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Galazka MA, Thorsson M, Lundin Kleberg J, Hadjikhani N, Åsberg Johnels J. Pupil contagion variation with gaze, arousal, and autistic traits. Sci Rep 2024; 14:18282. [PMID: 39112540 PMCID: PMC11306570 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-68670-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Pupillary contagion occurs when one's pupil size unconsciously adapts to the pupil size of an observed individual and is presumed to reflect the transfer of arousal. Importantly, when estimating pupil contagion, low level stimuli properties need to be controlled for, to ensure that observations of pupillary changes are due to internal change in arousal rather than the external differences between stimuli. Here, naturalistic images of children's faces depicting either small or large pupils were presented to a group of children and adolescents with a wide range of autistic traits, a third of whom had been diagnosed with autism. We examined the extent to which pupillary contagion reflects autonomic nervous system reaction through pupil size change, heart rate and skin conductance response. Our second aim was to determine the association between arousal reaction to stimuli and degree of autistic traits. Results show that pupil contagion and concomitant heart rate change, but not skin conductance change, was evident when gaze was restricted to the eye region of face stimuli. A positive association was also observed between pupillary contagion and autistic traits when participants' gaze was constrained to the eye region. Findings add to a broader understanding of the mechanisms underlying pupillary contagion and its association with autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martyna A Galazka
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
- Division of Cognition and Communication, Department of Applied Information Technology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
| | - Max Thorsson
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Johan Lundin Kleberg
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nouchine Hadjikhani
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jakob Åsberg Johnels
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Section for Speech and Language Pathology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Child Neuropsychiatric Clinic, Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Västra Götalandsregionen, Gothenburg, Sweden
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Li T, Decety J, Hua Z, Li G, Yi L. Empathy in autistic children: Emotional overarousal in response to others' physical pain. Autism Res 2024. [PMID: 39087850 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024]
Abstract
Different empathic responses are often reported in autism but remain controversial. To investigate which component of empathy is most affected by autism, we examined the affective, cognitive, and motivational components of empathy in 25 5- to 8-year-old autistic and 27 neurotypical children. Participants were presented with visual stimuli depicting people's limbs in painful or nonpainful situations while their eye movements, pupillary responses, and verbal ratings of pain intensity and empathic concern were recorded. The results indicate an emotional overarousal and reduced empathic concern to others' pain in autism. Compared with neurotypical children, autistic children displayed larger pupil dilation accompanied by attentional avoidance to others' pain. Moreover, even though autistic children rated others in painful situations as painful, they felt less sorry than neurotypical children. Interestingly, autistic children felt more sorry in nonpainful situations compared with neurotypical children. These findings demonstrated an emotional overarousal in response to others' pain in autistic children, and provide important implications for clinical practice aiming to promote socio-emotional understanding in autistic children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianbi Li
- Department of Psychology, Normal College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences & Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jean Decety
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Zihui Hua
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences & Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Guoxiang Li
- Qingdao Autism Research Institute, Qingdao, Shandong, China
| | - Li Yi
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences & Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at PKU, Peking University, Beijing, China
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Macinska S, Lindsay S, Jellema T. Visual Attention to Dynamic Emotional Faces in Adults on the Autism Spectrum. J Autism Dev Disord 2024; 54:2211-2223. [PMID: 37079180 PMCID: PMC11143001 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-05979-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/21/2023]
Abstract
Using eye-tracking, we studied allocation of attention to faces where the emotional expression and eye-gaze dynamically changed in an ecologically-valid manner. We tested typically-developed (TD) adults low or high in autistic-like traits (Experiment 1), and adults with high-functioning autism (HFA; Experiment 2). All groups fixated more on the eyes than on any of the other facial area, regardless of emotion and gaze direction, though the HFA group fixated less on the eyes and more on the nose than TD controls. The sequence of dynamic facial changes affected the groups similarly, with reduced attention to the eyes and increased attention to the mouth. The results suggest that dynamic emotional face scanning patterns are stereotypical and differ only modestly between TD and HFA adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylwia Macinska
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
| | - Shane Lindsay
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
| | - Tjeerd Jellema
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK.
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Williams EH, Chakrabarti B. The integration of head and body cues during the perception of social interactions. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2024; 77:776-788. [PMID: 37232389 PMCID: PMC10960325 DOI: 10.1177/17470218231181001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Humans spend a large proportion of time participating in social interactions. The ability to accurately detect and respond to human interactions is vital for social functioning, from early childhood through to older adulthood. This detection ability arguably relies on integrating sensory information from the interactants. Within the visual modality, directional information from a person's eyes, head, and body are integrated to inform where another person is looking and who they are interacting with. To date, social cue integration research has focused largely on the perception of isolated individuals. Across two experiments, we investigated whether observers integrate body information with head information when determining whether two people are interacting, and manipulated frame of reference (one of the interactants facing observer vs. facing away from observer) and the eye-region visibility of the interactant. Results demonstrate that individuals integrate information from the body with head information when perceiving dyadic interactions, and that integration is influenced by the frame of reference and visibility of the eye-region. Interestingly, self-reported autistics traits were associated with a stronger influence of body information on interaction perception, but only when the eye-region was visible. This study investigated the recognition of dyadic interactions using whole-body stimuli while manipulating eye visibility and frame of reference, and provides crucial insights into social cue integration, as well as how autistic traits affect cue integration, during perception of social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elin H Williams
- Centre for Autism, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Bhismadev Chakrabarti
- Centre for Autism, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
- India Autism Centre, Kolkata, India
- Department of Psychology, Ashoka University, Sonipat, India
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Zadok E, Golan O, Lavidor M, Gordon I. Autonomic nervous system responses to social stimuli among autistic individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Autism Res 2024; 17:497-511. [PMID: 38073185 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/18/2023] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
Physiological responses to environmental and social stimuli have been studied broadly in relation to psychological states and processes. This may be especially important regarding autistic individuals, who show disparities in social interactions. However, findings from studies assessing autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses of autistic individuals present contradictions, with reports showing both autonomic disparities and intact autonomic functioning. The current study aimed to review the existing literature and to estimate if there is a difference between autistic individuals and neurotypical (NT) individuals in their autonomic responses to social stimuli. Furthermore, the study examined factors that may moderate this difference, including the type of physiological function measured, the level of participation required, as well as the age and intellectual functioning of the participants. The meta-analysis revealed a small and statistically insignificant overall difference between autistic and NT individuals, albeit with high heterogeneity. A further nested moderator analysis revealed a significant difference between autistic and NT individuals in physiological response that reflects mainly a parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity. Another difference was found in physiological response that reflects a combined activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, but only for experimental tasks that demanded active participation in social interactions. These results suggest a distinctiveness in autonomic regulation of autistic individuals in social situations, and point to the PNS as an important study objective for future investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ester Zadok
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Ofer Golan
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Michal Lavidor
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Ilanit Gordon
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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Karjalainen S, Aro T, Parviainen T. Coactivation of Autonomic and Central Nervous Systems During Processing of Socially Relevant Information in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review. Neuropsychol Rev 2024; 34:214-231. [PMID: 36849624 PMCID: PMC10920494 DOI: 10.1007/s11065-023-09579-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 03/01/2023]
Abstract
Body-brain interaction provides a novel approach to understand neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this systematic review, we analyse the empirical evidence regarding coexisting differences in autonomic (ANS) and central nervous system (CNS) responses to social stimuli between individuals with ASD and typically developing individuals. Moreover, we review evidence of deviations in body-brain interaction during processing of socially relevant information in ASD. We conducted systematic literature searches in PubMed, Medline, PsychInfo, PsychArticles, and Cinahl databases (until 12.1.2022). Studies were included if individuals with ASD were compared with typically developing individuals, study design included processing of social information, and ANS and CNS activity were measured simultaneously. Out of 1892 studies identified based on the titles and abstracts, only six fulfilled the eligibility criteria to be included in synthesis. The quality of these studies was assessed using a quality assessment checklist. The results indicated that individuals with ASD demonstrate atypicalities in ANS and CNS signalling which, however, are context dependent. There were also indications for altered contribution of ANS-CNS interaction in processing of social information in ASD. However, the findings must be considered in the context of several limitations, such as small sample sizes and high variability in (neuro)physiological measures. Indeed, the methodological choices varied considerably, calling for a need for unified guidelines to improve the interpretability of results. We summarize the current experimentally supported understanding of the role of socially relevant body-brain interaction in ASD. Furthermore, we propose developments for future studies to improve incremental knowledge building across studies of ANS-CNS interaction involving individuals with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suvi Karjalainen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, FI-40014, Jyväskylä, Finland.
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
| | - Tuija Aro
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, FI-40014, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Tiina Parviainen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, FI-40014, Jyväskylä, Finland
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
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Toutain M, Dollion N, Henry L, Grandgeorge M. How Do Children and Adolescents with ASD Look at Animals? A Scoping Review. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 11:211. [PMID: 38397322 PMCID: PMC10887101 DOI: 10.3390/children11020211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by interaction and communication differences, entailing visual attention skill specificities. Interactions with animals, such as in animal-assisted interventions or with service dogs, have been shown to be beneficial for individuals with ASD. While interacting with humans poses challenges for them, engaging with animals appears to be different. One hypothesis suggests that differences between individuals with ASD's visual attention to humans and to animals may contribute to these interaction differences. We propose a scoping review of the research on the visual attention to animals of youths with ASD. The objective is to review the methodologies and tools used to explore such questions, to summarize the main results, to explore which factors may contribute to the differences reported in the studies, and to deduce how youth with ASD observe animals. Utilizing strict inclusion criteria, we examined databases between 1942 and 2023, identifying 21 studies in international peer-reviewed journals. Three main themes were identified: attentional engagement and detection, visual exploration, and behavior. Collectively, our findings suggest that the visual attention of youths with ASD towards animals appears comparable to that of neurotypical peers, at least in 2D pictures (i.e., eye gaze patterns). Future studies should explore whether these results extend to real-life interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon Toutain
- CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie Animale et Humaine)—UMR 6552, University Rennes, Normandie University, F-35000 Rennes, France; (L.H.); (M.G.)
| | - Nicolas Dollion
- Laboratoire C2S (Cognition Santé Société)—EA6291, Université Reims Champagne-Ardenne, F-51100 Reims, France;
| | - Laurence Henry
- CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie Animale et Humaine)—UMR 6552, University Rennes, Normandie University, F-35000 Rennes, France; (L.H.); (M.G.)
| | - Marine Grandgeorge
- CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie Animale et Humaine)—UMR 6552, University Rennes, Normandie University, F-35000 Rennes, France; (L.H.); (M.G.)
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8
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Kleckner IR, Wormwood JB, Jones RM, Culakova E, Barrett LF, Lord C, Quigley KS, Goodwin MS. Adaptive thresholding increases sensitivity to detect changes in the rate of skin conductance responses to psychologically arousing stimuli in both laboratory and ambulatory settings. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 196:112280. [PMID: 38104772 PMCID: PMC10872538 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.112280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Psychophysiologists recording electrodermal activity (EDA) often derive measures of slow, tonic activity-skin conductance level (SCL)-and faster, more punctate changes-skin conductance responses (SCRs). A SCR is conventionally considered to have occurred when the local amplitude of the EDA signal exceeds a researcher-determined threshold (e.g., 0.05 μS), typically fixed across study participants and conditions. However, fixed SCR thresholds can preferentially exclude data from individuals with low SCL because their SCRs are smaller on average, thereby reducing statistical power for group-level analyses. Thus, we developed a fixed plus adaptive (FA) thresholding method that adjusts identification of SCRs based on an individual's SC at the onset of the SCR to increase statistical power and include data from more participants. We assess the utility of applying FA thresholding across two independent samples and explore age and race-related associations with EDA outcomes. Study 1 uses wired EDA measurements from 254 healthy adults responding to evocative images and sounds in a laboratory setting. Study 2 uses wireless EDA measurements from 20 children with autism in a clinical environment while they completed behavioral tasks. Compared to a 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05 μS fixed threshold, FA thresholding at 1.9% modestly increases statistical power to detect a difference in SCR rate between tasks with higher vs. lower subjective arousal and reduces exclusion of participants by up to 5% across both samples. This novel method expands the EDA analytical toolbox and may be useful in populations with highly variable basal SCL or when comparing groups with different basal SCL. Future research should test for reproducibility and generalizability in other tasks, samples, and contexts. IMPACT STATEMENTS: This article is important because it introduces a novel method to enhance sensitivity and statistical power in analyses of skin conductance responses from electrodermal data.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Rebecca M Jones
- Weill Cornell Medicine, The Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, White Plains, NY, USA
| | - Eva Culakova
- University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Catherine Lord
- Weill Cornell Medicine, The Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, White Plains, NY, USA; Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Williams EH, Thompson NM, McCray G, Chakrabarti B. Autistic traits modulate the influence of face masks on gaze perception. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14921. [PMID: 37691074 PMCID: PMC10493222 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41900-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Detecting when others are looking at us is a crucial social skill. Accordingly, a range of gaze angles is perceived as self-directed; this is termed the "cone of direct gaze" (CoDG). Multiple cues, such as nose and head orientation, are integrated during gaze perception. Thus, occluding the lower portion of the face, such as with face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, may influence how gaze is perceived. Individual differences in the prioritisation of eye-region and non-eye-region cues may modulate the influence of face masks on gaze perception. Autistic individuals, who may be more reliant on non-eye-region directional cues during gaze perception, might be differentially affected by face masks. In the present study, we compared the CoDG when viewing masked and unmasked faces (N = 157) and measured self-reported autistic traits. The CoDG was wider for masked compared to unmasked faces, suggesting that reduced reliability of lower face cues increases the range of gaze angles perceived as self-directed. Additionally, autistic traits positively predicted the magnitude of CoDG difference between masked and unmasked faces. This study provides crucial insights into the effect of face masks on gaze perception, and how they may affect autistic individuals to a greater extent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elin H Williams
- Centre for Autism, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6DZ, UK.
| | - Nicholas M Thompson
- Centre for Autism, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6DZ, UK
- Faculty of Health, Education and Society, University of Northampton, Northampton, UK
| | | | - Bhismadev Chakrabarti
- Centre for Autism, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6DZ, UK
- India Autism Centre, Kolkata, India
- Department of Psychology, Ashoka University, Sonipat, India
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Valiyamattam GJ, Katti H, Chaganti VK, O'Haire ME, Sachdeva V. Circumscribed interests in autism: Can animals potentially re-engage social attention? RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2023; 137:104486. [PMID: 37062184 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2022] [Revised: 02/25/2023] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Circumscribed interests (CI) in autism are highly fixated and repetitive interests, generally centering on non-social and idiosyncratic topics. The increased salience of CI objects often results in decreased social attention, thus interfering with social interactions. Behavioural, biomarker and neuroimaging research points to enhanced social functioning in autistic children in the presence of animals. For instance, neuroimaging studies report a greater activation of reward systems in the brain in response to animal stimuli whereas eye-tracking studies reveal a higher visual preference for animal faces in autistic individuals. This potentially greater social reward attached to animals, introduces the interesting and yet unexplored possibility that the presence of competing animal stimuli may reduce the disproportionately higher visual attention to CI objects. METHOD We examined this using a paired-preference eye-tracking paradigm where images of human and animal faces were paired with CI and non-CI objects. 31 children (ASD n = 16; TD n = 15) participated in the study (3391 observations). RESULTS Autistic children showed a significantly greater visual attention to CI objects whereas typical controls showed a significantly greater visual attention to social images across pairings. Interestingly, pairing with a CI object significantly reduced the social attention elicited to human faces but not animal faces. Further, in pairings with CI objects, significantly greater sustained attention per visit was seen for animal faces when compared to human faces. CONCLUSIONS These results thus suggest that social attention deficits in ASD may not be uniform across human and animal stimuli. Animals may comprise a potentially important stimulus category modulating visual attention in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Harish Katti
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
| | | | - Marguerite E O'Haire
- Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Virender Sachdeva
- Child Sight Institute, Nimmagadda Prasad Children's Eye Care Centre, L V Prasad Eye Institute, GMRV Campus, Visakhapatnam, India
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Jónsdóttir LK, Neufeld J, Falck-Ytter T, Kleberg JL. Autistic Children Quickly Orient Away from Both Eyes and Mouths During Face Observation. J Autism Dev Disord 2023; 53:495-502. [PMID: 35138557 PMCID: PMC9889486 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-021-05378-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Studies have supported two different hypotheses of reduced eye gaze in people with ASD; gaze avoidance and gaze indifference, while less is known about the role of anxiety. We tested these hypotheses using an eye-tracking paradigm that cued the eyes or mouth of emotional faces. Autistic children (n = 12, mean age 7 years) looked faster away from both eyes and mouths than controls (n = 22). This effect was not explained by anxiety symptoms. No difference was found in latency towards either area. These results indicate that attentional avoidance of autistic children is not specific to eyes, and that they do not show attentional indifference to eyes compared to controls. Atypicalities in visual scanning in ASD are possibly unrelated to specific facial areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lilja Kristín Jónsdóttir
- grid.8993.b0000 0004 1936 9457Uppsala Child and Baby Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Box 1225, 751 42 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Janina Neufeld
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Women’s & Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet & Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Terje Falck-Ytter
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Women’s & Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet & Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden ,grid.8993.b0000 0004 1936 9457Development and Neurodiversity Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden ,grid.462826.c0000 0004 5373 8869Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS), Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Johan Lundin Kleberg
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Center for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet & Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden ,grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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Dinishak J, Akhtar N. Integrating autistic perspectives into autism science: A role for autistic autobiographies. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2022; 27:578-587. [PMID: 36081352 DOI: 10.1177/13623613221123731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT Autism science faces challenges in how to think about autism and what questions to focus on, and sometimes contributes to stigma against autistic people. We examine one way that non-autistic researchers may start to combat these challenges: by reading and reflecting on autistic people's descriptions of their personal experiences (e.g. autobiographies) of what it is like to be autistic. In this article, we review some of the advantages and challenges of this approach and how it may help combat some of the challenges currently facing autism science by focusing studies on the questions autistic people find most important, counteracting stereotypes, and increasing understanding of autistic experiences.
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Efremova A, Lisy J, Hrdlicka M. The relationship between brain abnormalities and autistic psychopathology in pervasive developmental disorders. J Appl Biomed 2021; 19:91-96. [PMID: 34907708 DOI: 10.32725/jab.2021.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of the present research has been to determine whether there is a relationship between brain abnormalities found on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and autistic psychopathology. A retrospective analysis covering a period between 1998 and 2015 included 489 children with autism (404 boys, 85 girls; average age 8.0 ± 4.2 years) who underwent an MRI of the brain. For clinical diagnosis of autism, the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10), was used. Autistic psychopathology was evaluated by means of the Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised. The Spearman nonparametric correlation analysis and chi-square test were used to examine the possible relationships between variables. The group of autistic children did not manifest a statistically significant correlation between the parameters examined on MRI and autistic psychopathology. A correlation between other cysts and repetitive behavior was significant only at trend level (P = 0.054). Gliosis of the brain was significantly more frequent in autistic children with mental retardation than in children without mental retardation (14.1% vs. 7.4%; P = 0.028). Nonmyelinated areas in the brain were significantly more frequent in autistic children with autistic regression than in children without autistic regression (29.9% vs. 15.7%; P = 0.008). Mental retardation was significantly more frequent in autistic children with autistic regression than in children without regression (73.2% vs. 52.5%; P = 0.002). Our research study did not reveal a statistically significant correlation of brain abnormalities on MRI with autistic psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Efremova
- University Hospital Motol and Charles University, Second Faculty of Medicine, Department of Child Psychiatry, Prague, Czech Republic.,Charles University, First Faculty of Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jiri Lisy
- University Hospital Motol and Charles University, Second Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Prague, Czech Republic.,Hospital Na Homolce, Department of Radiology, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Hrdlicka
- University Hospital Motol and Charles University, Second Faculty of Medicine, Department of Child Psychiatry, Prague, Czech Republic.,Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology, Brno, Czech Republic
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14
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Fukui T, Chakrabarty M, Sano M, Tanaka A, Suzuki M, Kim S, Agarie H, Fukatsu R, Nishimaki K, Nakajima Y, Wada M. Enhanced use of gaze cue in a face-following task after brief trial experience in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Sci Rep 2021; 11:11240. [PMID: 34045501 PMCID: PMC8160015 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-90230-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2020] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Eye movements toward sequentially presented face images with or without gaze cues were recorded to investigate whether those with ASD, in comparison to their typically developing (TD) peers, could prospectively perform the task according to gaze cues. Line-drawn face images were sequentially presented for one second each on a laptop PC display, and the face images shifted from side-to-side and up-and-down. In the gaze cue condition, the gaze of the face image was directed to the position where the next face would be presented. Although the participants with ASD looked less at the eye area of the face image than their TD peers, they could perform comparable smooth gaze shift to the gaze cue of the face image in the gaze cue condition. This appropriate gaze shift in the ASD group was more evident in the second half of trials in than in the first half, as revealed by the mean proportion of fixation time in the eye area to valid gaze data in the early phase (during face image presentation) and the time to first fixation on the eye area. These results suggest that individuals with ASD may benefit from the short-period trial experiment by enhancing the usage of gaze cue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takao Fukui
- Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 4-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan.
- Faculty of Systems Design, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 6-6 Asahigaoka, Hino, Tokyo, 191-0065, Japan.
| | - Mrinmoy Chakrabarty
- Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 4-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan
- Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
| | - Misako Sano
- Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 4-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan
- Information and Support Center for the Persons with Developmental Disabilities, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Japan
- Occupational Therapy Sciences, Department of Integrated Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Ari Tanaka
- Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 4-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan
| | - Mayuko Suzuki
- Department of Medical Treatment III (Pediatric and Child Psychiatric Section), Hospital, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Japan
| | - Sooyung Kim
- Department of Medical Treatment III (Pediatric and Child Psychiatric Section), Hospital, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Japan
| | - Hiromi Agarie
- Department of Medical Treatment III (Pediatric and Child Psychiatric Section), Hospital, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Japan
| | - Reiko Fukatsu
- Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 4-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan
- Department of Medical Treatment III (Pediatric and Child Psychiatric Section), Hospital, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Japan
| | - Kengo Nishimaki
- Information and Support Center for the Persons with Developmental Disabilities, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Japan
- Department of Medical Treatment III (Pediatric and Child Psychiatric Section), Hospital, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Japan
| | - Yasoichi Nakajima
- Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 4-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan
- National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Japan
- Community Health Care Research Center, Nagano University of Health and Medicine, Nagano, Japan
| | - Makoto Wada
- Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 4-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan.
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15
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Chakrabarty M, Atsumi T, Kaneko A, Fukatsu R, Ide M. State anxiety modulates the effect of emotion cues on visual temporal sensitivity in autism spectrum disorder. Eur J Neurosci 2021; 54:4682-4694. [PMID: 33998735 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Atypical processing of stimulus inputs across a range of sensory modalities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is widely reported. Sensory processing is known to be influenced by bodily internal states such as physiological arousal and anxiety. As a sizeable proportion of ASD reportedly have co-morbid anxiety disorders that are linked with dysregulated arousal, we investigated if face emotion arousal cues influenced visual sensory sensitivity (indexed by temporal resolution) in ASD (n = 20) compared to a matched group of typically developed individuals (TD, n = 21). We asked further if emotion-cued changes in visual sensitivity were associated with individual differences in state and trait anxiety. Participants reported the laterality of the second of two consecutive Gaussian-blob flashes in a visual temporal order judgment task (v-TOJ), demanding higher-level visual processing. The key manipulation was presenting a task-irrelevant face emotion cue briefly at unexpected time points preceding the task-relevant flashes. Disgust vs. Neutral emotion signals significantly enhanced the visual temporal resolution in ASD. Individual state-anxiety scores showed a fair correlative trend with the emotion-cued changes in temporal resolution (Disgust versus Neutral) in ASD but missed statistical significance. Both these effects were absent in TD. The results show that individual state-anxiety levels likely modulate the effect of emotions on visual temporal sensitivity in ASD. The findings support a nuanced approach to understand the disparate sensory features in ASD, by factoring in the interplay of the individual reactivity to environmental affective information and the severity of anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mrinmoy Chakrabarty
- Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India
| | - Takeshi Atsumi
- Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Saitama, Japan.,Department of Medical Physiology School of Medicine, Kyorin University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ayako Kaneko
- Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Saitama, Japan
| | - Reiko Fukatsu
- Department of Medical Physiology School of Medicine, Kyorin University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masakazu Ide
- Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Saitama, Japan
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16
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Atherton G, Cross L. Reading the mind in cartoon eyes: Comparing human versus cartoon emotion recognition in those with high and low levels of autistic traits. Psychol Rep 2021; 125:1380-1396. [PMID: 33715510 PMCID: PMC9136470 DOI: 10.1177/0033294120988135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
People who have a high degree of autistic traits often underperform on theory of mind tasks such as perspective-taking or facial emotion recognition compared to those with lower levels of autistic traits. However, some research suggests that this may not be the case if the agent they are evaluating is anthropomorphic (i.e. animal or cartoon) rather than typically human. The present studies examined the relation between facial emotion recognition and autistic trait profiles in over 750 adults using either a standard or cartoon version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) test. Results showed that those scoring above the clinical cut off for autistic traits on the Autism Quotient performed significantly worse than those with the lowest levels of autistic traits on the standard RME, while scores across these groups did not differ substantially on the cartoon version of the task. These findings add further evidence that theory of mind ability such as facial emotion recognition is not at a global deficit in those with a high degree of autistic traits. Instead, differences in this ability may be specific to evaluating human agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gray Atherton
- Department of Psychology, 6249Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK
| | - Liam Cross
- Department of Psychology, 6249Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK
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17
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Eggleston JD, Olivas AN, Vanderhoof HR, Chavez EA, Alvarado C, Boyle JB. Children With Autism Exhibit More Individualized Responses to Live Animation Biofeedback Than Do Typically Developing Children. Percept Mot Skills 2021; 128:1037-1058. [PMID: 33663275 DOI: 10.1177/0031512521998280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Children with autism have displayed imbalances in responding to feedback and feedforward learning information and they have shown difficulty imitating movements. Previous research has focused on motor learning and coordination problems for these children, but little is known about their motoric responses to visual live animation feedback. Thus, we compared motor output responses to live animation biofeedback training in both 15 children with autism and 15 age- and sex-matched typically developing children (age range: 8-17 years). We collected kinematic data via Inertial Measurement Unit devices while participants performed a series of body weight squats at a pre-test, during live animation biofeedback training, and at post-test. Dependent t-tests (α = 0.05), were used to test for statistical significance between pre- and post-test values within groups, and repeated measures analyses of variance (α = 0.05) were used to test for differences among the training blocks, within each group. The Model Statistic technique (α = 0.05) was used to test for pre- and post-test differences on a single-subject level for every participant. Grouped data revealed little to no significant findings in the children with autism, as these participants showed highly individualized responses. However, typically developing children, when grouped, exhibited significant differences in their left hip position (p = 0.03) and ascent velocity (p = 0.004). Single-subject analyses showed more individualistic live animation responses of children with autism than typically developing children on every variable of interest except descent velocity. Thus, to teach children with autism new movements in optimal fashion, it is particularly important to understand their individualistic motor learning characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey D Eggleston
- Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Doctoral Program, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States.,Department of Kinesiology, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States
| | - Alyssa N Olivas
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States
| | - Heather R Vanderhoof
- Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Doctoral Program, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States
| | - Emily A Chavez
- Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Doctoral Program, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States
| | - Carla Alvarado
- Department of Psychiatry, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, United States
| | - Jason B Boyle
- Department of Kinesiology, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States
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18
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Fanghella M, Era V, Candidi M. Interpersonal Motor Interactions Shape Multisensory Representations of the Peripersonal Space. Brain Sci 2021; 11:255. [PMID: 33669561 PMCID: PMC7922994 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11020255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Revised: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
This perspective review focuses on the proposal that predictive multisensory integration occurring in one's peripersonal space (PPS) supports individuals' ability to efficiently interact with others, and that integrating sensorimotor signals from the interacting partners leads to the emergence of a shared representation of the PPS. To support this proposal, we first introduce the features of body and PPS representations that are relevant for interpersonal motor interactions. Then, we highlight the role of action planning and execution on the dynamic expansion of the PPS. We continue by presenting evidence of PPS modulations after tool use and review studies suggesting that PPS expansions may be accounted for by Bayesian sensory filtering through predictive coding. In the central section, we describe how this conceptual framework can be used to explain the mechanisms through which the PPS may be modulated by the actions of our interaction partner, in order to facilitate interpersonal coordination. Last, we discuss how this proposal may support recent evidence concerning PPS rigidity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and its possible relationship with ASD individuals' difficulties during interpersonal coordination. Future studies will need to clarify the mechanisms and neural underpinning of these dynamic, interpersonal modulations of the PPS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Fanghella
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy; (M.F.); (V.E.)
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, University of London, London EC1V 0HB, UK
| | - Vanessa Era
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy; (M.F.); (V.E.)
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Candidi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy; (M.F.); (V.E.)
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
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19
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Simon J, Rudebeck PH, Rich EL. From affective to cognitive processing: Functional organization of the medial frontal cortex. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2021; 158:1-28. [PMID: 33785142 DOI: 10.1016/bs.irn.2020.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
The medial wall of the primate frontal lobe encompasses multiple anatomical subregions. Based on distinct neurophysiological correlates and effects of lesions, individual areas are thought to play unique roles in behavior. Further, evidence suggests that dysfunction localized to specific subregions is commonly found in different neuropsychiatric disorders. The neurobiological underpinnings of these disorders, however, remain far from clear. Here, to better understand the functions of medial frontal cortex (MFC) and its role in psychiatric disease, we focus on its functional organization. We describe the emerging pattern in which more dorsal regions subserve temporally extended cognitive functions and more ventral regions predominantly subserve affective functions. We focus on two specific domains, decision-making and social cognition, that require integration across emotion and cognition. In each case, we discuss the current understanding of the functions believed to depend on subregions of MFC as a stepping-stone to speculate on how they might work in unison. We conclude with an overview of how symptoms of certain psychiatric disorders relate to our understanding of MFC functional organization and how further discovery could fuel advances in circuit-based therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Simon
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Peter H Rudebeck
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Erin L Rich
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.
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20
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Khalulyan A, Byrd K, Tarbox J, Little A, Moll H. The role of eye contact in young children's judgments of others' visibility: A comparison of preschoolers with and without autism spectrum disorder. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2021; 89:106075. [PMID: 33388696 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2020.106075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2018] [Revised: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Typically-developing (TD) children under age 5 often deny that they can see a person whose eyes are covered (e.g., Moll & Khalulyan, 2017). This has been interpreted as a manifestation of their preference for reciprocal interactions. We investigated how 3- to 4-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 12) respond in this situation. Because a lack of interpersonal connectedness and reciprocal communication are core features of this disorder, we predicted that young children with ASD will not make mutual regard a condition for seeing another person and therefore acknowledge being able to see her. Against this prediction, children with ASD gave the same negative answers as a group of TD (n = 36) age-mates. Various interpretations are discussed, including the possibility that some children with ASD are capable of relating to others as second persons.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Katie Byrd
- University of Southern California, United States.
| | | | | | - Henrike Moll
- University of Southern California, United States.
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21
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Daniels N, Prinsen J, Soriano JR, Alaerts K. Oxytocin enhances the recovery of eye-contact induced autonomic arousal: A treatment mechanism study with placebo-controlled design. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2020; 39:87-98. [PMID: 32868176 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2020] [Revised: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 08/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is suggested to exert a pivotal role in a variety of complex human behaviors, including trust, attachment, social perception and fear regulation. Previous studies have demonstrated that intranasal administration of OT reduces subjective and neuroendocrine stress responses and dampens amygdala reactivity. OT has also been proposed to modulate activity of the autonomic nervous system. Here, a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study (with parallel design) was conducted with 56 healthy adult men to investigate whether a single-dose of OT (24 IU) modulates sympathetic autonomic arousal upon live dyadic gaze interactions. To do so, electrodermal recordings of skin conductance were performed during the engagement of eye contact with a live model in a two-person social context. In accordance to prior research, direct eye gaze elicited a significant enhancement in skin conductance responses, but OT did not specifically enhance or dampen the overall magnitude (amplitude) of the skin conductance response. Administration of OT did facilitate the recovery of skin conductance responses back to baseline (reduced recovery time), indicating a role of OT in restoring homeostatic balance. Notably, the treatment-effect on autonomic recovery was most prominent in participants with low self-reported social responsiveness, indicating that person-dependent factors play an important role in determining OT treatment-responses. Exploratory, it was shown that OT also significantly reduced self-reported feelings of tension and (at trend-level) worrying about how one presents oneself. Together, these observations add further evidence to a role of OT in modulating activity of the autonomic nervous system, primarily by facilitating a restoration of homeostatic balance after stimulus-induced increases in sympathetically-driven autonomic arousal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicky Daniels
- KU Leuven, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Research Group for Neuromotor Rehabilitation, Tervuursevest 101 box 1501, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jellina Prinsen
- KU Leuven, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Research Group for Neuromotor Rehabilitation, Tervuursevest 101 box 1501, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Javier R Soriano
- KU Leuven, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Research Group for Neuromotor Rehabilitation, Tervuursevest 101 box 1501, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kaat Alaerts
- KU Leuven, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Research Group for Neuromotor Rehabilitation, Tervuursevest 101 box 1501, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
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22
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Vernetti A, Shic F, Boccanfuso L, Macari S, Kane-Grade F, Milgramm A, Hilton E, Heymann P, Goodwin MS, Chawarska K. Atypical Emotional Electrodermal Activity in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Res 2020; 13:1476-1488. [PMID: 32896980 PMCID: PMC10081486 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Revised: 07/19/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Past studies in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) indicate atypical peripheral physiological arousal. However, the conditions under which these atypicalities arise and their link with behavioral emotional expressions and core ASD symptoms remain uncertain. Given the importance of physiological arousal in affective, learning, and cognitive processes, the current study examined changes in skin conductance level (ΔSCL) in 41 toddlers with ASD (mean age: 22.7 months, SD: 2.9) and 32 age-matched toddlers with typical development (TD) (mean age: 21.6 months, SD: 3.6) in response to probes designed to induce anger, joy, and fear emotions. The magnitude of ΔSCL was comparable during anger (P = 0.206, d = 0.30) and joy (P = 0.996, d = 0.01) conditions, but significantly lower during the fear condition (P = 0.001, d = 0.83) in toddlers with ASD compared to TD peers. In the combined samples, ΔSCL positively correlated with intensity of behavioral emotional expressivity during the anger (r[71] = 0.36, P = 0.002) and fear (r[68] = 0.32, P = 0.007) conditions, but not in the joy (r[69] = -0.15, P = 0.226) condition. Finally, ΔSCL did not associate with autism symptom severity in any emotion-eliciting condition in the ASD group. Toddlers with ASD displayed attenuated ΔSCL to situations aimed at eliciting fear, which may forecast the emergence of highly prevalent internalizing and externalizing problems in this population. The study putatively identifies ΔSCL as a dimension not associated with severity of autism but with behavioral responses in negatively emotionally challenging events and provides support for the feasibility, validity, and incipient utility of examining ΔSCL in response to emotional challenges in very young children. LAY SUMMARY: Physiological arousal was measured in toddlers with autism exposed to frustrating, pleasant, and threatening tasks. Compared to typically developing peers, toddlers with autism showed comparable arousal responses to frustrating and pleasant events, but lower responses to threatening events. Importantly, physiological arousal and behavioral expressions were aligned during frustrating and threatening events, inviting exploration of physiological arousal to measure responses to emotional challenges. Furthermore, this study advances the understanding of precursors to emotional and behavioral problems common in older children with autism. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1476-1488. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelina Vernetti
- Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Frederick Shic
- Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.,Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA.,Division of General Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | | | - Suzanne Macari
- Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Finola Kane-Grade
- Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Anna Milgramm
- Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, University at Albany, SUNY, New York City, New York, USA
| | - Emily Hilton
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Perrine Heymann
- Early Childhood Behavior Lab, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA
| | - Matthew S Goodwin
- Department of Health Sciences, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Katarzyna Chawarska
- Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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23
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Bharath R, Moodithaya SS, Halahalli H, Undaru SB, Nallilu SK, Mirajkar AM. Evaluation of sympathetic sudomotor responses to auditory stimuli in children with autism spectrum disorders. Indian J Psychiatry 2020; 62:494-500. [PMID: 33678829 PMCID: PMC7909012 DOI: 10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_573_19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2019] [Revised: 11/25/2019] [Accepted: 06/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
AIM AND OBJECTIVE Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) being a complex neurological and developmental disorder is also associated with autonomic nervous system dysfunction. Sudomotor nerve function is one highly sensitive index of sympathetic cholinergic activity and can be evaluated by measuring sympathetic skin response (SSR) to various stimuli. Studies reporting SSR to auditory stimulus among ASDs are limited and to the extent of our knowledge not assessed in the Indian scenario. The objective of the study was to assess and compare sympathetic sudomotor activity by evaluating SSR to auditory stimuli in children with and without ASDs. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of eighty individuals were enrolled in the study, including forty children with ASD and forty typically developing (TD) children. SSR to auditory stimulus was assessed using a digitized data acquisition unit in a soundproof room, maintained at 23°C. SSR indices such as latent period (s), amplitude (mv), and habituation were analyzed and compared using appropriate statistical tests between the groups. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS Habituation for SSR was statistically significantly lower (P < 0.001) in children with ASD (0.43 [0.21, 0.61]) compared to TD children (0.78 [0.65, 0.95]). Latent period was also statistically significantly higher in children with ASD (1.67 [1.37, 2.02]) compared to TD children (1.41 [1.2, 1.72]). However, there was no significant difference in amplitude values between the groups. CONCLUSIONS Children with ASDs exhibited slower habituation of SSR to auditory stimuli compared to healthy controls. This slower habituation process might be due to the persistent predominant state of sympathetic nerves, which, in turn, contributes to the atypical emotional and behavioral traits prevailing in ASDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Remya Bharath
- Department of Physiology, K. S. Hegde Medical Academy, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - Shailaja S Moodithaya
- Department of Physiology, K. S. Hegde Medical Academy, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - Harsha Halahalli
- Department of Physiology, K. S. Hegde Medical Academy, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - Shrinivasa Bhat Undaru
- Department of Psychiatry, K. S. Hegde Medical Academy, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - Suchetha Kumari Nallilu
- Department of Biochemistry, K. S. Hegde Medical Academy, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - Amrit M Mirajkar
- Department of Physiology, K. S. Hegde Medical Academy, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, Karnataka, India
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24
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Helt MS, de Marchena AB, Schineller ME, Kirk AI, Scheub RJ, Sorensen TM. Contagious itching is heightened in children with autism spectrum disorders. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e13024. [PMID: 33617103 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2019] [Revised: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The authors tested susceptibility to contagious itching, laughter, and yawning in 55 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ages 8-14, and 106 typically developing (TD) children, ages 5-14. Children with ASD were less likely to yawn or laugh contagiously compared with TD peers, but showed increased susceptibility to contagious itching, under naturalistic conditions. Contagious yawning and laughter were positively correlated with emotional empathy in the TD group. In contrast, contagious itching showed no relationship to empathy, and was positively correlated with autism symptom severity in the ASD group. The authors explore the implications of these findings in terms of psychological theories about ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly S Helt
- Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA
| | - Ashley B de Marchena
- Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of the Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Molly E Schineller
- Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA
| | - Anna I Kirk
- Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA
| | - Rachel J Scheub
- Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA
| | - Taylor M Sorensen
- Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA
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Chung S, Son JW. Visual Perception in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review of Neuroimaging Studies. Soa Chongsonyon Chongsin Uihak 2020; 31:105-120. [PMID: 32665755 PMCID: PMC7350544 DOI: 10.5765/jkacap.200018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Revised: 05/31/2020] [Accepted: 06/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Although autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social impairments, patients with ASD frequently manifest atypical sensory behaviors. Recently, atypical sensory perception in ASD has received much attention, yet little is known about its cause or neurobiology. Herein, we review the findings from neuroimaging studies related to visual perception in ASD. Specifically, we examined the neural underpinnings of visual detection, motion perception, and face processing in ASD. Results from neuroimaging studies indicate that atypical visual perception in ASD may be influenced by attention or higher order cognitive mechanisms, and atypical face perception may be affected by disrupted social brain network. However, there is considerable evidence for atypical early visual processing in ASD. It is likely that visual perceptual abnormalities are independent of deficits of social functions or cognition. Importantly, atypical visual perception in ASD may enhance difficulties in dealing with complex and subtle social stimuli, or improve outstanding abilities in certain fields in individuals with Savant syndrome. Thus, future research is required to elucidate the characteristics and neurobiology of autistic visual perception to effectively apply these findings in the interventions of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seungwon Chung
- Department of Psychiatry, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, Korea
| | - Jung-Woo Son
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea
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Valiyamattam GJ, Katti H, Chaganti VK, O’Haire ME, Sachdeva V. Do Animals Engage Greater Social Attention in Autism? An Eye Tracking Analysis. Front Psychol 2020; 11:727. [PMID: 32612549 PMCID: PMC7309441 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2019] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Visual atypicalities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are a well documented phenomenon, beginning as early as 2-6 months of age and manifesting in a significantly decreased attention to the eyes, direct gaze and socially salient information. Early emerging neurobiological deficits in perceiving social stimuli as rewarding or its active avoidance due to the anxiety it entails have been widely purported as potential reasons for this atypicality. Parallel research evidence also points to the significant benefits of animal presence for reducing social anxiety and enhancing social interaction in children with autism. While atypicality in social attention in ASD has been widely substantiated, whether this atypicality persists equally across species types or is confined to humans has not been a key focus of research insofar. METHODS We attempted a comprehensive examination of the differences in visual attention to static images of human and animal faces (40 images; 20 human faces and 20 animal faces) among children with ASD using an eye tracking paradigm. 44 children (ASD n = 21; TD n = 23) participated in the study (10,362 valid observations) across five regions of interest (left eye, right eye, eye region, face and screen). RESULTS Results obtained revealed significantly greater social attention across human and animal stimuli in typical controls when compared to children with ASD. However in children with ASD, a significantly greater attention allocation was seen to animal faces and eye region and lesser attention to the animal mouth when compared to human faces, indicative of a clear attentional preference to socially salient regions of animal stimuli. The positive attentional bias toward animals was also seen in terms of a significantly greater visual attention to direct gaze in animal images. CONCLUSION Our results suggest the possibility that atypicalities in social attention in ASD may not be uniform across species. It adds to the current neural and biomarker evidence base of the potentially greater social reward processing and lesser social anxiety underlying animal stimuli as compared to human stimuli in children with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Harish Katti
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
| | | | - Marguerite E. O’Haire
- Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Virender Sachdeva
- Child Sight Institute, Nimmagadda Prasad Children’s Eye Care Centre, L V Prasad Eye Institute, GMRV Campus, Visakhapatnam, India
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Brishtel I, Khan AA, Schmidt T, Dingler T, Ishimaru S, Dengel A. Mind Wandering in a Multimodal Reading Setting: Behavior Analysis & Automatic Detection Using Eye-Tracking and an EDA Sensor. SENSORS 2020; 20:s20092546. [PMID: 32365724 PMCID: PMC7248717 DOI: 10.3390/s20092546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Revised: 04/24/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Mind wandering is a drift of attention away from the physical world and towards our thoughts and concerns. Mind wandering affects our cognitive state in ways that can foster creativity but hinder productivity. In the context of learning, mind wandering is primarily associated with lower performance. This study has two goals. First, we investigate the effects of text semantics and music on the frequency and type of mind wandering. Second, using eye-tracking and electrodermal features, we propose a novel technique for automatic, user-independent detection of mind wandering. We find that mind wandering was most frequent in texts for which readers had high expertise and that were combined with sad music. Furthermore, a significant increase in task-related thoughts was observed for texts for which readers had little prior knowledge. A Random Forest classification model yielded an F 1 -Score of 0.78 when using only electrodermal features to detect mind wandering, of 0.80 when using only eye-movement features, and of 0.83 when using both. Our findings pave the way for building applications which automatically detect events of mind wandering during reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iuliia Brishtel
- German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, Trippstadter Str. 122, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany; (S.I.); (A.D.)
- TU Kaiserslautern, Department of Computer Science, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 57, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
- Correspondence:
| | - Anam Ahmad Khan
- School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC 3010, Australia; (A.A.K.); (T.D.)
| | - Thomas Schmidt
- TU Kaiserslautern, Center for Cognitive Science, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 57, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany;
| | - Tilman Dingler
- School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC 3010, Australia; (A.A.K.); (T.D.)
| | - Shoya Ishimaru
- German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, Trippstadter Str. 122, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany; (S.I.); (A.D.)
- TU Kaiserslautern, Department of Computer Science, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 57, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Andreas Dengel
- German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, Trippstadter Str. 122, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany; (S.I.); (A.D.)
- TU Kaiserslautern, Department of Computer Science, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 57, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
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Hietanen JO, Peltola MJ, Hietanen JK. Psychophysiological responses to eye contact in a live interaction and in video call. Psychophysiology 2020; 57:e13587. [PMID: 32320067 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2019] [Revised: 03/20/2020] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Another person's gaze directed to oneself elicits autonomic arousal and facial reactions indicating positive affect in its observer. These effects have only been found to occur with mutual, live eye contact and not in response to direct gaze pictures or when the observer believes that the live person cannot see them. The question remains whether the physical presence of the other person is necessary for these effects. We measured psychophysiological responses to another person's direct versus averted gaze in three conditions: live interaction, bidirectional video call, and watching a mere video. Autonomic arousal was measured with skin conductance responses and facial reactions with facial electromyography. In the live and video call conditions, but not in the mere video condition, direct gaze increased autonomic arousal in comparison to averted gaze. In all three conditions, however, direct gaze elicited positive affective facial reactions. Therefore, an experience of being seen is essential for the autonomic reactions but not for the facial responses that are elicited by another person's direct gaze. Most importantly, the results suggest that the physical presence or proximity of the other person is not necessary for these psychophysiological responses to eye contact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonne O Hietanen
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Mikko J Peltola
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Jari K Hietanen
- Human Information Processing Laboratory, Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
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Alcañiz Raya M, Chicchi Giglioli IA, Marín-Morales J, Higuera-Trujillo JL, Olmos E, Minissi ME, Teruel Garcia G, Sirera M, Abad L. Application of Supervised Machine Learning for Behavioral Biomarkers of Autism Spectrum Disorder Based on Electrodermal Activity and Virtual Reality. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:90. [PMID: 32317949 PMCID: PMC7146061 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2019] [Accepted: 02/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Sensory processing is the ability to capture, elaborate, and integrate information through the five senses and is impaired in over 90% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The ASD population shows hyper-hypo sensitiveness to sensory stimuli that can generate alteration in information processing, affecting cognitive and social responses to daily life situations. Structured and semi-structured interviews are generally used for ASD assessment, and the evaluation relies on the examiner's subjectivity and expertise, which can lead to misleading outcomes. Recently, there has been a growing need for more objective, reliable, and valid diagnostic measures, such as biomarkers, to distinguish typical from atypical functioning and to reliably track the progression of the illness, helping to diagnose ASD. Implicit measures and ecological valid settings have been showing high accuracy on predicting outcomes and correctly classifying populations in categories. METHODS Two experiments investigated whether sensory processing can discriminate between ASD and typical development (TD) populations using electrodermal activity (EDA) in two multimodal virtual environments (VE): forest VE and city VE. In the first experiment, 24 children with ASD diagnosis and 30 TDs participated in both virtual experiences, and changes in EDA have been recorded before and during the presentation of visual, auditive, and olfactive stimuli. In the second experiment, 40 children have been added to test the model of experiment 1. RESULTS The first exploratory results on EDA comparison models showed that the integration of visual, auditive, and olfactive stimuli in the forest environment provided higher accuracy (90.3%) on sensory dysfunction discrimination than specific stimuli. In the second experiment, 92 subjects experienced the forest VE, and results on 72 subjects showed that stimuli integration achieved an accuracy of 83.33%. The final confirmatory test set (n = 20) achieved 85% accuracy, simulating a real application of the models. Further relevant result concerns the visual stimuli condition in the first experiment, which achieved 84.6% of accuracy in recognizing ASD sensory dysfunction. CONCLUSION According to our studies' results, implicit measures, such as EDA, and ecological valid settings can represent valid quantitative methods, along with traditional assessment measures, to classify ASD population, enhancing knowledge on the development of relevant specific treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Alcañiz Raya
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería, Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | | | - Javier Marín-Morales
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería, Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Juan L. Higuera-Trujillo
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería, Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Elena Olmos
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería, Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Maria E. Minissi
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería, Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Gonzalo Teruel Garcia
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería, Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Marian Sirera
- Red Cenit, Centros de Desarrollo Cognitivo, Valencia, Spain
| | - Luis Abad
- Red Cenit, Centros de Desarrollo Cognitivo, Valencia, Spain
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Atypical Pattern of Frontal EEG Asymmetry for Direct Gaze in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 49:3592-3601. [PMID: 31124026 PMCID: PMC6667421 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-04062-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
This study examined approach-motivation related brain activity (frontal electroencephalogram [EEG] asymmetry) in response to direct and averted gaze in 3- to 6-year-old typically developing (TD) children, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and those with intellectual disability (ID). We found that, in TD children, direct gaze elicited greater approach-related frontal EEG activity than did downcast gaze. This pattern of activity was in contrast to that observed in children with ASD, who showed greater approach-related activity in response to downcast gaze than to direct gaze. ID children did not differ in their responses to different gaze conditions. These findings indicate that another person’s direct gaze does not elicit approach-motivation related brain activity in young children with ASD.
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31
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Prinsen J, Deschepper A, Maes E, Alaerts K. Attachment styles have a modulatory impact on psychophysiological arousal evoked by reciprocated and unreciprocated gaze. Biol Psychol 2019; 148:107773. [PMID: 31541686 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2019] [Revised: 09/17/2019] [Accepted: 09/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Gaze processing plays an essential role during social interactions. Here, it was investigated whether variations in attachment style (secure, anxious and avoidant) were associated with differential expressions of sympathetic autonomic arousal upon live dyadic gaze interactions. To do so, 47 participants were presented with either reciprocated or unreciprocated eye gaze from a live model and skin conductance responses (SCRs) were collected. In line with previous observations, SCRs and subjective ratings of arousal were higher in response to reciprocated, compared to unreciprocated gaze. In terms of the modulation by attachment style, it was shown that participants with low attachment security and high attachment avoidance displayed overall higher sympathetic arousal upon the presentation of the live dyadic gaze cues, irrespective of whether the observed model showed reciprocal or unreciprocated gaze. Together, these observations indicate that attachment styles have a modulatory effect on individuals' psychophysiological responses to dyadic gaze interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jellina Prinsen
- University of Leuven, KU, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Research Group for Neurorehabilitation, Leuven Belgium
| | - Annelore Deschepper
- University of Leuven, KU, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Research Group for Neurorehabilitation, Leuven Belgium
| | - Elisa Maes
- University of Leuven, KU, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Research Group for Neurorehabilitation, Leuven Belgium
| | - Kaat Alaerts
- University of Leuven, KU, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Research Group for Neurorehabilitation, Leuven Belgium.
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32
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Stevanovic M, Henttonen P, Koskinen E, Peräkylä A, Nieminen von-Wendt T, Sihvola E, Tani P, Ravaja N, Sams M. Physiological responses to affiliation during conversation: Comparing neurotypical males and males with Asperger syndrome. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0222084. [PMID: 31532809 PMCID: PMC6750568 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
We examined the emotional and psychophysiological underpinnings of social interaction in the context of autism spectrum disorder, more specifically, involving participants diagnosed with Asperger syndrome (AS). We recorded participants’ autonomic nervous system (ANS) activation (electrodermal activity, heart rate, and heart rate variability) and facial muscle activation during conversations in two different types of male dyads: (1) ten dyads where one participant has been diagnosed with AS (AS/NT dyads) and (2) nine dyads where both participants are neurotypical (NT/NT dyads). Afterwards, three independent raters assessed continuously each participant’s affiliative and dominant behaviors during the first and last 10 minutes of the conversations. The relationship between the assessed data and ANS responses was examined. We found that, in the NT/NT dyads, a high level of affiliation displayed by the conversational partner calms down the participant when they are actively dominating the interaction. In contrast, when the participants themselves expressed affiliation, their psychophysiological responses indicated increase in arousal, which suggests that the giving of affiliation is physiologically “hard work.” The affiliation-related ANS responses were similar in those NT participants whose conversational partner had AS, while some differences in facial muscle activation did occur in comparison to NT/NT dyads. In the AS participants, in contrast, a high level of affiliation provided by the conversational partner was associated with increase in arousal, suggesting heightened alertness and stress. As for their own affiliative behavior, the AS participants exhibited similar indicators of alertness and stress as the NT participants, but only when their own level of dominance was low. Our results increase understanding of how individuals with AS experience social interaction at the physiological level, and how this experience differs from that in NT individuals. Moreover, our results confirm and further specify our earlier results, where we proposed that affiliation involves the type of “sharing of the burden” that also reverberates in the participants’ bodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melisa Stevanovic
- Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Emmi Koskinen
- Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Anssi Peräkylä
- Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | | | - Pekka Tani
- Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Niklas Ravaja
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Mikko Sams
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
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Grossman RB, Zane E, Mertens J, Mitchell T. Facetime vs. Screentime: Gaze Patterns to Live and Video Social Stimuli in Adolescents with ASD. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12643. [PMID: 31477756 PMCID: PMC6718422 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49039-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2018] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Atypical eye gaze to social stimuli is one of the most frequently reported and studied social behaviors affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The vast majority of this literature is based on analyses of gaze patterns as participants view social information, such as talking faces, on a computer screen. However, recent results suggest that generalizing gaze behaviors from computer screens to live interactions may not be valid. This study examines between- and within-group differences in gaze behaviors of children with ASD and their neurotypical (NT) peers during a screen-based and a live-interaction task. Results show between-group differences in gaze only for the screen-based, but not the live-interaction task. We also find that gaze behavior of NT children during the screen-based task significantly correlates with their gaze behavior during the live interaction; individuals who direct a higher percentage of gaze to the face in one task also did so in the other task. However, there is no significant relationship between the gaze patterns of children with ASD for those two tasks. These results strongly caution against using gaze of individuals with ASD recorded during screen-based tasks as a proxy for understanding their gaze behavior during live social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - E Zane
- Emerson College, Boston, USA
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34
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Deep learning of spontaneous arousal fluctuations detects early cholinergic defects across neurodevelopmental mouse models and patients. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 117:23298-23303. [PMID: 31332003 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1820847116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurodevelopmental spectrum disorders like autism (ASD) are diagnosed, on average, beyond age 4 y, after multiple critical periods of brain development close and behavioral intervention becomes less effective. This raises the urgent need for quantitative, noninvasive, and translational biomarkers for their early detection and tracking. We found that both idiopathic (BTBR) and genetic (CDKL5- and MeCP2-deficient) mouse models of ASD display an early, impaired cholinergic neuromodulation as reflected in altered spontaneous pupil fluctuations. Abnormalities were already present before the onset of symptoms and were rescued by the selective expression of MeCP2 in cholinergic circuits. Hence, we trained a neural network (ConvNetACh) to recognize, with 97% accuracy, patterns of these arousal fluctuations in mice with enhanced cholinergic sensitivity (LYNX1-deficient). ConvNetACh then successfully detected impairments in all ASD mouse models tested except in MeCP2-rescued mice. By retraining only the last layers of ConvNetACh with heart rate variation data (a similar proxy of arousal) directly from Rett syndrome patients, we generated ConvNetPatients, a neural network capable of distinguishing them from typically developing subjects. Even with small cohorts of rare patients, our approach exhibited significant accuracy before (80% in the first and second year of life) and into regression (88% in stage III patients). Thus, transfer learning across species and modalities establishes spontaneous arousal fluctuations combined with deep learning as a robust noninvasive, quantitative, and sensitive translational biomarker for the rapid and early detection of neurodevelopmental disorders before major symptom onset.
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Sadria M, Karimi S, Layton AT. Network centrality analysis of eye-gaze data in autism spectrum disorder. Comput Biol Med 2019; 111:103332. [PMID: 31276943 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2019.103332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2019] [Revised: 06/17/2019] [Accepted: 06/17/2019] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Individuals suffering from autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit impaired social communication, the manifestations of which include abnormal eye contact and gaze. In this study, we first seek to characterize the spatial and temporal attributes of this atypical eye gaze. To achieve that goal, we analyze and compare eye-tracking data of ASD and typical development (TD) children. A fixation time analysis indicates that ASD children exhibit a distinct gaze pattern when looking at faces, spending significantly more time at the mouth and less at the eyes, compared with TD children. Another goal of this study is to identify an analytic approach that can better reveal differences between the face scanning patterns of ASD and TD children. Face scanning involves transitioning from one area of interest (AOI) to another and is not taken into account by the traditional fixation time analysis. Instead, we apply four network analysis approaches that measure the "importance" of a given AOI: degree centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and eigenvector centrality. Degree centrality and eignevector centrality yield statistically significant difference in the mouth and right eye, respectively, between the ASD and TD groups, whereas betweenness centrality reveals statistically significant between-group differences in four AOIs. Closeness centrality yields statistically meaningful differences in three AOIs, but those differences are negligible. Thus, our results suggest that betweenness centrality is the most effective network analysis approach in distinguishing the eye gaze patterns between ASD and TD children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehrshad Sadria
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada.
| | - Soroush Karimi
- Department of Physics, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C, Evin, Tehran, 19839, Iran
| | - Anita T Layton
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada; Department of Biology and School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
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36
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Jarick M, Bencic R. Eye Contact Is a Two-Way Street: Arousal Is Elicited by the Sending and Receiving of Eye Gaze Information. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1262. [PMID: 31214077 PMCID: PMC6558178 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2018] [Accepted: 05/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Research shows that arousal is significantly enhanced while participants make eye contact with a live person compared to viewing a picture of direct or averted gaze. Recent research has pointed toward the potential for social interaction as a possible driving force behind the arousal enhancement. That is, eye gaze is not only a signal perceived but also a signal sent out in order to communicate with others. This study aimed to test this by having dyads engage in eye contact and averted gaze naturally, while wearing sunglasses, and while blindfolded; such that the gaze signals were clear, degraded, and blocked, respectively. Autonomic nervous system arousal was measured via skin conductance response and level. The results showed that dyads exhibited the highest degree of arousal (increased skin conductance) while making eye contact (send/receive) compared to send-only or receive-only gaze trials; however, this was only the case if eye contact was clear. Once gaze information became degraded (by sunglasses or blindfold), arousal significantly decreased and was no longer modulated by the sending and receiving of gaze. Therefore, the arousal enhancement observed during eye contact is not only caused by receiving gaze signals (the focus of previous research) and should be more accurately attributed to the subtle interplay between sending and receiving gaze signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Jarick
- Atypical Perception Laboratory, Department of Psychology, MacEwan University, Edmonton, AB, Canada
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37
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Schatz KC, Brown LM, Barrett AR, Roth LC, Grinevich V, Paul MJ. Viral rescue of magnocellular vasopressin cells in adolescent Brattleboro rats ameliorates diabetes insipidus, but not the hypoaroused phenotype. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8243. [PMID: 31160697 PMCID: PMC6546688 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44776-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Dysregulated arousal often accompanies neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder. Recently, we have found that adolescent homozygous Brattleboro (Hom) rats, which contain a mutation in the arginine vasopressin (AVP) gene, exhibit lower behavioral arousal than their heterozygous (Het) littermates in the open field test. This hypoaroused phenotype could be due to loss of AVP in magnocellular cells that supply AVP to the peripheral circulation and project to limbic structures or parvocellular cells that regulate the stress axis and other central targets. Alternatively, hypoarousal could be a side effect of diabetes insipidus - polydipsia and polyuria seen in Hom rats due to loss of AVP facilitation of water reabsorption in the kidney. We developed a viral-rescue approach to "cure" magnocellular AVP cells of their Brattleboro mutation. Infusion of a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) containing a functional Avp gene and promoter (rAAV-AVP) rescued AVP within magnocellular cells and fiber projections of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) of male and female adolescent Hom rats. Furthermore, water intake was markedly reduced, ameliorating the symptoms of diabetes insipidus. In contrast, open field activity was unaffected. These findings indicate that the hyporaoused phenotype of adolescent Hom rats is not due to the loss of AVP function in magnocellular cells or a side effect of diabetes insipidus, but favors the hypothesis that central, parvocellular AVP mechanisms underlie the regulation of arousal during adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- K C Schatz
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, 14260, NY, USA.
| | - L M Brown
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, 14260, NY, USA
| | - A R Barrett
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, 14260, NY, USA
| | - L C Roth
- Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
- Letten Centre and GliaLab, Department of Physiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, 0317, Oslo, Norway
| | - V Grinevich
- Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
- Schaller Group on Neuropeptides, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
- Department of Neuropeptide Research for Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, 68159, Germany
| | - M J Paul
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, 14260, NY, USA
- Neuroscience Program, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, 14260, NY, USA
- Evolution, Ecology and Behavior Program, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, 14260, NY, USA
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38
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Commu C, Theelen M, Treur J. Modeling enabling learning of social interaction based on an adaptive temporal-causal network model. Neurocomputing 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2018.05.127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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39
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Sumner E, Leonard HC, Hill EL. Comparing Attention to Socially-Relevant Stimuli in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Coordination Disorder. JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 2018; 46:1717-1729. [PMID: 29313185 PMCID: PMC6208873 DOI: 10.1007/s10802-017-0393-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Difficulties with social interaction have been reported in both children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), although these disorders have very different diagnostic characteristics. To date, assessment of social skills in a DCD population has been limited to paper-based assessment or parent report. The present study employed eye tracking methodology to examine how children attend to socially-relevant stimuli, comparing 28 children with DCD, 28 children with ASD and 26 typically-developing (TD) age-matched controls (aged 7-10). Eye movements were recorded while children viewed 30 images, half of which were classed as 'Individual' (one person in the scene, direct gaze) and the other half were 'Social' (more naturalistic scenes showing an interaction). Children with ASD spent significantly less time looking at the face/eye regions in the images than TD children, but children with DCD performed between the ASD and TD groups in this respect. Children with DCD demonstrated a reduced tendency to follow gaze, in comparison to the ASD group. Our findings confirm that social atypicalities are present in both ASD and to a lesser extent DCD, but follow a different pattern. Future research would benefit from considering the developmental nature of the observed findings and their implications for support.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Sumner
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 25 Woburn Square, London, WC1H 0AA, UK.
| | | | - Elisabeth L Hill
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
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40
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Ikeda T, Hirai M, Sakurada T, Monden Y, Tokuda T, Nagashima M, Shimoizumi H, Dan I, Yamagata T. Atypical neural modulation in the right prefrontal cortex during an inhibitory task with eye gaze in autism spectrum disorder as revealed by functional near-infrared spectroscopy. NEUROPHOTONICS 2018; 5:035008. [PMID: 30211250 PMCID: PMC6123570 DOI: 10.1117/1.nph.5.3.035008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2017] [Accepted: 08/02/2018] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairment in social communication and the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests. Executive function impairment is reportedly partially responsible for these symptoms. Executive function includes planning, flexibility, and inhibitory control. Although planning and flexibility in ASD have been consistently reported as atypical, the atypicality of inhibitory control remains controversial. As most previous studies have used nonsocial stimuli to investigate inhibitory control in ASD, the effects of socially relevant information on the inhibitory control system in individuals with ASD remain unclear. Therefore, we developed a go/no-go task with gaze stimuli and measured hemodynamic responses in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC), involved in inhibitory processing in both typically developing (TD) children and children with ASD, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Direct gaze induced commission errors to similar extents in both groups. Contrary to the behavioral responses, neural activation in the right PFC was modulated by gaze direction only in the TD group. These findings suggest that the gaze-processing mechanisms in the prefrontal region may be affected by atypical gaze processing in other brain regions during an inhibitory control task with socially relevant information in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takahiro Ikeda
- Jichi Medical University, Department of Pediatrics, Shimotsuke, Japan
| | - Masahiro Hirai
- Jichi Medical University, Center for Development of Advanced Medical Technology, Shimotsuke, Japan
- University of London, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, London, United Kingdom
- Address all correspondence to: Masahiro Hirai,
| | - Takeshi Sakurada
- Jichi Medical University, Center for Development of Advanced Medical Technology, Shimotsuke, Japan
| | - Yukifumi Monden
- Jichi Medical University, Department of Pediatrics, Shimotsuke, Japan
- International University of Health and Welfare, Department of Pediatrics, Nasushiobara, Japan
| | - Tatsuya Tokuda
- Chuo University, Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masako Nagashima
- Jichi Medical University, Department of Pediatrics, Shimotsuke, Japan
| | - Hideo Shimoizumi
- International University of Health and Welfare Rehabilitation Center, Nasu Institute for Developmental Disabilities, Otawara, Japan
| | - Ippeita Dan
- Chuo University, Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takanori Yamagata
- Jichi Medical University, Department of Pediatrics, Shimotsuke, Japan
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41
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Autistic Traits and Symptoms of Social Anxiety are Differentially Related to Attention to Others' Eyes in Social Anxiety Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2018; 47:3814-3821. [PMID: 28000078 PMCID: PMC5676829 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2978-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) have partly overlapping symptoms. Gaze avoidance has been linked to both SAD and ASD, but little is known about differences in social attention between the two conditions. We studied eye movements in a group of treatment-seeking adolescents with SAD (N = 25), assessing SAD and ASD dimensionally. The results indicated a double dissociation between two measures of social attention and the two symptom dimensions. Controlling for social anxiety, elevated autistic traits were associated with delayed orienting to eyes presented among distractors. In contrast, elevated social anxiety levels were associated with faster orienting away from the eyes, when controlling for autistic traits. This distinction deepens our understanding of ASD and SAD.
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42
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Baker JK, Fenning RM, Erath SA, Baucom BR, Moffitt J, Howland MA. Sympathetic Under-Arousal and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 2018; 46:895-906. [PMID: 28736798 PMCID: PMC5783799 DOI: 10.1007/s10802-017-0332-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly exhibit co-occurring externalizing behavior problems, which can impede learning opportunities and contribute significantly to caregiver stress. Substantial theory and research has linked under-arousal of the sympathetic nervous system to increased externalizing problems in children without ASD, but under-arousal has not been considered as an explanatory mechanism for individual differences among children with ASD. We tested the notion that lower electrodermal activity (EDA) would predict more externalizing problems in children with ASD, and considered the degree to which parent co-regulatory support could buffer this risk. Forty children with ASD between the ages of 4 and 11 years and their primary caregivers participated in a laboratory visit that included various play, compliance, and problem-solving regulatory tasks. EDA was measured through wireless wrist sensors, parental scaffolding was observed during a dyadic problem-solving task, and parents rated their children's externalizing behavior problems. As predicted, low EDA during the compliance-oriented tasks directly predicted higher child externalizing problems. Parental scaffolding moderated the link between under-arousal during the problem-solving regulatory tasks and externalizing problems such that the relation was observed in the context of low, but not high, support. Implications for relevant theories (e.g., fearlessness theory, stimulation-seeking theory) are discussed, and the potential for psychophysiological patterns to inform intervention with these children is considered.
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43
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Ewing L, Pellicano E, King H, Lennuyeux-Comnene L, Farran EK, Karmiloff-Smith A, Smith ML. Atypical information-use in children with autism spectrum disorder during judgments of child and adult face identity. Dev Neuropsychol 2018; 43:370-384. [PMID: 29558171 PMCID: PMC5964451 DOI: 10.1080/87565641.2018.1449846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Unusual patterns of fixation behavior in individuals with autism spectrum disorder during face tasks hint at atypical processing strategies that could contribute to diminished face expertise in this group. Here, we use the Bubbles reverse correlation technique to directly examine face-processing strategies during identity judgments in children with and without autism, and typical adults. Results support a qualitative atypicality in autistic face processing. We identify clear differences not only in the specific features relied upon for face judgments, but also more generally in the extent to which they demonstrate a flexible and adaptive profile of information use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise Ewing
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, Great Britain
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Great Britain
| | - Elizabeth Pellicano
- Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, Great Britain
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Harriet King
- Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, Great Britain
| | | | - Emily K Farran
- UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, Great Britain
| | | | - Marie L Smith
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, Great Britain
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44
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Lee CSC, Lam SHF, Tsang STK, Yuen CMC, Ng CKM. The Effectiveness of Technology-Based Intervention in Improving Emotion Recognition Through Facial Expression in People with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review. REVIEW JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s40489-017-0125-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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45
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Lassalle A, Åsberg Johnels J, Zürcher NR, Hippolyte L, Billstedt E, Ward N, Lemonnier E, Gillberg C, Hadjikhani N. Hypersensitivity to low intensity fearful faces in autism when fixation is constrained to the eyes. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38:5943-5957. [PMID: 28881454 PMCID: PMC6866739 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Revised: 08/08/2017] [Accepted: 08/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies that showed decreased brain activation in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) viewing expressive faces did not control that participants looked in the eyes. This is problematic because ASD is characterized by abnormal attention to the eyes. Here, we collected fMRI data from 48 participants (27 ASD) viewing pictures of neutral faces and faces expressing anger, happiness, and fear at low and high intensity, with a fixation cross between the eyes. Group differences in whole brain activity were examined for expressive faces at high and low intensity versus neutral faces. Group differences in neural activity were also investigated in regions of interest within the social brain, including the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). In response to low intensity fearful faces, ASD participants showed increased activation in the social brain regions, and decreased functional coupling between the amygdala and the vmPFC. This oversensitivity to low intensity fear coupled with a lack of emotional regulation capacity could indicate an excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in their socio-affective processing system. This may result in social disengagement and avoidance of eye-contact to handle feelings of strong emotional reaction. Our results also demonstrate the importance of careful control of gaze when investigating emotional processing in ASD. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5943-5957, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amandine Lassalle
- Massachusetts General HospitalA. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of PsychiatryAutism Research Centre, Cambridge UniversityUnited Kingdom
| | - Jakob Åsberg Johnels
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, Gothenburg UniversitySweden
- Section for Speech and Language PathologyGothenburg UniversitySweden
| | - Nicole R. Zürcher
- Massachusetts General HospitalA. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Loyse Hippolyte
- Service de Génétique Médicale, University of LausanneSwitzerland
| | - Eva Billstedt
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, Gothenburg UniversitySweden
| | - Noreen Ward
- Massachusetts General HospitalA. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Eric Lemonnier
- Centre Ressource AutismeHopital Universitaire de LimogesFrance
| | | | - Nouchine Hadjikhani
- Massachusetts General HospitalA. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, Gothenburg UniversitySweden
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46
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How do adults and teens with self-declared Autism Spectrum Disorder experience eye contact? A qualitative analysis of first-hand accounts. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0188446. [PMID: 29182643 PMCID: PMC5705114 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2017] [Accepted: 11/07/2017] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
A tendency to avoid eye contact is an early indicator of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and difficulties with eye contact often persist throughout the lifespan. Eye contact difficulties may underlie social cognitive deficits in ASD, and can create significant social and occupational barriers. Thus, this topic has received substantial research and clinical attention. In this study, we used qualitative methods to analyze self-reported experiences with eye contact as described by teens and adults with self-declared ASD. Results suggest people with a self- declared ASD diagnosis experience adverse emotional and physiological reactions, feelings of being invaded, and sensory overload while making eye contact, in addition to difficulties understanding social nuances, and difficulties receiving and sending nonverbal information. Some data support existing mindblindness frameworks, and hyperarousal or hypoarousal theories of eye contact, but we also present novel findings unaccounted for by existing frameworks. Additionally, we highlight innovative strategies people with self-declared ASD have devised to overcome or cope with their eye contact difficulties.
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47
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Schuetze M, Rohr CS, Dewey D, McCrimmon A, Bray S. Reinforcement Learning in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Psychol 2017; 8:2035. [PMID: 29209259 PMCID: PMC5702301 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2017] [Accepted: 11/07/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Early behavioral interventions are recognized as integral to standard care in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and often focus on reinforcing desired behaviors (e.g., eye contact) and reducing the presence of atypical behaviors (e.g., echoing others' phrases). However, efficacy of these programs is mixed. Reinforcement learning relies on neurocircuitry that has been reported to be atypical in ASD: prefrontal-sub-cortical circuits, amygdala, brainstem, and cerebellum. Thus, early behavioral interventions rely on neurocircuitry that may function atypically in at least a subset of individuals with ASD. Recent work has investigated physiological, behavioral, and neural responses to reinforcers to uncover differences in motivation and learning in ASD. We will synthesize this work to identify promising avenues for future research that ultimately can be used to enhance the efficacy of early intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuela Schuetze
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Behaviour and the Developing Brain, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Christiane S. Rohr
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Behaviour and the Developing Brain, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Deborah Dewey
- Behaviour and the Developing Brain, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Adam McCrimmon
- Behaviour and the Developing Brain, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Educational Psychology, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Signe Bray
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Behaviour and the Developing Brain, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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48
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Fenning RM, Baker JK, Baucom BR, Erath SA, Howland MA, Moffitt J. Electrodermal Variability and Symptom Severity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2017; 47:1062-1072. [PMID: 28120264 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-3021-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Associations between variability in sympathetic nervous system arousal and individual differences in symptom severity were examined for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thirty-four families participated in a laboratory visit that included continuous measurement of electrodermal activity (EDA) during a battery of naturalistic and structured parent-child, child alone, and direct testing tasks. Multiple indices of EDA were considered. Greater variability in EDA was associated with higher levels of ASD symptoms, with findings generally consistent across tasks. Intellectual functioning did not moderate the relation between EDA and ASD symptoms. Sympathetic arousal tendencies may represent an important individual difference factor for this population. Future directions and conceptualizations of EDA are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel M Fenning
- Department of Child and Adolescent Studies / Center for Autism, California State University-Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd. EC-560, Fullerton, CA, 92831, USA.
| | - Jason K Baker
- Department of Child and Adolescent Studies / Center for Autism, California State University-Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd. EC-560, Fullerton, CA, 92831, USA
| | - Brian R Baucom
- University of Utah, 380 S. 1530 E. BEHS 502, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA
| | | | - Mariann A Howland
- Department of Child and Adolescent Studies / Center for Autism, California State University-Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd. EC-560, Fullerton, CA, 92831, USA
| | - Jacquelyn Moffitt
- Department of Child and Adolescent Studies / Center for Autism, California State University-Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd. EC-560, Fullerton, CA, 92831, USA
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49
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Smith A. The Empathy Imbalance Hypothesis of Autism: A Theoretical Approach to Cognitive and Emotional Empathy in Autistic Development. PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/bf03395675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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50
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Smith A. The Empathy Imbalance Hypothesis of Autism: A Theoretical Approach to Cognitive and Emotional Empathy in Autistic Development. PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/bf03395663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
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