FEE, children with ASD showed more atypical FEE. In children with ASD, better FER predicted better FEE when the participants were asked to express a labeled emotion (t(18) = - 2.75, p = .01, d = 1.24). The stronger relationship between FER and FEE in children with ASD, relative to controls, suggests that intervention targeting social communication deficits might have maximal effect when both processes are considered.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Deanna M Swain
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - A Lynn Abbott
- Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Susan W White
- Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35401, USA
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Corbett BA, Muscatello RA, Baldinger C. Comparing stress and arousal systems in response to different social contexts in children with ASD. Biol Psychol 2019; 140:119-130. [PMID: 30557600 PMCID: PMC6471662 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2018] [Revised: 12/13/2018] [Accepted: 12/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Response to psychological stress can vary based on the extent to which the context is perceived as stressful, especially under different social conditions. The purpose of this preliminary study was to compare physiological stress (cortisol) and regulation (respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) of 10-12 year old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 31) or typical development (TD, n = 25) when exposed to two social stress protocols. The extent to which perceived emotion (affect recognition) and anxiety (state and trait) mediate the stress response was also explored. Results revealed different patterns of stress responses dependent on the type of stressor. During a friendly social interaction, both groups generally showed an adaptive, synergistic response between cortisol and RSA. In response to social evaluation, however, the ASD group did not show correlating responses between physiological systems, which was likely due to a blunted stress response to the social evaluative stressor. The ability to recognize neutral faces mediated the relationship between diagnostic group and physiological response to social evaluation, indicating that perception of threat is essential to triggering a stress response. The current study emphasizes the need to consider the important role of social context, social perception, and perceived anxiety when examining social interaction and stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blythe A Corbett
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States; Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States.
| | | | - Charles Baldinger
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
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Nagy E, Paton SC, Primrose FEA, Farkas TN, Pow CF. Speeded Recognition of Fear and Surprise in Autism. Perception 2018. [DOI: 10.1177/0301006618811768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) involve difficulties with socioemotional functioning; however, research on emotion recognition remains inconclusive. Children with ASD have been reported to show less susceptibility to spatial inversion. The aim of this study is to examine whether children with ASD utilize atypical abilities in socioemotional processing. This study tested 13 children with ASD (1 girl, M: 15.10 years, standard deviation [ SD]: 1.60 years), 13 children without ASD (3 girls, M: 15.92 years, SD: 1.03 years), and 20 control adults (11 women, M: 24.77 years, SD: 8.30 years) to investigate the speed and accuracy of their responses to images of neutral faces and faces expressing “easy” (happiness, anger) and “difficult” emotions (surprise, fear) in nonrotated (0°) and rotated (30°, 90°, 150°, 180°, 210°, 270°, and 330°) positions. The results showed that children with ASD recognized both easy and difficult emotions as accurately as did children and adults without ASD. Children with ASD, however, responded significantly faster to difficult emotions when the images were rotated. These results offer less support for a deficiency model than for an atypical, rapid featural type of processing used by children with ASD to encode and understand complex socioemotional stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emese Nagy
- Department of Psychology, The University of Dundee, UK
| | | | | | | | - Coreen F. Pow
- Department of Psychology, The University of Dundee, UK
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60
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Lui M, So WC, Tsang YK. Neural evidence for reduced automaticity in processing emotional prosody among men with high levels of autistic traits. Physiol Behav 2018; 196:47-58. [PMID: 30157447 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2018] [Revised: 08/21/2018] [Accepted: 08/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This study aimed to examine individual differences in the integration of emotional prosody when processing semantic meaning in speech among men with high and low levels of autistic traits, as measured by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). The behavioral and neural responses of high- and low-AQ men during semantic valence judgment were compared. The stimuli were positive or negative words spoken with either happy or sad prosody; in other words, the prosody was either congruous or incongruous to the valence of meaning. Participants were required to judge the (positive vs. negative) valence of word meaning as accurately and as quickly as possible while ignoring emotional prosody. Behavioral results showed that high-AQ men responded significantly more slowly than low-AQ men in all stimulus conditions, indicating lower automaticity in processing emotional speech. Neural data revealed that low-AQ men (but not high-AQ men) had significantly increased N200 and N400 amplitudes for incongruous (compared to congruous) stimuli spoken with happy prosody. Our findings supported our hypotheses that high levels of autistic traits are associated with reduced behavioral automaticity and less differential neural resources allocated to processing emotional speech stimuli with different cognitive demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Lui
- Department of Education Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Wing-Chee So
- Department of Educational Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yiu-Kei Tsang
- Department of Education Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
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61
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Muller Spaniol M, Shalev L, Mevorach C. Reduced distractor interference in neurotypical adults with high expression of autistic traits irrespective of stimulus type. Autism Res 2018; 11:1345-1355. [DOI: 10.1002/aur.2005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2018] [Revised: 05/17/2018] [Accepted: 06/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mayra Muller Spaniol
- School of Psychology; The University of Birmingham; Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
- Centre for Human Brain Health; The University of Birmingham; Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
| | - Lilach Shalev
- School of Education; Tel-Aviv University; Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience; Tel-Aviv University; Israel
| | - Carmel Mevorach
- School of Psychology; The University of Birmingham; Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
- Centre for Human Brain Health; The University of Birmingham; Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
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Diametric effects of autism tendencies and psychosis proneness on attention control irrespective of task demands. Sci Rep 2018; 8:8478. [PMID: 29855492 PMCID: PMC5981437 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26821-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2018] [Accepted: 05/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Our capacity to attend a target while ignoring irrelevant distraction impacts our ability to successfully interact with our environment. Previous reports have sometimes identified excessive distractor interference in both autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders and in neurotypical individuals with high subclinical expressions of these conditions. Independent of task, we show that the direction of the effect of autism or psychosis traits on the suppression or rejection of a non-target item is diametrical. In Study 1, in which the presence of a salient non-target item hindered performance, higher autism traits were associated with better performance, while higher psychosis traits were associated with worse performance. In Study 2, in which the presence of a salient non-target item facilitated performance, a complete reversal of effects was observed. Future clinical interventions may be informed by the context-specific advantages we observed for the autism and psychosis spectra, and by the need to consider the diametric effects they yield.
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63
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Dickter CL, Burk JA, Fleckenstein K, Kozikowski CT. Autistic traits and social anxiety predict differential performance on social cognitive tasks in typically developing young adults. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0195239. [PMID: 29596523 PMCID: PMC5875886 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2017] [Accepted: 03/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The current work examined the unique contribution that autistic traits and social anxiety have on tasks examining attention and emotion processing. In Study 1, 119 typically-developing college students completed a flanker task assessing the control of attention to target faces and away from distracting faces during emotion identification. In Study 2, 208 typically-developing college students performed a visual search task which required identification of whether a series of 8 or 16 emotional faces depicted the same or different emotions. Participants with more self-reported autistic traits performed more slowly on the flanker task in Study 1 than those with fewer autistic traits when stimuli depicted complex emotions. In Study 2, participants higher in social anxiety performed less accurately on trials showing all complex faces; participants with autistic traits showed no differences. These studies suggest that traits related to autism and to social anxiety differentially impact social cognitive processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheryl L. Dickter
- Psychological Sciences, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Joshua A. Burk
- Psychological Sciences, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, United States of America
| | - Katarina Fleckenstein
- Psychological Sciences, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, United States of America
| | - C. Teal Kozikowski
- Psychological Sciences, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, United States of America
- Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, United States of America
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64
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Frank R, Schulze L, Hellweg R, Koehne S, Roepke S. Impaired detection and differentiation of briefly presented facial emotions in adults with high-functioning autism and asperger syndrome. Behav Res Ther 2018; 104:7-13. [PMID: 29477010 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2018.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2017] [Revised: 06/19/2017] [Accepted: 02/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Although deficits in the recognition of emotional facial expressions are considered a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), characterization of abnormalities in the differentiation of emotional expressions (e.g., sad vs. angry) has been rather inconsistent, especially in adults without intellectual impairments who may compensate for their deficits. In addition, previous research neglected the ability to detect emotional expressions (e.g., angry vs. neutral). The present study used a backward masking paradigm to investigate, a) the detection of emotional expressions, and b) the differentiation of emotional expressions in adults diagnosed with high functioning autism or Asperger syndrome (n = 23) compared to neurotypical controls (n = 25). Compensatory strategies were prevented by shortening the stimulus presentation time (33, 67, and 100 ms). In general, participants with ASD were significantly less accurate in detecting and differentiating emotional expressions compared to the control group. In the emotion differentiation task, individuals with ASD profited significantly less from an increase in presentation time. These results reinforce theoretical models that individuals with ASD have deficits in emotion recognition under time constraints. Furthermore, first evidence was provided that emotion detection and emotion differentiation are impaired in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Frank
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany
| | - L Schulze
- Department of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - R Hellweg
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany
| | - S Koehne
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany
| | - S Roepke
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
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65
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Samad MD, Diawara N, Bobzien JL, Harrington JW, Witherow MA, Iftekharuddin KM. A Feasibility Study of Autism Behavioral Markers in Spontaneous Facial, Visual, and Hand Movement Response Data. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng 2018; 26:353-361. [PMID: 29432106 DOI: 10.1109/tnsre.2017.2768482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disability with atypical traits in behavioral and physiological responses. These atypical traits in individuals with ASD may be too subtle and subjective to measure visually using tedious methods of scoring. Alternatively, the use of intrusive sensors in the measurement of psychophysical responses in individuals with ASD may likely cause inhibition and bias. This paper proposes a novel experimental protocol for non-intrusive sensing and analysis of facial expression, visual scanning, and eye-hand coordination to investigate behavioral markers for ASD. An institutional review board approved pilot study is conducted to collect the response data from two groups of subjects (ASD and control) while they engage in the tasks of visualization, recognition, and manipulation. For the first time in the ASD literature, the facial action coding system is used to classify spontaneous facial responses. Statistical analyses reveal significantly (p <0.01) higher prevalence of smile expression for the group with ASD with the eye-gaze significantly averted (p<0.05) from viewing the face in the visual stimuli. This uncontrolled manifestation of smile without proper visual engagement suggests impairment in reciprocal social communication, e.g., social smile. The group with ASD also reveals poor correlation in eye-gaze and hand movement data suggesting deficits in motor coordination while performing a dynamic manipulation task. The simultaneous sensing and analysis of multimodal response data may provide useful quantitative insights into ASD to facilitate early detection of symptoms for effective intervention planning.
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66
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Li Y, Fang H, Zheng W, Qian L, Xiao Y, Wu Q, Chang C, Xiao C, Chu K, Ke X. A Fiber Tractography Study of Social-Emotional Related Fiber Tracts in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Neurosci Bull 2017; 33:722-730. [PMID: 28695417 PMCID: PMC5725375 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-017-0155-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 05/01/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been hypothesized to be caused by changes in brain connectivity. From the clinical perspective, the "disconnectivity" hypothesis has been used to explain characteristic impairments in "socio-emotional" function. Therefore, in this study we compared the facial emotional recognition (FER) feature and the integrity of social-emotional-related white-matter tracts between children and adolescents with high-functioning ASD (HFA) and their typically developing (TD) counterparts. The correlation between the two factors was explored to find out if impairment of the white-matter tracts is the neural basis of social-emotional disorders. Compared with the TD group, FER was significantly impaired and the fractional anisotropy value of the right cingulate fasciculus was increased in the HFA group (P < 0.01). In conclusion, the FER function of children and adolescents with HFA was impaired and the microstructure of the cingulate fasciculus had abnormalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Li
- Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Child Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Hui Fang
- Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Child Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Wenming Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of the Ministry of Education, Research Center for Learning Science, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China
| | - Lu Qian
- Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Child Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Yunhua Xiao
- Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Child Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Qiaorong Wu
- Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Child Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Chen Chang
- Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Child Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Chaoyong Xiao
- Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Child Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Kangkang Chu
- Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Child Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Xiaoyan Ke
- Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Child Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing, 210029, China.
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67
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Gouleme N, Scheid I, Peyre H, Seassau M, Maruani A, Clarke J, Delorme R, Bucci MP. Postural Control and Emotion in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Transl Neurosci 2017; 8:158-166. [PMID: 29177103 PMCID: PMC5700205 DOI: 10.1515/tnsci-2017-0022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2017] [Accepted: 10/25/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorders subjects (ASD) are well known to have deficits in social interaction. We recorded simultaneously eye movements and postural sway during exploration of emotional faces in children with ASD and typically developing children (TD). We analyzed several postural and ocular parameters. The results showed that all postural parameters were significantly greater in children with ASD; ASD made significantly fewer saccades and had shorter fixation time than TD, particularly in the eyes, and especially for unpleasant emotions. These results suggest that poor postural control of ASD and their impaired visual strategies could be due to a lack of interest in social cognition, causing a delay in the development of the cortical areas, and thus could have an effect on their postural control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathalie Gouleme
- UMR 1141 Inserm - Université Paris Diderot., Robert Debré Hospital, 48 Boulevard Sérurier, 75019, Paris, France
| | - Isabelle Scheid
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France.,High Functioning Autism Expert Centre, Fondamental Foundation, Paris, France
| | - Hugo Peyre
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France.,High Functioning Autism Expert Centre, Fondamental Foundation, Paris, France
| | - Magali Seassau
- e(ye)BRAIN, 1 bis rue Jean le Galleu, 94200, Ivry-sur-Seine, France
| | - Anna Maruani
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France.,High Functioning Autism Expert Centre, Fondamental Foundation, Paris, France
| | - Julia Clarke
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France.,High Functioning Autism Expert Centre, Fondamental Foundation, Paris, France
| | - Richard Delorme
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France.,High Functioning Autism Expert Centre, Fondamental Foundation, Paris, France
| | - Maria Pia Bucci
- UMR 1141 Inserm - Université Paris Diderot., Robert Debré Hospital, 48 Boulevard Sérurier, 75019, Paris, France
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Sato W, Sawada R, Uono S, Yoshimura S, Kochiyama T, Kubota Y, Sakihama M, Toichi M. Impaired detection of happy facial expressions in autism. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13340. [PMID: 29042592 PMCID: PMC5645383 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-11900-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2017] [Accepted: 08/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The detection of emotional facial expressions plays an indispensable role in social interaction. Psychological studies have shown that typically developing (TD) individuals more rapidly detect emotional expressions than neutral expressions. However, it remains unclear whether individuals with autistic phenotypes, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and high levels of autistic traits (ATs), are impaired in this ability. We examined this by comparing TD and ASD individuals in Experiment 1 and individuals with low and high ATs in Experiment 2 using the visual search paradigm. Participants detected normal facial expressions of anger and happiness and their anti-expressions within crowds of neutral expressions. In Experiment 1, reaction times were shorter for normal angry expressions than for anti-expressions in both TD and ASD groups. This was also the case for normal happy expressions vs. anti-expressions in the TD group but not in the ASD group. Similarly, in Experiment 2, the detection of normal vs. anti-expressions was faster for angry expressions in both groups and for happy expressions in the low, but not high, ATs group. These results suggest that the detection of happy facial expressions is impaired in individuals with ASD and high ATs, which may contribute to their difficulty in creating and maintaining affiliative social relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wataru Sato
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
| | - Reiko Sawada
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Shota Uono
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Sayaka Yoshimura
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Takanori Kochiyama
- Brain Activity Imaging Center, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, Soraku, Japan
| | - Yasutaka Kubota
- Health and Medical Services Center, Shiga University, Hikone, Japan
| | | | - Motomi Toichi
- Faculty of Human Health Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,The Organization for Promoting Neurodevelopmental Disorder Research, Kyoto, Japan
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69
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Dapelo MM, Surguladze S, Morris R, Tchanturia K. Emotion Recognition in Face and Body Motion in Bulimia Nervosa. EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW 2017; 25:595-600. [DOI: 10.1002/erv.2554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2017] [Revised: 08/13/2017] [Accepted: 08/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Robin Morris
- Department of Psychology, IoPPN; King's College London (KCL); UK
| | - Kate Tchanturia
- Psychological Medicine, IoPPN; King's College London (KCL); UK
- Ilia State University Tbilisi; Georgia
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70
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Vanmarcke S, van de Cruys S, Moors P, Wagemans J. Intact animacy perception during chase detection in ASD. Sci Rep 2017; 7:11851. [PMID: 28928448 PMCID: PMC5605503 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-12204-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2017] [Accepted: 09/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
We explored the strength of implicit social inferences in adolescents with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using a chasing paradigm in which participants judged the absence/presence of a chase within a display of four seemingly randomly moving dots. While two of these dots always moved randomly, the two others could fulfill the role of being either the chasing (wolf) or chased (sheep) dot. In the chase-present (but not the chase-absent) trials the wolf displayed chasing behavior defined by the degree to which the dot reliably moved towards the sheep (chasing subtlety). Previous research indicated that chasing subtlety strongly influenced chase detection in typically developing (TD) adults. We intended to replicate and extend this finding to adolescents with and without ASD, while also adding either a social or a non-social cue to the displays. Our results confirmed the importance of chasing subtlety and indicated that adding social, but not non-social, information further improved chase detection performance. Interestingly, the performance of adolescents with ASD was less dependent on chasing subtlety than that of their TD counterparts. Nonetheless, adolescents with and without ASD did not differ in their use of the added social (or non-social) cue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Vanmarcke
- Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium. .,Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.
| | - Sander van de Cruys
- Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.,Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium
| | - Pieter Moors
- Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium
| | - Johan Wagemans
- Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.,Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium
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71
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Bravo F, Cross I, Hawkins S, Gonzalez N, Docampo J, Bruno C, Stamatakis EA. Neural mechanisms underlying valence inferences to sound: The role of the right angular gyrus. Neuropsychologia 2017; 102:144-162. [PMID: 28602997 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.05.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2016] [Revised: 05/24/2017] [Accepted: 05/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
We frequently infer others' intentions based on non-verbal auditory cues. Although the brain underpinnings of social cognition have been extensively studied, no empirical work has yet examined the impact of musical structure manipulation on the neural processing of emotional valence during mental state inferences. We used a novel sound-based theory-of-mind paradigm in which participants categorized stimuli of different sensory dissonance level in terms of positive/negative valence. Whilst consistent with previous studies which propose facilitated encoding of consonances, our results demonstrated that distinct levels of consonance/dissonance elicited differential influences on the right angular gyrus, an area implicated in mental state attribution and attention reorienting processes. Functional and effective connectivity analyses further showed that consonances modulated a specific inhibitory interaction from associative memory to mental state attribution substrates. Following evidence suggesting that individuals with autism may process social affective cues differently, we assessed the relationship between participants' task performance and self-reported autistic traits in clinically typical adults. Higher scores on the social cognition scales of the AQ were associated with deficits in recognising positive valence in consonant sound cues. These findings are discussed with respect to Bayesian perspectives on autistic perception, which highlight a functional failure to optimize precision in relation to prior beliefs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Bravo
- University of Cambridge, Centre for Music and Science, Cambridge, UK; TU Dresden, Institut für Kunst- und Musikwissenschaft (E.A.R.S.), Dresden, Germany.
| | - Ian Cross
- University of Cambridge, Centre for Music and Science, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sarah Hawkins
- University of Cambridge, Centre for Music and Science, Cambridge, UK
| | - Nadia Gonzalez
- Fundación Científica del Sur Imaging Centre, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Jorge Docampo
- Fundación Científica del Sur Imaging Centre, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Claudio Bruno
- Fundación Científica del Sur Imaging Centre, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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72
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Richard AE, Scheffer IE, Wilson SJ. Features of the broader autism phenotype in people with epilepsy support shared mechanisms between epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 75:203-233. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.12.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2016] [Revised: 12/15/2016] [Accepted: 12/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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73
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Yassin W, Callahan BL, Ubukata S, Sugihara G, Murai T, Ueda K. Facial emotion recognition in patients with focal and diffuse axonal injury. Brain Inj 2017; 31:624-630. [PMID: 28350176 DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2017.1285052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Facial emotion recognition impairment has been well documented in patients with traumatic brain injury. Studies exploring the neural substrates involved in such deficits have implicated specific grey matter structures (e.g. orbitofrontal regions), as well as diffuse white matter damage. Our study aims to clarify whether different types of injuries (i.e. focal vs. diffuse) will lead to different types of impairments on facial emotion recognition tasks, as no study has directly compared these patients. METHODS The present study examined performance and response patterns on a facial emotion recognition task in 14 participants with diffuse axonal injury (DAI), 14 with focal injury (FI) and 22 healthy controls. RESULTS We found that, overall, participants with FI and DAI performed more poorly than controls on the facial emotion recognition task. Further, we observed comparable emotion recognition performance in participants with FI and DAI, despite differences in the nature and distribution of their lesions. However, the rating response pattern between the patient groups was different. CONCLUSION This is the first study to show that pure DAI, without gross focal lesions, can independently lead to facial emotion recognition deficits and that rating patterns differ depending on the type and location of trauma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Walid Yassin
- a Department of Psychiatry , Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University , Kyoto , Japan.,b Department of Neuropsychiatry , Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo , Tokyo , Japan
| | - Brandy L Callahan
- c Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Québec , Quebec , Canada.,d Division of Neurology , Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre , Toronto , Canada
| | - Shiho Ubukata
- a Department of Psychiatry , Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University , Kyoto , Japan
| | - Genichi Sugihara
- a Department of Psychiatry , Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University , Kyoto , Japan
| | - Toshiya Murai
- a Department of Psychiatry , Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University , Kyoto , Japan
| | - Keita Ueda
- a Department of Psychiatry , Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University , Kyoto , Japan
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74
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES Concussion is defined as a complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain. Although the cumulative and long-term effects of multiple concussions are now well documented on cognitive and motor function, little is known about their effects on emotion recognition. Recent studies have suggested that concussion can result in emotional sequelae, particularly in females and multi-concussed athletes. The objective of this study was to investigate sex-related differences in emotion recognition in asymptomatic male and female multi-concussed athletes. METHODS We tested 28 control athletes (15 males) and 22 multi-concussed athletes (10 males) more than a year since the last concussion. Participants completed the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, a neuropsychological test battery and a morphed emotion recognition task. Pictures of a male face expressing basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise) morphed with another emotion were randomly presented. After each face presentation, participants were asked to indicate the emotion expressed by the face. RESULTS Results revealed significant sex by group interactions in accuracy and intensity threshold for negative emotions, together with significant main effects of emotion and group. CONCLUSIONS Male concussed athletes were significantly impaired in recognizing negative emotions and needed more emotional intensity to correctly identify these emotions, compared to same-sex controls. In contrast, female concussed athletes performed similarly to same-sex controls. These findings suggest that sex significantly modulates concussion effects on emotional facial expression recognition. (JINS, 2017, 23, 65-77).
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75
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Fridenson-Hayo S, Berggren S, Lassalle A, Tal S, Pigat D, Bölte S, Baron-Cohen S, Golan O. Basic and complex emotion recognition in children with autism: cross-cultural findings. Mol Autism 2016; 7:52. [PMID: 28018573 PMCID: PMC5168820 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-016-0113-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2016] [Accepted: 11/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) have emotion recognition deficits when tested in different expression modalities (face, voice, body). However, these findings usually focus on basic emotions, using one or two expression modalities. In addition, cultural similarities and differences in emotion recognition patterns in children with ASC have not been explored before. The current study examined the similarities and differences in the recognition of basic and complex emotions by children with ASC and typically developing (TD) controls across three cultures: Israel, Britain, and Sweden. METHODS Fifty-five children with high-functioning ASC, aged 5-9, were compared to 58 TD children. On each site, groups were matched on age, sex, and IQ. Children were tested using four tasks, examining recognition of basic and complex emotions from voice recordings, videos of facial and bodily expressions, and emotional video scenarios including all modalities in context. RESULTS Compared to their TD peers, children with ASC showed emotion recognition deficits in both basic and complex emotions on all three modalities and their integration in context. Complex emotions were harder to recognize, compared to basic emotions for the entire sample. Cross-cultural agreement was found for all major findings, with minor deviations on the face and body tasks. CONCLUSIONS Our findings highlight the multimodal nature of ER deficits in ASC, which exist for basic as well as complex emotions and are relatively stable cross-culturally. Cross-cultural research has the potential to reveal both autism-specific universal deficits and the role that specific cultures play in the way empathy operates in different countries.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Steve Berggren
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Center of Psychiatry Research, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Amandine Lassalle
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA USA
| | - Shahar Tal
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Delia Pigat
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sven Bölte
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Center of Psychiatry Research, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ofer Golan
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
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76
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Wanting it Too Much: An Inverse Relation Between Social Motivation and Facial Emotion Recognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2016; 47:890-902. [PMID: 26743637 PMCID: PMC4936965 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-015-0620-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
This study examined social motivation and early-stage face perception as frameworks for understanding impairments in facial emotion recognition (FER) in a well-characterized sample of youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Early-stage face perception (N170 event-related potential latency) was recorded while participants completed a standardized FER task, while social motivation was obtained via parent report. Participants with greater social motivation exhibited poorer FER, while those with shorter N170 latencies exhibited better FER for child angry faces stimuli. Social motivation partially mediated the relationship between a faster N170 and better FER. These effects were all robust to variations in IQ, age, and ASD severity. These findings augur against theories implicating social motivation as uniformly valuable for individuals with ASD, and augment models suggesting a close link between early-stage face perception, social motivation, and FER in this population. Broader implications for models and development of FER in ASD are discussed.
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77
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Tsang V. Eye-tracking study on facial emotion recognition tasks in individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2016; 22:161-170. [PMID: 29490486 DOI: 10.1177/1362361316667830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The eye-tracking experiment was carried out to assess fixation duration and scan paths that individuals with and without high-functioning autism spectrum disorders employed when identifying simple and complex emotions. Participants viewed human photos of facial expressions and decided on the identification of emotion, the negative-positive emotion orientation, and the degree of emotion intensity. Results showed that there was an atypical emotional processing in the high-functioning autism spectrum disorder group to identify facial emotions when eye-tracking data were compared between groups. We suggest that the high-functioning autism spectrum disorder group prefers to use a rule-bound categorical approach as well as featured processing strategy in the facial emotion recognition tasks. Therefore, the high-functioning autism spectrum disorder group more readily distinguishes overt emotions such as happiness and sadness. However, they perform more inconsistently in covert emotions such as disgust and angry, which demand more cognitive strategy employment during emotional perception. Their fixation time in eye-tracking data demonstrated a significant difference from that of their controls when judging complex emotions, showing reduced "in" gazes and increased "out" gazes. The data were in compliance with the findings in their emotion intensity ratings which showed individuals with autism spectrum disorder misjudge the intensity of complex emotions especially the emotion of fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vicky Tsang
- The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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78
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Wieckowski AT, White SW. Eye-Gaze Analysis of Facial Emotion Recognition and Expression in Adolescents with ASD. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGY 2016; 46:110-124. [PMID: 27654330 DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2016.1204924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Impaired emotion recognition and expression in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may contribute to observed social impairment. The aim of this study was to examine the role of visual attention directed toward nonsocial aspects of a scene as a possible mechanism underlying recognition and expressive ability deficiency in ASD. One recognition and two expression tasks were administered. Recognition was assessed in force-choice paradigm, and expression was assessed during scripted and free-choice response (in response to emotional stimuli) tasks in youth with ASD (n = 20) and an age-matched sample of typically developing youth (n = 20). During stimulus presentation prior to response in each task, participants' eye gaze was tracked. Youth with ASD were less accurate at identifying disgust and sadness in the recognition task. They fixated less to the eye region of stimuli showing surprise. A group difference was found during the free-choice response task, such that those with ASD expressed emotion less clearly but not during the scripted task. Results suggest altered eye gaze to the mouth region but not the eye region as a candidate mechanism for decreased ability to recognize or express emotion. Findings inform our understanding of the association between social attention and emotion recognition and expression deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Susan W White
- a Department of Psychology , Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
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79
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Ben-Yosef D, Anaki D, Golan O. Context processing in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: How complex could it be? Autism Res 2016; 10:520-530. [PMID: 27484258 DOI: 10.1002/aur.1676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2016] [Accepted: 07/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The ability of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to process context has long been debated: According to the Weak Central Coherence theory, ASD is characterized by poor global processing, and consequently-poor context processing. In contrast, the Social Cognition theory argues individuals with ASD will present difficulties only in social context processing. The complexity theory of autism suggests context processing in ASD will depend on task complexity. The current study examined this controversy through two priming tasks, one presenting human stimuli (facial expressions) and the other presenting non-human stimuli (animal faces). Both tasks presented visual targets, preceded by congruent, incongruent, or neutral auditory primes. Local and global processing were examined by presenting the visual targets in three spatial frequency conditions: High frequency, low frequency, and broadband. Tasks were administered to 16 adolescents with high functioning ASD and 16 matched typically developing adolescents. Reaction time and accuracy were measured for each task in each condition. Results indicated that individuals with ASD processed context for both human and non-human stimuli, except in one condition, in which human stimuli had to be processed globally (i.e., target presented in low frequency). The task demands presented in this condition, and the performance deficit shown in the ASD group as a result, could be understood in terms of cognitive overload. These findings provide support for the complexity theory of autism and extend it. Our results also demonstrate how associative priming could support intact context processing of human and non-human stimuli in individuals with ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 520-530. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dekel Ben-Yosef
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002, Israel
| | - David Anaki
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002, Israel.,Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002, Israel
| | - Ofer Golan
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002, Israel
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80
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Atypical Asymmetry for Processing Human and Robot Faces in Autism Revealed by fNIRS. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0158804. [PMID: 27389017 PMCID: PMC4936708 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2015] [Accepted: 06/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Deficits in the visual processing of faces in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) individuals may be due to atypical brain organization and function. Studies assessing asymmetric brain function in ASD individuals have suggested that facial processing, which is known to be lateralized in neurotypical (NT) individuals, may be less lateralized in ASD. Here we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to first test this theory by comparing patterns of lateralized brain activity in homologous temporal-occipital facial processing regions during observation of faces in an ASD group and an NT group. As expected, the ASD participants showed reduced right hemisphere asymmetry for human faces, compared to the NT participants. Based on recent behavioral reports suggesting that robots can facilitate increased verbal interaction over human counterparts in ASD, we also measured responses to faces of robots to determine if these patterns of activation were lateralized in each group. In this exploratory test, both groups showed similar asymmetry patterns for the robot faces. Our findings confirm existing literature suggesting reduced asymmetry for human faces in ASD and provide a preliminary foundation for future testing of how the use of categorically different social stimuli in the clinical setting may be beneficial in this population.
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81
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English MCW, Maybery MT, Visser TAW. Threatening faces fail to guide attention for adults with autistic-like traits. Autism Res 2016; 10:311-320. [PMID: 27385675 DOI: 10.1002/aur.1658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Revised: 05/26/2016] [Accepted: 05/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Individuals diagnosed with autistic spectrum conditions often show deficits in processing emotional faces relative to neurotypical peers. However, little is known about whether similar deficits exist in neurotypical individuals who show high-levels of autistic-like traits. To address this question, we compared performance on an attentional blink task in a large sample of adults who showed low- or high-levels of autistic-like traits on the Autism Spectrum Quotient. We found that threatening faces inserted as the second target in a rapid serial visual presentation were identified more accurately among individuals with low- compared to high-levels of autistic-like traits. This is the first study to show that attentional blink abnormalities seen in autism extend to the neurotypical population with autistic-like traits, adding to the growing body of research suggesting that autistic-related patterns of behaviors extend into a subset of the neurotypical population. Autism Res 2017, 10: 311-320. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael C W English
- School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Murray T Maybery
- School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Troy A W Visser
- School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
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82
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Cassidy S, Stenger B, Van Dongen L, Yanagisawa K, Anderson R, Wan V, Baron-Cohen S, Cipolla R. Expressive visual text-to-speech as an assistive technology for individuals with autism spectrum conditions. COMPUTER VISION AND IMAGE UNDERSTANDING : CVIU 2016; 148:193-200. [PMID: 27375348 PMCID: PMC4913554 DOI: 10.1016/j.cviu.2015.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2015] [Revised: 08/07/2015] [Accepted: 08/31/2015] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Adults with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) experience marked difficulties in recognising the emotions of others and responding appropriately. The clinical characteristics of ASC mean that face to face or group interventions may not be appropriate for this clinical group. This article explores the potential of a new interactive technology, converting text to emotionally expressive speech, to improve emotion processing ability and attention to faces in adults with ASC. We demonstrate a method for generating a near-videorealistic avatar (XpressiveTalk), which can produce a video of a face uttering inputted text, in a large variety of emotional tones. We then demonstrate that general population adults can correctly recognize the emotions portrayed by XpressiveTalk. Adults with ASC are significantly less accurate than controls, but still above chance levels for inferring emotions from XpressiveTalk. Both groups are significantly more accurate when inferring sad emotions from XpressiveTalk compared to the original actress, and rate these expressions as significantly more preferred and realistic. The potential applications for XpressiveTalk as an assistive technology for adults with ASC is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- S.A. Cassidy
- Centre for Psychology, Behaviour and Achievement, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18B Trumpington Road, Cambridge CB2 8AH, UK
| | - B. Stenger
- Toshiba Research Europe Ltd., 208 Science Park, Cambridge CB4 0GZ, UK
| | - L. Van Dongen
- Maastricht University, Faculty of Psychology, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands
| | - K. Yanagisawa
- Toshiba Research Europe Ltd., 208 Science Park, Cambridge CB4 0GZ, UK
| | - R. Anderson
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18B Trumpington Road, Cambridge CB2 8AH, UK
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation NHS Trust, CLASS Clinic, UK
| | - V. Wan
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18B Trumpington Road, Cambridge CB2 8AH, UK
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation NHS Trust, CLASS Clinic, UK
| | - S. Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18B Trumpington Road, Cambridge CB2 8AH, UK
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation NHS Trust, CLASS Clinic, UK
| | - R. Cipolla
- Toshiba Research Europe Ltd., 208 Science Park, Cambridge CB4 0GZ, UK
- Engineering Department, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK
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83
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Judgments of Nonverbal Behaviour by Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: Can they Detect Signs of Winning and Losing from Brief Video Clips? J Autism Dev Disord 2016; 46:2916-23. [PMID: 27306454 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2839-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Typically developing children are able to judge who is winning or losing from very short clips of video footage of behaviour between active match play across a number of sports. Inferences from "thin slices" (short video clips) allow participants to make complex judgments about the meaning of posture, gesture and body language. This study extends the use of the thin slice research paradigm to children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We tested 38 children with ASD, in two age groups: 15 participants aged 5-8 years and 23 participants aged 9-13 years. We found that the children with ASD had a rate of accuracy similar to that of typically developing peers tested in a previous study.
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84
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have been associated with facial affect recognition (FAR) alterations. METHODS This study examined accuracy and response times for general and specific FAR in whole face and eye-region stimuli. FAR was assessed in matched samples of children and adolescents with ASD (n = 35), ADHD (n = 32), and typical development (TD) (n = 32) aged 8.6-15.9 years (M = 11.6; SD = 2.0). RESULTS Compared to TD, the ASD group performed less accurate and showed longer response times for general and specific FAR, mostly driven by problems in neutral and happy face identification. The ADHD group responded faster than the ASD group for global FAR. No differences between ADHD and TD were found. Attentional distractibility had a significant effect on FAR performance in ASD and ADHD. CONCLUSIONS Findings confirm FAR alterations in ASD, but not ADHD, and endorse effects of attentional distractibility on FAR in ASD and ADHD. FAR and attention function training is clinically meaningful in ASD. Future studies should include control for visual attention and facial configuration skills, use naturalistic FAR material and also investigate implicit FAR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steve Berggren
- a Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Paediatric Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health , Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden.,b Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Stockholm, Center for Psychiatry Research , Stockholm County Council , Stockholm , Sweden
| | | | - Sven Bölte
- a Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Paediatric Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health , Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden.,b Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Stockholm, Center for Psychiatry Research , Stockholm County Council , Stockholm , Sweden
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85
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Externalizing and Internalizing Symptoms Moderate Longitudinal Patterns of Facial Emotion Recognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2016; 46:2621-2634. [DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2800-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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86
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Ben-Itzchak E, Abutbul S, Bela H, Shai T, Zachor DA. Understanding One's Own Emotions in Cognitively-Able Preadolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2016; 46:2363-71. [PMID: 26995198 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2769-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
There are still no straightforward answers as to whether understanding one's own emotions is impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study evaluated the perception of one's own different emotions, based on the relevant section of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Module 3 test. Forty boys, aged 8-11 years, 20 diagnosed with ASD (IQ ≥ 85) and 20 typically developing children were included. Description of events that elicited specific emotions in ASD was characterized by more 'odd' statements and 'no responses' and less use of content related to 'social situations', 'interpersonal' and 'self-awareness'. More 'no responses' and odd statements were associated with the severity of ASD symptoms. Clinicians should be aware of these differentiating factors during the diagnostic process of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther Ben-Itzchak
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ariel University, 40700, Ariel, Israel.
- The Autism Center, Department of Pediatrics, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, 70300, Zerifin, Israel.
| | - Shira Abutbul
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ariel University, 40700, Ariel, Israel
| | - Hadas Bela
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ariel University, 40700, Ariel, Israel
| | - Tom Shai
- The Autism Center, Department of Pediatrics, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, 70300, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Ditza A Zachor
- The Autism Center, Department of Pediatrics, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, 70300, Zerifin, Israel
- The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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87
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Faja S, Dawson G, Aylward E, Wijsman EM, Webb SJ. Early event-related potentials to emotional faces differ for adults with autism spectrum disorder and by serotonin transporter genotype. Clin Neurophysiol 2016; 127:2436-47. [PMID: 27178863 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2016.02.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2015] [Revised: 01/11/2016] [Accepted: 02/11/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To test differences in neural sensitivity to facial expressions, including expressions with open versus closed mouths, exhibited by (1) adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to neurotypical adults, and by (2) short versus long serotonin transporter allele (SLC6A4) carriers. METHODS Event related potentials (ERPs) to happy, fearful, and neutral expressions were collected from neurotypical adults (n=25) and adults with ASD (n=27)-of whom 32 had short and 13 had homozygous long SLC6A4 alleles. RESULTS In the neurotypical group, we confirmed that the N170, VPP and EPN, but not the P1, were influenced by emotional expressions, and determined the EPN was the earliest component modulated by open mouth. Compared to the neurotypical group, individuals with ASD exhibited differences in EPN amplitude in response to open versus closed mouths and in hemispheric distribution. Across groups, short serotonin transporter allele carriers had reduced P1 amplitude compared to long allele carriers. CONCLUSIONS Individuals with ASD exhibited a different pattern of neural response when encoding and recognizing facial expressions at the EPN component. Across groups, SLC6A4 allele type modulated early sensory attention at the P1. SIGNIFICANCE These results provide insight into the nature of early responses to emotional information according to genetic variation and clinical condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Faja
- University of Washington, Department of Psychology, Box 351525, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Geraldine Dawson
- University of Washington, Department of Psychology, Box 351525, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; University of Washington, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Box 356560, Room BB1644, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Elizabeth Aylward
- Center for Integrative Brain Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
| | - Ellen M Wijsman
- University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Genetics, Box 356420, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; University of Washington, Department of Biostatistics, Box 357232, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Sara Jane Webb
- University of Washington, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Box 356560, Room BB1644, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
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88
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Great Expectations: The Role of Rules in Guiding Pro-social Behaviour in Groups with High Versus Low Autistic Traits. J Autism Dev Disord 2016; 45:2311-22. [PMID: 25697738 PMCID: PMC4513197 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-015-2393-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Measuring autistic traits in the general population has proven sensitive for examining cognition. The present study extended this to pro-social behaviour, investigating the influence of expectations to help others. A novel task describing characters in need of help was administered to students scoring high versus low on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient. Scenarios had two variants, describing either a ‘clear-cut’ or ‘ambiguous’ social rule. Participants with high versus low autistic traits were less pro-social and sympathetic overall towards the characters. The groups’ ratings of characters’ expectations were comparable, but those with high autistic traits provided more rule-based rationales in the clear-cut condition. This pattern of relatively intact knowledge in the context of reduced pro-social behaviour has implications for social skill training programmes.
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89
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Cognitive behavioural therapy in the treatment of social skills deficits and social phobia in a man with an autism spectrum disorder: a single-case study. COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPIST 2016. [DOI: 10.1017/s1754470x15000768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
AbstractAutism spectrum disorders (ASD) including high-functioning types such as Asperger's syndrome (AS) are diagnosed when there is evidence of a triad of qualitative impairments in social interaction, communication, and stereotyped/repetitive behaviours. It is not uncommon for these impairments to be accompanied by social anxiety. The present single-case study investigates the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to treat a 47-year-old man who was assessed as having difficulties with social skills and social phobia in the context of a late diagnosis of AS. He received 20 h of CBT adapted for his AS in 15 sessions including a 1-month follow-up. Following a highly individualized formulation, treatment included modelling, role-playing, reinforcement, thought challenging, and behavioural experimentation. Results from five self-report measures showed continued improvements from the start of therapy to follow-up in social anxiety, global distress, depression and self-esteem. The client gave positive feedback about his experience of treatment. The case study is discussed with reference to limitations and some reflections for CBT in ASD.
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90
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Song Y, Hakoda Y, Sang B. A selective impairment in extracting fearful information from another's eyes in Autism. Autism Res 2016; 9:1002-11. [PMID: 26777988 DOI: 10.1002/aur.1583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2015] [Revised: 10/05/2015] [Accepted: 10/12/2015] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yongning Song
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University; China
| | - Yuji Hakoda
- Faculty of Human Development and Education; Kyoto Women's University; Kyoto Japan
| | - Biao Sang
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University; China
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91
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Trubanova A, Kim I, Coffman MC, Bell MA, Richey JA, LaConte SM, Gracanin D, White SW. The Role of Perspective-Taking on Ability to Recognize Fear. CURRENT RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY 2016; 6:22-30. [PMID: 28105290 PMCID: PMC5241087 DOI: 10.3844/crpsp.2015.22.30] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Impairment in the ability to detect certain emotions, such as fear, is linked to multiple disorders and follows a pattern of inter-individual variability and intra-individual stability over time. Deficits in fear recognition are often related to social and interpersonal difficulties but the mechanisms by which this processing deficit might occur are not well understood. One potential mechanism through which impaired fear detection may influence social competency is through diminished perspective-taking, the ability to perceive and consider the point of view of another individual. In the current study, we hypothesized that intra-individual variability in the accuracy of facial emotion recognition is linked to perspective-taking abilities in a well-characterized, non-clinical adult sample. Results indicated that the ability to accurately detect fear in the faces of others was positively correlated with perspective-taking, consistent with initial hypotheses. This relationship appeared to be unique to recognition of fear, as perspective-taking was not significantly associated with recognition of the other basic emotions. Results from this study represent an initial step towards establishing a potential mechanism between some processes of FER and perspective-taking difficulties. It is important to establish the relationship between these processes in a non-clinical adult sample so that we can consider the possibility of a developmental or pathological influence of impoverished perspective-taking on fear perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Trubanova
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Inyoung Kim
- Department of Statistics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Marika C. Coffman
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Martha Ann Bell
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - J. Anthony Richey
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Stephen M. LaConte
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Roanoke, Virginia, USA
| | - Denis Gracanin
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Susan W. White
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
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92
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Xavier J, Vignaud V, Ruggiero R, Bodeau N, Cohen D, Chaby L. A Multidimensional Approach to the Study of Emotion Recognition in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1954. [PMID: 26733928 PMCID: PMC4689801 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2015] [Accepted: 12/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Although deficits in emotion recognition have been widely reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), experiments have been restricted to either facial or vocal expressions. Here, we explored multimodal emotion processing in children with ASD (N = 19) and with typical development (TD, N = 19), considering uni (faces and voices) and multimodal (faces/voices simultaneously) stimuli and developmental comorbidities (neuro-visual, language and motor impairments). Compared to TD controls, children with ASD had rather high and heterogeneous emotion recognition scores but showed also several significant differences: lower emotion recognition scores for visual stimuli, for neutral emotion, and a greater number of saccades during visual task. Multivariate analyses showed that: (1) the difficulties they experienced with visual stimuli were partially alleviated with multimodal stimuli. (2) Developmental age was significantly associated with emotion recognition in TD children, whereas it was the case only for the multimodal task in children with ASD. (3) Language impairments tended to be associated with emotion recognition scores of ASD children in the auditory modality. Conversely, in the visual or bimodal (visuo-auditory) tasks, the impact of developmental coordination disorder or neuro-visual impairments was not found. We conclude that impaired emotion processing constitutes a dimension to explore in the field of ASD, as research has the potential to define more homogeneous subgroups and tailored interventions. However, it is clear that developmental age, the nature of the stimuli, and other developmental comorbidities must also be taken into account when studying this dimension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean Xavier
- Département de Psychiatrie de l’Enfant et l’Adolescent, APHP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-SalpêtrièreParis, France
- Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et Robotique, CNRS UMR 7222, Paris DescartesParis, France
| | - Violaine Vignaud
- Département de Psychiatrie de l’Enfant et l’Adolescent, APHP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-SalpêtrièreParis, France
| | - Rosa Ruggiero
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Seconda Università Degli Studi Di NapoliCaserta, Italie
| | - Nicolas Bodeau
- Département de Psychiatrie de l’Enfant et l’Adolescent, APHP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-SalpêtrièreParis, France
| | - David Cohen
- Département de Psychiatrie de l’Enfant et l’Adolescent, APHP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-SalpêtrièreParis, France
- Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et Robotique, CNRS UMR 7222, Paris DescartesParis, France
| | - Laurence Chaby
- Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et Robotique, CNRS UMR 7222, Paris DescartesParis, France
- Institut de Psychologie, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris CitéBoulogne-Billancourt, France
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93
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Abstract
Previous findings have shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) evince greater intra-individual variability (IIV) in their sensory-evoked fMRI responses compared to typical control participants. We explore the robustness of this finding with a new sample of high-functioning adults with autism. Participants were presented with visual, somatosensory and auditory stimuli in the scanner whilst they completed a one-back task. While ASD and control participants were statistically indistinguishable with respect to behavioral responses, the new ASD group exhibited greater IIV relative to controls. We also show that the IIV was equivalent across hemispheres and remained stable over the duration of the experiment. This suggests that greater cortical IIV may be a replicable characteristic of sensory systems in autism.
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94
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Actis-Grosso R, Bossi F, Ricciardelli P. Emotion recognition through static faces and moving bodies: a comparison between typically developed adults and individuals with high level of autistic traits. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1570. [PMID: 26557101 PMCID: PMC4615932 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2015] [Accepted: 09/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated whether the type of stimulus (pictures of static faces vs. body motion) contributes differently to the recognition of emotions. The performance (accuracy and response times) of 25 Low Autistic Traits (LAT group) young adults (21 males) and 20 young adults (16 males) with either High Autistic Traits or with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HAT group) was compared in the recognition of four emotions (Happiness, Anger, Fear, and Sadness) either shown in static faces or conveyed by moving body patch-light displays (PLDs). Overall, HAT individuals were as accurate as LAT ones in perceiving emotions both with faces and with PLDs. Moreover, they correctly described non-emotional actions depicted by PLDs, indicating that they perceived the motion conveyed by the PLDs per se. For LAT participants, happiness proved to be the easiest emotion to be recognized: in line with previous studies we found a happy face advantage for faces, which for the first time was also found for bodies (happy body advantage). Furthermore, LAT participants recognized sadness better by static faces and fear by PLDs. This advantage for motion kinematics in the recognition of fear was not present in HAT participants, suggesting that (i) emotion recognition is not generally impaired in HAT individuals, (ii) the cues exploited for emotion recognition by LAT and HAT groups are not always the same. These findings are discussed against the background of emotional processing in typically and atypically developed individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rossana Actis-Grosso
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-BicoccaMilano, Italy
- Milan Centre for NeuroscienceMilano, Italy
| | - Francesco Bossi
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-BicoccaMilano, Italy
| | - Paola Ricciardelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-BicoccaMilano, Italy
- Milan Centre for NeuroscienceMilano, Italy
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95
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Dapelo MM, Surguladze S, Morris R, Tchanturia K. Emotion Recognition in Blended Facial Expressions in Women with Anorexia Nervosa. EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW 2015; 24:34-42. [PMID: 26364834 DOI: 10.1002/erv.2403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2015] [Revised: 07/31/2015] [Accepted: 08/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
People with anorexia nervosa (AN) have difficulties in the social domain, and problems in the ability to recognise emotions in people's faces may contribute to these difficulties. This study aimed to investigate emotion recognition in women with AN and healthy controls (HC), using pictures of faces portraying blended emotions at different levels of ambiguity, which resemble real-life expressions more closely than prototypical expressions used in past studies. Seventy-seven participants (35 AN; 42 HC) completed the emotion recognition task. Results indicated that participants with AN were less accurate than HC recognising expressions of disgust, when shown less ambiguously. There were no differences in the recognition of other emotions. Participants with AN also showed response bias towards anger. These findings suggest a generally preserved ability to recognise emotions in women with AN, with the exception of disgust recognition. They also support previous findings of bias towards anger in AN patients.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Robin Morris
- Department of Psychology, IoPPN, King's College London (KCL), UK
| | - Kate Tchanturia
- Psychological Medicine, IoPPN, King's College London (KCL), UK.,Ilia State University Tbilisi, Georgia
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96
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Vanmarcke S, Van Der Hallen R, Evers K, Noens I, Steyaert J, Wagemans J. Ultra-Rapid Categorization of Meaningful Real-Life Scenes in Adults With and Without ASD. J Autism Dev Disord 2015; 46:450-66. [DOI: 10.1007/s10803-015-2583-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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97
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Electromyographic responses to emotional facial expressions in 6-7 year olds with autism spectrum disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 2015; 45:354-62. [PMID: 23888357 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-013-1890-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
This study aimed to examine facial mimicry in 6-7 year old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to explore whether facial mimicry was related to the severity of impairment in social responsiveness. Facial electromyographic activity in response to angry, fearful, sad and happy facial expressions was recorded in twenty 6-7 year old children with ASD and twenty-seven typically developing children. Even though results did not show differences in facial mimicry between children with ASD and typically developing children, impairment in social responsiveness was significantly associated with reduced fear mimicry in children with ASD. These findings demonstrate normal mimicry in children with ASD as compared to healthy controls, but that in children with ASD the degree of impairments in social responsiveness may be associated with reduced sensitivity to distress signals.
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98
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Levin B. Portraiture and social understanding. ADVANCES IN AUTISM 2015. [DOI: 10.1108/aia-05-2015-0004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to discuss the possible explanations for deficits in social understanding evident in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A potential intervention technique is proposed that has not yet been examined in this population: viewing and drawing portraits. This portraiture-based intervention seeks to address some of the core issues set forth in each of the theories explaining impaired social functioning. Furthermore, this intervention is intended to specifically increase exposure to facial stimuli in a safe and controlled environment. Instructions about how to look closely at a social partner’s face and how to glean salient emotional information from the facial expression displayed can be developed through a focused exploration of drawing and viewing portraits. Current techniques such as eye tracking and fMRI are discussed in the context of this proposed intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
– This paper reviews existing research about ASD and seeks to present a new proposal for an intervention using portraiture. First the paper discusses existing interventions and reviews the current research about potential causes/areas of deficiency in individuals on the spectrum. This paper subsequently proposes a new type of intervention and discusses the reasons underpinning its potential success in the context of existing research.
Findings
– This was a proposed study so no empirical findings have been reported. However, observations of individuals on the spectrum engaging with artwork are discussed in this paper.
Originality/value
– No other research or study has been proposed in current literature relating specifically to the use of portraits (looking at and creating) to help individuals with ASD.
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99
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Taylor LJ, Maybery MT, Grayndler L, Whitehouse AJO. Evidence for shared deficits in identifying emotions from faces and from voices in autism spectrum disorders and specific language impairment. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2015; 50:452-466. [PMID: 25588870 DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2014] [Accepted: 10/16/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI) have traditionally been conceptualized as distinct disorders, recent findings indicate that the boundaries between these two conditions are not clear-cut. While considerable research has investigated overlap in the linguistic characteristics of ASD and SLI, relatively less research has explored possible overlap in the socio-cognitive domain, particularly in terms of the emotion recognition abilities of these two groups of children. AIMS To investigate facial and vocal emotion recognition in children with ASD, children with SLI and typically developing (TD) children. To do so, the ASD group was subdivided into those with 'normal' (ALN) and those with 'impaired' (ALI) language to explore the extent to which language ability influenced performance on the emotion recognition task. METHODS & PROCEDURES Twenty-nine children with ASD (17 ALN and 12 ALI), 18 children with SLI and 66 TD children completed visual and auditory versions of an emotion recognition task. For the visual version of the task, the participants saw photographs of people expressing one of six emotions (happy, sad, scared, angry, surprised, disgusted) on the whole face. For the auditory modality, the participants heard a neutral sentence that conveyed one of the six emotional expressions in the tone of the voice. In both conditions, the children were required to indicate how the person they could see/hear was feeling by selecting a cartoon face that was presented on the computer screen. OUTCOMES & RESULTS The results showed that all clinical groups were less accurate than the TD children when identifying emotions on the face and in the voice. While the ALN children were less accurate than the TD children only when identifying expressions that require inferring another's mental state (surprise, disgust) emotional expressions, the ALI and the SLI children were less accurate than the TD children when identifying the basic (happy, sad, scared, angry) as well as the inferred emotions. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS The results indicate that children with ALI and children with SLI share emotion recognition deficits, which are likely to be driven by the poor language abilities of these two groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren J Taylor
- Neurocognitive Development Unit, School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Murray T Maybery
- Neurocognitive Development Unit, School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Luke Grayndler
- C.H.I.L.D. Association, The Glenleighden School, Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia
| | - Andrew J O Whitehouse
- Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
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100
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Lawrence K, Campbell R, Skuse D. Age, gender, and puberty influence the development of facial emotion recognition. Front Psychol 2015; 6:761. [PMID: 26136697 PMCID: PMC4468868 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 184] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2015] [Accepted: 05/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Our ability to differentiate between simple facial expressions of emotion develops between infancy and early adulthood, yet few studies have explored the developmental trajectory of emotion recognition using a single methodology across a wide age-range. We investigated the development of emotion recognition abilities through childhood and adolescence, testing the hypothesis that children's ability to recognize simple emotions is modulated by chronological age, pubertal stage and gender. In order to establish norms, we assessed 478 children aged 6-16 years, using the Ekman-Friesen Pictures of Facial Affect. We then modeled these cross-sectional data in terms of competence in accurate recognition of the six emotions studied, when the positive correlation between emotion recognition and IQ was controlled. Significant linear trends were seen in children's ability to recognize facial expressions of happiness, surprise, fear, and disgust; there was improvement with increasing age. In contrast, for sad and angry expressions there is little or no change in accuracy over the age range 6-16 years; near-adult levels of competence are established by middle-childhood. In a sampled subset, pubertal status influenced the ability to recognize facial expressions of disgust and anger; there was an increase in competence from mid to late puberty, which occurred independently of age. A small female advantage was found in the recognition of some facial expressions. The normative data provided in this study will aid clinicians and researchers in assessing the emotion recognition abilities of children and will facilitate the identification of abnormalities in a skill that is often impaired in neurodevelopmental disorders. If emotion recognition abilities are a good model with which to understand adolescent development, then these results could have implications for the education, mental health provision and legal treatment of teenagers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Lawrence
- Department of Psychology, St Mary's University, Twickenham, London UK
| | - Ruth Campbell
- Deafness Cognition and Language Centre, University College London London, UK
| | - David Skuse
- Behavioural and Brain Sciences Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health, London UK
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