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Chetcuti L, Varcin KJ, Boutrus M, Smith J, Bent CA, Whitehouse AJO, Hudry K. Feasibility of a 2-minute eye-tracking protocol to support the early identification of autism. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5117. [PMID: 38429348 PMCID: PMC10907367 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55643-z] [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: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024] Open
Abstract
We tested the potential for Gazefinder eye-tracking to support early autism identification, including feasible use with infants, and preliminary concurrent validity of trial-level gaze data against clinical assessment scores. We embedded the ~ 2-min 'Scene 1S4' protocol within a comprehensive clinical assessment for 54 consecutively-referred, clinically-indicated infants (prematurity-corrected age 9-14 months). Alongside % tracking rate as a broad indicator of feasible assessment/data capture, we report infant gaze data to pre-specified regions of interest (ROI) across four trial types and associations with scores on established clinical/behavioural tools. Most infants tolerated Gazefinder eye-tracking well, returning high overall % tracking rate. As a group, infants directed more gaze towards social vs. non-social (or more vs. less socially-salient) ROIs within trials. Behavioural autism features were correlated with increased gaze towards non-social/geometry (vs. social/people) scenes. No associations were found for gaze directed to ROIs within other stimulus types. Notably, there were no associations between developmental/cognitive ability or adaptive behaviour with gaze towards any ROI. Gazefinder assessment seems highly feasible with clinically-indicated infants, and the people vs. geometry stimuli show concurrent predictive validity for behavioural autism features. Aggregating data across the ~ 2-min autism identification protocol might plausibly offer greater utility than stimulus-level analysis alone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lacey Chetcuti
- Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Kandice J Varcin
- Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia
- Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Maryam Boutrus
- Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Jodie Smith
- Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Catherine A Bent
- Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Kristelle Hudry
- Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
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Dubois-Sage M, Jacquet B, Jamet F, Baratgin J. People with Autism Spectrum Disorder Could Interact More Easily with a Robot than with a Human: Reasons and Limits. Behav Sci (Basel) 2024; 14:131. [PMID: 38392485 PMCID: PMC10886012 DOI: 10.3390/bs14020131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder show deficits in communication and social interaction, as well as repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Interacting with robots could bring benefits to this population, notably by fostering communication and social interaction. Studies even suggest that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder could interact more easily with a robot partner rather than a human partner. We will be looking at the benefits of robots and the reasons put forward to explain these results. The interest regarding robots would mainly be due to three of their characteristics: they can act as motivational tools, and they are simplified agents whose behavior is more predictable than that of a human. Nevertheless, there are still many challenges to be met in specifying the optimum conditions for using robots with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion Dubois-Sage
- Laboratoire Cognitions Humaine et Artificielle, RNSR 200515259U, UFR de Psychologie, Université Paris 8, 93526 Saint-Denis, France
| | - Baptiste Jacquet
- Laboratoire Cognitions Humaine et Artificielle, RNSR 200515259U, UFR de Psychologie, Université Paris 8, 93526 Saint-Denis, France
- Association P-A-R-I-S, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Frank Jamet
- Laboratoire Cognitions Humaine et Artificielle, RNSR 200515259U, UFR de Psychologie, Université Paris 8, 93526 Saint-Denis, France
- Association P-A-R-I-S, 75005 Paris, France
- UFR d'Éducation, CY Cergy Paris Université, 95000 Cergy-Pontoise, France
| | - Jean Baratgin
- Laboratoire Cognitions Humaine et Artificielle, RNSR 200515259U, UFR de Psychologie, Université Paris 8, 93526 Saint-Denis, France
- Association P-A-R-I-S, 75005 Paris, France
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Su WC, Culotta M, Mueller J, Tsuzuki D, Bhat AN. Autism-Related Differences in Cortical Activation When Observing, Producing, and Imitating Communicative Gestures: An fNIRS Study. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1284. [PMID: 37759885 PMCID: PMC10527424 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13091284] [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: 06/14/2023] [Revised: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties in gestural communication during social interactions. However, the neural mechanisms involved in naturalistic gestural communication remain poorly understood. In this study, cortical activation patterns associated with gestural communication were examined in thirty-two children with and without ASD (mean age: 11.0 years, SE: 0.6 years). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to record cortical activation while children produced, observed, or imitated communicative gestures. Children with ASD demonstrated more spatial and temporal errors when performing and imitating communicative gestures. Although both typically developing (TD) children and children with ASD showed left-lateralized cortical activation during gesture production, children with ASD showed hyperactivation in the middle/inferior frontal gyrus (MIFG) during observation and imitation, and hypoactivation in the middle/superior temporal gyrus (MSTG) during gesture production compared to their TD peers. More importantly, children with ASD exhibited greater MSTG activation during imitation than during gesture production, suggesting that imitation could be an effective intervention strategy to engage cortical regions crucial for processing and producing gestures. Our study provides valuable insights into the neural mechanisms underlying gestural communication difficulties in ASD, while also identifying potential neurobiomarkers that could serve as objective measures for evaluating intervention effectiveness in children with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wan-Chun Su
- Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713, USA; (W.-C.S.); (M.C.)
- Biomechanics and Movement Science Program, College of Health Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713, USA
| | - McKenzie Culotta
- Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713, USA; (W.-C.S.); (M.C.)
- Biomechanics and Movement Science Program, College of Health Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713, USA
| | - Jessica Mueller
- Department of Behavioral Health, Swank Autism Center, Nemours Children’s Hospital, Wilmington, DE 19803, USA;
| | - Daisuke Tsuzuki
- Department of Information Sciences, Kochi University, Kochi 780-8520, Japan;
| | - Anjana N. Bhat
- Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713, USA; (W.-C.S.); (M.C.)
- Biomechanics and Movement Science Program, College of Health Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713, USA
- Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Graduate Program, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19713, USA
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Berends D, Bent CA, Vivanti G, Dissanayake C, Hudry K. Developmental Skills Moderate the Association Between Core Autism Features and Adaptive Behaviour in Early Childhood. J Autism Dev Disord 2023:10.1007/s10803-023-05932-9. [PMID: 37142900 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-05932-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE While research indicates that both the core features of autism and associated developmental skills influence adaptive behaviour outcomes, results to date suggest greater influence of the latter than the former, and little attention has been given to how the interaction of both together might impact functional disability. Seeking to expand understanding of associations between young children's core social autism features, developmental skills, and functional ability/disability, we specifically tested whether early developmental skills might have a moderating effect on the association between early social features and subsequent functional disability. METHODS Data from 162 preschool children were available for this study. These included time-1 measures of social autism features (ADOS-Social Affect score) and developmental skills (MSEL-Developmental Quotient; DQ), and a measure of functional ability/disability (VABS-Adaptive Behaviour Composite; ABC) available at follow-up 1-year later (time-2). RESULTS Time-1 ADOS-SA and MSEL-DQ scores were concurrently associated with one another, and both prospectively associated with time-2 VABS-ABC scores. Examination of partial correlations (i.e., controlling for MSEL-DQ) demonstrated that the association of time-1 ADOS-SA and time-2 VABS-ABC was accounted for by shared variance with DQ. Formal moderation analysis returned a non-significant overall interaction term, but showed a lower-bound region of significance whereby the association of time-1 ADOS-SA with time-2 VABS-ABC was significant for children with baseline DQ ≤ 48.33. CONCLUSION Our results add to a body of empirical evidence consistent with an understanding of the needs of and resources available to autistic people through a 'cognitive compensation' lens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Berends
- Department of Psychology Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
| | - Catherine A Bent
- Department of Psychology Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Giacomo Vivanti
- A.J.Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA
- Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Cheryl Dissanayake
- Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Kristelle Hudry
- Department of Psychology Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
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Young children with autism show atypical prefrontal cortical responses to humanoid robots: An fNIRS study. Int J Psychophysiol 2022; 181:23-32. [PMID: 36037937 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Revised: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous behavioral studies have found that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show greater interest in humanoid robots than in humans. However, the neural mechanism underlying this is not clear. This study compared brain activation patterns between children with ASD and neurotypical children while they watched videos with robots and humans. METHOD We recruited 45 children with ASD and 53 neurotypical children aged 4-6 years and recorded their neural activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) using a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device when the two groups interacted with a robot or a human in a video. RESULTS First, neural activity in the right DLPFC in children with ASD was significantly lower in the robot condition than in the human condition. Neural activity in the right DLPFC in children with ASD was also significantly lower than that of neurotypical children in the robot condition. Second, the neural activity in the left DLPFC between the human and robot conditions was negatively correlated in children with ASD, while it was positively correlated in neurotypical children. Moreover, neural activity in the left DLPFC in children with ASD was significantly correlated with the ADOS scores in both conditions. CONCLUSIONS While neurotypical children showed comparable neural activity to humanoid robots and human beings, the children with ASD showed significantly different neural activity under those two conditions. Children with ASD may need more selective attention resources for human interaction than for robot interaction. It is also much more difficult for children with ASD to neglect the attraction of robots. Neural activity of the left DLPFC of children with ASD is correlated with their symptoms, which maybe a possible indicator for early diagnosis. Neural activity of the right DLPFC guided their atypical reactions and engagements with robots. Our study contributes to the current understanding of the neural mechanisms responsible for the different behavioral reactions in children with ASD toward robots and humans.
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McGowan K, Berends D, Hudry K, Vivanti G, Dissanayake C, Bent CA. Brief report: bidirectional association of core autism features and cognitive abilities in early childhood. J Autism Dev Disord 2022:10.1007/s10803-022-05618-8. [PMID: 35917020 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05618-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
We explored associations among the core behavioural features and developmental/cognitive abilities of 155 autistic children, assessed between ages 13-67 months and again around 1-year later to understand predictive directionality. Bidirectional, cross-domain association was apparent, albeit with stronger direction of effect from earlier cognition to later autism features (than vice versa). Exploratory sub-domain analysis showed that early non-verbal developmental/cognitive abilities (only) predicted subsequent social- and restricted/repetitive autism features, whereas early social features (only) predicted both subsequent verbal and non-verbal abilities. Although observational study design precludes causal inference, these data support contemporary notions of the developmental interconnectedness of core autism presentation and associated abilities-that behavioural autism features may influence cognitive development, but are likely also influenced by an individuals' cognitive capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsie McGowan
- Department of Psychology Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Daniel Berends
- Department of Psychology Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Kristelle Hudry
- Department of Psychology Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
- , Melbourne, Australia.
| | - Giacomo Vivanti
- A.J.Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA
- Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Cheryl Dissanayake
- Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Catherine A Bent
- Department of Psychology Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
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7
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Knight EJ, Krakowski AI, Freedman EG, Butler JS, Molholm S, Foxe JJ. Attentional influences on neural processing of biological motion in typically developing children and those on the autism spectrum. Mol Autism 2022; 13:33. [PMID: 35850696 PMCID: PMC9290301 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-022-00512-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Biological motion imparts rich information related to the movement, actions, intentions and affective state of others, which can provide foundational support for various aspects of social cognition and behavior. Given that atypical social communication and cognition are hallmark symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), many have theorized that a potential source of this deficit may lie in dysfunctional neural mechanisms of biological motion processing. Synthesis of existing literature provides some support for biological motion processing deficits in autism spectrum disorder, although high study heterogeneity and inconsistent findings complicate interpretation. Here, we attempted to reconcile some of this residual controversy by investigating a possible modulating role for attention in biological motion processing in ASD. METHODS We employed high-density electroencephalographic recordings while participants observed point-light displays of upright, inverted and scrambled biological motion under two task conditions to explore spatiotemporal dynamics of intentional and unintentional biological motion processing in children and adolescents with ASD (n = 27), comparing them to a control cohort of neurotypical (NT) participants (n = 35). RESULTS Behaviorally, ASD participants were able to discriminate biological motion with similar accuracy to NT controls. However, electrophysiologic investigation revealed reduced automatic selective processing of upright biologic versus scrambled motion stimuli in ASD relative to NT individuals, which was ameliorated when task demands required explicit attention to biological motion. Additionally, we observed distinctive patterns of covariance between visual potentials evoked by biological motion and functional social ability, such that Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale-Socialization domain scores were differentially associated with biological motion processing in the N1 period in the ASD but not the NT group. LIMITATIONS The cross-sectional design of this study does not allow us to definitively answer the question of whether developmental differences in attention to biological motion cause disruption in social communication, and the sample was limited to children with average or above cognitive ability. CONCLUSIONS Together, these data suggest that individuals with ASD are able to discriminate, with explicit attention, biological from non-biological motion but demonstrate diminished automatic neural specificity for biological motion processing, which may have cascading implications for the development of higher-order social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Knight
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 603, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA. .,Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 671, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA.
| | - Aaron I Krakowski
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.,Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Edward G Freedman
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 603, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA
| | - John S Butler
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.,School of Mathematical Sciences, Technological University Dublin, Kevin Street, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Sophie Molholm
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 603, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA.,The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.,Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - John J Foxe
- The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 603, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA. .,The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA. .,Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
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Shic F, Naples AJ, Barney EC, Chang SA, Li B, McAllister T, Kim M, Dommer KJ, Hasselmo S, Atyabi A, Wang Q, Helleman G, Levin AR, Seow H, Bernier R, Charwaska K, Dawson G, Dziura J, Faja S, Jeste SS, Johnson SP, Murias M, Nelson CA, Sabatos-DeVito M, Senturk D, Sugar CA, Webb SJ, McPartland JC. The autism biomarkers consortium for clinical trials: evaluation of a battery of candidate eye-tracking biomarkers for use in autism clinical trials. Mol Autism 2022; 13:15. [PMID: 35313957 PMCID: PMC10124777 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-021-00482-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Eye tracking (ET) is a powerful methodology for studying attentional processes through quantification of eye movements. The precision, usability, and cost-effectiveness of ET render it a promising platform for developing biomarkers for use in clinical trials for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS The autism biomarkers consortium for clinical trials conducted a multisite, observational study of 6-11-year-old children with ASD (n = 280) and typical development (TD, n = 119). The ET battery included: Activity Monitoring, Social Interactive, Static Social Scenes, Biological Motion Preference, and Pupillary Light Reflex tasks. A priori, gaze to faces in Activity Monitoring, Social Interactive, and Static Social Scenes tasks were aggregated into an Oculomotor Index of Gaze to Human Faces (OMI) as the primary outcome measure. This work reports on fundamental biomarker properties (data acquisition rates, construct validity, six-week stability, group discrimination, and clinical relationships) derived from these assays that serve as a base for subsequent development of clinical trial biomarker applications. RESULTS All tasks exhibited excellent acquisition rates, met expectations for construct validity, had moderate or high six-week stabilities, and highlighted subsets of the ASD group with distinct biomarker performance. Within ASD, higher OMI was associated with increased memory for faces, decreased autism symptom severity, and higher verbal IQ and pragmatic communication skills. LIMITATIONS No specific interventions were administered in this study, limiting information about how ET biomarkers track or predict outcomes in response to treatment. This study did not consider co-occurrence of psychiatric conditions nor specificity in comparison with non-ASD special populations, therefore limiting our understanding of the applicability of outcomes to specific clinical contexts-of-use. Research-grade protocols and equipment were used; further studies are needed to explore deployment in less standardized contexts. CONCLUSIONS All ET tasks met expectations regarding biomarker properties, with strongest performance for tasks associated with attention to human faces and weakest performance associated with biological motion preference. Based on these data, the OMI has been accepted to the FDA's Biomarker Qualification program, providing a path for advancing efforts to develop biomarkers for use in clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick Shic
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1920 Terry Ave, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA.
- Department of General Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Adam J Naples
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Erin C Barney
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1920 Terry Ave, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Shou An Chang
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Beibin Li
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1920 Terry Ave, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA
- Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Takumi McAllister
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Minah Kim
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA
| | - Kelsey J Dommer
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1920 Terry Ave, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA
| | - Simone Hasselmo
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Adham Atyabi
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1920 Terry Ave, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA
- Department of General Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
| | - Quan Wang
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Gerhard Helleman
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - April R Levin
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Helen Seow
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Raphael Bernier
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Katarzyna Charwaska
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Geraldine Dawson
- Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - James Dziura
- Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Susan Faja
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Shafali Spurling Jeste
- Division of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Scott P Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael Murias
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Charles A Nelson
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Damla Senturk
- Department of Biostatistics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Catherine A Sugar
- Department of Biostatistics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Division of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sara J Webb
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1920 Terry Ave, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - James C McPartland
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
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Cooke J, Molloy CJ, Cáceres ASJ, Dinneen T, Bourgeron T, Murphy D, Gallagher L, Loth E. The Synaptic Gene Study: Design and Methodology to Identify Neurocognitive Markers in Phelan-McDermid Syndrome and NRXN1 Deletions. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:806990. [PMID: 35250452 PMCID: PMC8894872 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.806990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Synaptic gene conditions, i.e., “synaptopathies,” involve disruption to genes expressed at the synapse and account for between 0.5 and 2% of autism cases. They provide a unique entry point to understanding the molecular and biological mechanisms underpinning autism-related phenotypes. Phelan-McDermid Syndrome (PMS, also known as 22q13 deletion syndrome) and NRXN1 deletions (NRXN1ds) are two synaptopathies associated with autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). PMS often incorporates disruption to the SHANK3 gene, implicated in excitatory postsynaptic scaffolding, whereas the NRXN1 gene encodes neurexin-1, a presynaptic cell adhesion protein; both are implicated in trans-synaptic signaling in the brain. Around 70% of individuals with PMS and 43–70% of those with NRXN1ds receive a diagnosis of autism, suggesting that alterations in synaptic development may play a crucial role in explaining the aetiology of autism. However, a substantial amount of heterogeneity exists between conditions. Most individuals with PMS have moderate to profound intellectual disability (ID), while those with NRXN1ds have no ID to severe ID. Speech abnormalities are common to both, although appear more severe in PMS. Very little is currently known about the neurocognitive underpinnings of phenotypic presentations in PMS and NRXN1ds. The Synaptic Gene (SynaG) study adopts a gene-first approach and comprehensively assesses these two syndromic forms of autism. The study compliments preclinical efforts within AIMS-2-TRIALS focused on SHANK3 and NRXN1. The aims of the study are to (1) establish the frequency of autism diagnosis and features in individuals with PMS and NRXN1ds, (2) to compare the clinical profile of PMS, NRXN1ds, and individuals with ‘idiopathic’ autism (iASD), (3) to identify mechanistic biomarkers that may account for autistic features and/or heterogeneity in clinical profiles, and (4) investigate the impact of second or multiple genetic hits on heterogeneity in clinical profiles. In the current paper we describe our methodology for phenotyping the sample and our planned comparisons, with information on the necessary adaptations made during the global COVID-19 pandemic. We also describe the demographics of the data collected thus far, including 25 PMS, 36 NRXN1ds, 33 iASD, and 52 NTD participants, and present an interim analysis of autistic features and adaptive functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Cooke
- Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Jennifer Cooke,
| | - Ciara J. Molloy
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Antonia San José Cáceres
- Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- Fundación para la Investigación Biomédica del Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain
- Biomedical Research Networking Center for Mental Health Network (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
| | - Thomas Dinneen
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Declan Murphy
- Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Louise Gallagher
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Eva Loth
- Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- Eva Loth,
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10
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Mundy P, Bullen J. The Bidirectional Social-Cognitive Mechanisms of the Social-Attention Symptoms of Autism. Front Psychiatry 2022; 12:752274. [PMID: 35173636 PMCID: PMC8841840 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.752274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Differences in social attention development begin to be apparent in the 6th to 12th month of development in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and theoretically reflect important elements of its neurodevelopmental endophenotype. This paper examines alternative conceptual views of these early social attention symptoms and hypotheses about the mechanisms involved in their development. One model emphasizes mechanism involved in the spontaneous allocation of attention to faces, or social orienting. Alternatively, another model emphasizes mechanisms involved in the coordination of attention with other people, or joint attention, and the socially bi-directional nature of its development. This model raises the possibility that atypical responses of children to the attention or the gaze of a social partner directed toward themselves may be as important in the development of social attention symptoms as differences in the development of social orienting. Another model holds that symptoms of social attention may be important to early development, but may not impact older individuals with ASD. The alterative model is that the social attention symptoms in infancy (social orienting and joint attention), and social cognitive symptoms in childhood and adulthood share common neurodevelopmental substrates. Therefore, differences in early social attention and later social cognition constitute a developmentally continuous axis of symptom presentation in ASD. However, symptoms in older individuals may be best measured with in vivo measures of efficiency of social attention and social cognition in social interactions rather than the accuracy of response on analog tests used in measures with younger children. Finally, a third model suggests that the social attention symptoms may not truly be a symptom of ASD. Rather, they may be best conceptualized as stemming from differences domain general attention and motivation mechanisms. The alternative argued for here that infant social attention symptoms meet all the criteria of a unique dimension of the phenotype of ASD and the bi-directional phenomena involved in social attention cannot be fully explained in terms of domain general aspects of attention development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Mundy
- Department of Learning and Mind Sciences, School of Education, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and The MIND Institute, UC Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, United States
| | - Jenifer Bullen
- Department of Human Development, School of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
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11
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Kong XJ, Wei Z, Sun B, Tu Y, Huang Y, Cheng M, Yu S, Wilson G, Park J, Feng Z, Vangel M, Kong J, Wan G. Different Eye Tracking Patterns in Autism Spectrum Disorder in Toddler and Preschool Children. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:899521. [PMID: 35757211 PMCID: PMC9218189 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.899521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been observed to be associated with fixation abnormality as measured eye tracking, but the dynamics behind fixation patterns across age remain unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, we investigated gaze patterns between toddlers and preschoolers with and without ASD while they viewed video clips and still images (i.e., mouth-moving face, biological motion, mouthing face vs. moving object, still face picture vs. objects, and moving toys). RESULTS We found that the fixation time percentage of children with ASD showed significant decrease compared with that of TD children in almost all areas of interest (AOI) except for moving toy (helicopter). We also observed a diagnostic group (ASD vs. TD) and chronological age (Toddlers vs. preschooler) interaction for the eye AOI during the mouth-moving video clip. Support vector machine analysis showed that the classifier could discriminate ASD from TD in toddlers with an accuracy of 80% and could discriminate ASD from TD in preschoolers with an accuracy of 71%. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that toddlers and preschoolers may be associated with both common and distinct fixation patterns. A combination of eye tracking and machine learning methods has the potential to shed light on the development of new early screening/diagnosis methods for ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue-Jun Kong
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Zhen Wei
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Rehabilitation, Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Binbin Sun
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Rehabilitation, Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yiheng Tu
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Yiting Huang
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Ming Cheng
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Siyi Yu
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Georgia Wilson
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Joel Park
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Zhe Feng
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Rehabilitation, Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Mark Vangel
- Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jian Kong
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Guobin Wan
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Rehabilitation, Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China
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12
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Mason L, Shic F, Falck-Ytter T, Chakrabarti B, Charman T, Loth E, Tillmann J, Banaschewski T, Baron-Cohen S, Bölte S, Buitelaar J, Durston S, Oranje B, Persico AM, Beckmann C, Bougeron T, Dell'Acqua F, Ecker C, Moessnang C, Murphy D, Johnson MH, Jones EJH. Preference for biological motion is reduced in ASD: implications for clinical trials and the search for biomarkers. Mol Autism 2021; 12:74. [PMID: 34911565 PMCID: PMC8672507 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-021-00476-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The neurocognitive mechanisms underlying autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain unclear. Progress has been largely hampered by small sample sizes, variable age ranges and resulting inconsistent findings. There is a pressing need for large definitive studies to delineate the nature and extent of key case/control differences to direct research towards fruitful areas for future investigation. Here we focus on perception of biological motion, a promising index of social brain function which may be altered in ASD. In a large sample ranging from childhood to adulthood, we assess whether biological motion preference differs in ASD compared to neurotypical participants (NT), how differences are modulated by age and sex and whether they are associated with dimensional variation in concurrent or later symptomatology. METHODS Eye-tracking data were collected from 486 6-to-30-year-old autistic (N = 282) and non-autistic control (N = 204) participants whilst they viewed 28 trials pairing biological (BM) and control (non-biological, CTRL) motion. Preference for the biological motion stimulus was calculated as (1) proportion looking time difference (BM-CTRL) and (2) peak look duration difference (BM-CTRL). RESULTS The ASD group showed a present but weaker preference for biological motion than the NT group. The nature of the control stimulus modulated preference for biological motion in both groups. Biological motion preference did not vary with age, gender, or concurrent or prospective social communicative skill within the ASD group, although a lack of clear preference for either stimulus was associated with higher social-communicative symptoms at baseline. LIMITATIONS The paired visual preference we used may underestimate preference for a stimulus in younger and lower IQ individuals. Our ASD group had a lower average IQ by approximately seven points. 18% of our sample was not analysed for various technical and behavioural reasons. CONCLUSIONS Biological motion preference elicits small-to-medium-sized case-control effects, but individual differences do not strongly relate to core social autism associated symptomatology. We interpret this as an autistic difference (as opposed to a deficit) likely manifest in social brain regions. The extent to which this is an innate difference present from birth and central to the autistic phenotype, or the consequence of a life lived with ASD, is unclear.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Mason
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet St, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
| | - F Shic
- Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of General Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - T Falck-Ytter
- Development and Neurodiversity Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - B Chakrabarti
- Centre for Autism, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AL, UK
- Department of Psychology, Ashoka University, Sonipat, India
- India Autism Center, Kolkata, India
| | - T Charman
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, London, UK
| | - E Loth
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, London, UK
| | - J Tillmann
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, London, UK
| | - T Banaschewski
- Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - S Baron-Cohen
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - S Bölte
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - J Buitelaar
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - S Durston
- NICHE-Lab, Dept. of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - B Oranje
- NICHE-Lab, Dept. of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - A M Persico
- Interdepartmental Program "Autism 0-90", University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - C Beckmann
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - T Bougeron
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, 75015, Paris, France
| | - F Dell'Acqua
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, London, UK
| | - C Ecker
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, London, UK
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - C Moessnang
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - D Murphy
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, London, UK
| | - M H Johnson
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet St, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - E J H Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet St, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
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13
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Foglia V, Siddiqui H, Khan Z, Liang S, Rutherford MD. Distinct Biological Motion Perception in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis. J Autism Dev Disord 2021; 52:4843-4860. [PMID: 34783992 PMCID: PMC9556430 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-021-05352-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
If neurotypical people rely on specialized perceptual mechanisms when perceiving biological motion, then one would not expect an association between task performance and IQ. However, if those with ASD recruit higher order cognitive skills when solving biological motion tasks, performance may be predicted by IQ. In a meta-analysis that included 19 articles, we found an association between biological motion perception and IQ among observers with ASD but no significant relationship among typical observers. If the task required emotion perception, then there was an even stronger association with IQ in the ASD group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Foglia
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Hasan Siddiqui
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Zainab Khan
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Stephanie Liang
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - M D Rutherford
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
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14
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Fabio RA, Pergolizzi G, Nucita A, Iannizzotto G, Caprì T. The role of a virtual avatar in attention and memory tasks in Rett syndrome. BMC Neurol 2021; 21:223. [PMID: 34126956 PMCID: PMC8201674 DOI: 10.1186/s12883-021-02212-w] [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] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Since subjects with Rett syndrome (RTT) focus their attention mainly on the faces of people with whom they interact, in this study the role of a human-like smart interactive agent (an avatar) in enhancing cognitive processes is examined. More in depth, this study aimed to understand if, and to what extent, the use of an avatar can improve attention and memory abilities in subjects with RTT. Method Thirty-six subjects with RTT participated in the study. All participants performed over-selectivity and memory tasks, for a total of six trials. These trials were randomly presented in two different conditions: with and without virtual avatar. Results The results indicated that the participants improved their attention and memory abilities when they performed the tasks with the avatar. There were no improvements when they performed the tasks without the avatar. Discussion The results were discussed considering the relationship between motivation, attention and memory in RTT. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12883-021-02212-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Angela Fabio
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Messina, Via Bivona, 98122, Messina, Italy.
| | - Giorgia Pergolizzi
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Messina, Via Bivona, 98122, Messina, Italy
| | - Andrea Nucita
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychological, Educational and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Via Concezione, 6, 98122, Messina, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Iannizzotto
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychological, Educational and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Via Concezione, 6, 98122, Messina, Italy
| | - Tindara Caprì
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Messina, Via Bivona, 98122, Messina, Italy
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15
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Tillmann J, Tuomainen J, Swettenham J. The Effect of Visual Perceptual Load on Auditory Awareness of Social vs. Non-social Stimuli in Individuals with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 2021; 51:1028-1038. [PMID: 32613484 PMCID: PMC7985111 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04587-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
This study examined the effect of increasing visual perceptual load on auditory awareness for social and non-social stimuli in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 63) and typically developing (TD, n = 62) adolescents. Using an inattentional deafness paradigm, a socially meaningful ('Hi') or a non-social (neutral tone) critical stimulus (CS) was unexpectedly presented under high and low load. For the social CS both groups continued to show high awareness rates as load increased. Awareness rates for the non-social stimulus were reduced when load increased for the TD, but not the ASD group. The findings indicate enhanced capacity for non-social stimuli in ASD compared to TD, and a special attentional status for social stimuli in the TD group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian Tillmann
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
- Department of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement, and Intervention, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Jyrki Tuomainen
- Speech, Hearing & Phonetic Sciences, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - John Swettenham
- Department of Language and Cognition, University College London, London, UK
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16
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Operationalizing Social Communication in Autism and Related Neurodevelopmental Research: a Scoping Review Over 20 Years. CURRENT DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS REPORTS 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s40474-021-00224-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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17
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Exploring Social Biomarkers in High-Functioning Adults with Autism and Asperger's Versus Healthy Controls: A Cross-Sectional Analysis. J Autism Dev Disord 2021; 50:4412-4430. [PMID: 32279223 PMCID: PMC7677266 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04493-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are lacking but would facilitate drug development for the core deficits of the disorder. We evaluated markers proposed for characterization of differences in social communication and interaction in adults with ASD versus healthy controls (HC) for utility as biomarkers. Data pooled from an observational study and baseline data from a placebo-controlled study were analyzed. Between-group differences were observed in eye-tracking tasks for activity monitoring, biomotion, human activity preference, composite score (p = 0.0001-0.037) and pupillometry (various tasks, p = 0.017-0.05). Impaired olfaction was more common in the ASD sample versus HC (p = 0.018). Our preliminary results suggest the potential use for stratification and response sub-analyses outcome-prediction of specific eye-tracking tasks, pupillometry and olfaction tests in ASD trials.
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18
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Kaliukhovich DA, Manyakov NV, Bangerter A, Ness S, Skalkin A, Boice M, Goodwin MS, Dawson G, Hendren R, Leventhal B, Shic F, Pandina G. Visual Preference for Biological Motion in Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Study. J Autism Dev Disord 2021; 51:2369-2380. [PMID: 32951157 PMCID: PMC8189980 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04707-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (n = 121, mean [SD] age: 14.6 [8.0] years) and typically developing (TD) controls (n = 40, 16.4 [13.3] years) were presented with a series of videos representing biological motion on one side of a computer monitor screen and non-biological motion on the other, while their eye movements were recorded. As predicted, participants with ASD spent less overall time looking at presented stimuli than TD participants (P < 10-3) and showed less preference for biological motion (P < 10-5). Participants with ASD also had greater average latencies than TD participants of the first fixation on both biological (P < 0.01) and non-biological motion (P < 0.02). Findings suggest that individuals with ASD differ from TD individuals on multiple properties of eye movements and biological motion preference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dzmitry A. Kaliukhovich
- grid.419619.20000 0004 0623 0341Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Turnhoutseweg 30, 2340 Beerse, Belgium
| | - Nikolay V. Manyakov
- grid.419619.20000 0004 0623 0341Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Turnhoutseweg 30, 2340 Beerse, Belgium
| | - Abigail Bangerter
- grid.497530.c0000 0004 0389 4927Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 1125 Trenton-Harbourton Road, Titusville, NJ 08560 USA
| | - Seth Ness
- grid.497530.c0000 0004 0389 4927Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 1125 Trenton-Harbourton Road, Titusville, NJ 08560 USA
| | - Andrew Skalkin
- grid.497530.c0000 0004 0389 4927Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 1125 Trenton-Harbourton Road, Titusville, NJ 08560 USA ,Present Address: DataGrok, Inc., 1800 JFK Blvd Suite 300, PMB 90078, Philadelphia, PA 19103 USA
| | - Matthew Boice
- grid.497530.c0000 0004 0389 4927Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 1125 Trenton-Harbourton Road, Titusville, NJ 08560 USA
| | - Matthew S. Goodwin
- grid.261112.70000 0001 2173 3359Department of Health Sciences, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, 312E Robinson Hall, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Geraldine Dawson
- grid.26009.3d0000 0004 1936 7961Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University School of Medicine, 2608 Erwin Road, Suite 30, Durham, NC 27705 USA
| | - Robert Hendren
- grid.34477.330000000122986657Present Address: Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, 2001 8th Ave Suite #400, Seattle, WA 98121 USA
| | - Bennett Leventhal
- grid.266102.10000 0001 2297 6811Benioff Children’s Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, 401 Parnassus Ave, Langley Porter, San Francisco, CA 94143-0984 USA
| | - Frederick Shic
- grid.34477.330000000122986657Present Address: Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, 2001 8th Ave Suite #400, Seattle, WA 98121 USA ,grid.47100.320000000419368710Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, USA
| | - Gahan Pandina
- grid.497530.c0000 0004 0389 4927Janssen Research & Development, LLC, 1125 Trenton-Harbourton Road, Titusville, NJ 08560 USA
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19
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Sotoodeh MS, Taheri-Torbati H, Hadjikhani N, Lassalle A. Preserved action recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders: Evidence from an EEG and eye-tracking study. Psychophysiology 2020; 58:e13740. [PMID: 33280150 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2019] [Revised: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have difficulties recognizing and understanding others' actions. The goal of the present study was to determine whether children with and without ASD show differences in the way they process stimuli depicting Biological Motion (BM). Thirty-two children aged 7-16 (16 ASD and 16 typically developing (TD) controls) participated in two experiments. In the first experiment, electroencephalography (EEG) was used to record low (8-10 Hz) and high (10-13 Hz) mu and beta (15-25 Hz) bands during the observation three different Point Light Displays (PLD) of action. In the second experiment, participants answered to action-recognition tests and their accuracy and response time were recorded, together with their eye-movements. There were no group differences in EEG data (first experiment), indicating that children with and without ASD do not differ in their mu suppression (8-13 Hz) and beta activity (15-25 Hz). However, behavioral data from second experiment revealed that children with ASD were less accurate and slower than TD children in their responses to an action recognition task. In addition, eye-tracking data indicated that children with ASD paid less attention to the body compared to the background when watching PLD stimuli. Our results indicate that the more the participants focused on the PLDs, the more they displayed mu suppressions. These results could challenge the results of previous studies that had not controlled for visual attention and found a possible deficit in MNS functions of individuals with ASD. We discuss possible mechanisms and interpretations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nouchine Hadjikhani
- Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Gillberg Neurospychiatry Center, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Amandine Lassalle
- Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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20
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Li T, Li Y, Hu Y, Wang Y, Lam CM, Ni W, Wang X, Yi L. Heterogeneity of Visual Preferences for Biological and Repetitive Movements in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Res 2020; 14:102-111. [PMID: 32954673 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies have repeatedly reported atypical visual preferences to repetitive movements and deficient perception of biological movements in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, limited research has investigated the heterogeneity of the visual preferences in individuals with ASD. In the current study, we explored the visual preferences to different movement types (repetitive, biological, and random) in children with ASD using a paired preferential looking paradigm. Thirty-nine children with ASD and 37 typically developing (TD) children participated in our study, with their eye movements recorded as the index of visual preferences. We examined the differences of visual preferences between the ASD and TD group, and the heterogeneity of visual preferences within the ASD group. We found group differences between children with ASD and TD children: Overall, the ASD group preferred repetitive movements while the TD group preferred biological movements. We also detected heterogeneity of visual preferences within the ASD group: Although the majority of children with ASD preferred repetitive movements as previous studies reported, 9 out of 39 children with ASD preferred biological movements similarly as their TD peers. Moreover, the visual preference patterns were correlated with autistic symptoms, especially the socio-communicative impairments. Our study provided evidence of heterogeneity of visual attention and main visual preference to repetitive movements in children with ASD. The findings add to the body of literature of the heterogeneous behavioral symptoms and the atypical visual preferences in individuals with ASD. LAY SUMMARY: The current study examined visual preferences to biological, repetitive, and random movements in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We showed a pair of two videos representing two types of movements (random, repetitive, or biological movements) to children with ASD and typically developing children. We found the main visual preferences for repetitive movements and heterogeneity of visual attention within the ASD group. Our findings provide theoretical and methodological implications for future study of the heterogeneity in the ASD population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianbi Li
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yewei Li
- Southern China Center for Statistical Science, Department of Statistical Science, School of Mathematics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yixiao Hu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yuyin Wang
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Cheuk Man Lam
- Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
| | - Wei Ni
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Xueqin Wang
- Department of Statistics and Finance, School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Li Yi
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
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21
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Braithwaite EK, Gui A, Jones EJH. Social attention: What is it, how can we measure it, and what can it tell us about autism and ADHD? PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2020; 254:271-303. [PMID: 32859292 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2020.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Neurodevelopmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affect 2-10% of children worldwide but are still poorly understood. Prospective studies of infants with an elevated familial likelihood of ASD or ADHD can provide insight into early mechanisms that canalize development down a typical or atypical course. Such work holds potential for earlier identification and intervention to support optimal outcomes in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. Disrupted attention may be involved in developmental trajectories to ASD and ADHD. Specifically, altered attention to social stimuli has been suggested as a possible endophenotype of ASD, lying between genetic factors impacting brain development and later symptoms. Similarly, changes in domain-general aspects of attention are commonly seen in ADHD and emerging evidence suggests these may begin in infancy. Could these patterns point to a common risk factor for both disorders? Or does social attention reflect the activity of a particular network of brain systems that is distinct to those underpinning general attention skills? One challenge to addressing such questions is our lack of understanding of the relation between social and general attention. In this chapter we review evidence from infants with later ASD and ADHD that illuminates this question.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor K Braithwaite
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Anna Gui
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Emily J H Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
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22
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Karaminis T, Arrighi R, Forth G, Burr D, Pellicano E. Adaptation to the Speed of Biological Motion in Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 2020; 50:373-385. [PMID: 31630295 PMCID: PMC6994433 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-04241-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Autistic individuals often present atypicalities in adaptation-the continuous recalibration of perceptual systems driven by recent sensory experiences. Here, we examined such atypicalities in human biological motion. We used a dual-task paradigm, including a running-speed discrimination task ('comparing the speed of two running silhouettes') and a change-detection task ('detecting fixation-point shrinkages') assessing attention. We tested 19 school-age autistic and 19 age- and ability-matched typical participants, also recording eye-movements. The two groups presented comparable speed-discrimination abilities and, unexpectedly, comparable adaptation. Accuracy in the change-detection task and the scatter of eye-fixations around the fixation point were also similar across groups. Yet, the scatter of fixations reliably predicted the magnitude of adaptation, demonstrating the importance of controlling for attention in adaptation studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Themis Karaminis
- Department of Psychology, Edge Hill University, St Helens Rd, Ormskirk, L39 4QP, UK. .,Centre for Research in Autism and Education, UCL, London, UK.
| | - Roberto Arrighi
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Pharmacology and Child Health, University of Florence, Viale Pieraccini 6, 50139, Florence, Italy.,Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council (CNR), Pisa, Italy
| | - Georgia Forth
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK.,Centre for Research in Autism and Education, UCL, London, UK
| | - David Burr
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Pharmacology and Child Health, University of Florence, Viale Pieraccini 6, 50139, Florence, Italy.,Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council (CNR), Via Giuseppe Moruzzi 1, 56125, Pisa, Italy
| | - Elizabeth Pellicano
- Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University, Building X5B, Wally's Walk, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.,Centre for Research in Autism and Education, UCL, London, UK
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23
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Oxytocin biases eye-gaze to dynamic and static social images and the eyes of fearful faces: associations with trait autism. Transl Psychiatry 2020; 10:142. [PMID: 32398642 PMCID: PMC7217872 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-020-0830-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2019] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
A key functional effect of intranasal oxytocin with potential therapeutic relevance for autism-spectrum disorder is its reported facilitation of attention towards social stimuli, notably the eye region of faces. In the current randomized placebo-controlled within-subject experiment on 40 healthy males, we investigated the robustness of this facilitation of attention by intranasal oxytocin (24IU) towards social cues. Eye-tracking measures of preference for dynamic and static social vs. non-social stimuli were taken in four different paradigms where autistic individuals tend to exhibit reduced interest in social stimuli. Additionally, we investigated whether oxytocin increases attention towards the eyes relative to other salient face regions in an emotional face paradigm. Results showed that the time spent viewing both dynamic and static social vs. non-social stimuli was negatively associated with trait autism and significantly increased following intranasal oxytocin. For face stimuli, oxytocin primarily increased gaze towards the eyes of fearful expression faces but not for other face emotions. Overall, our findings demonstrate that oxytocin significantly shifts gaze preference towards social vs. non-social stimuli and to the eyes of fearful faces. Importantly, oxytocin appears generally to shift attention more towards salient social stimuli of particular relevance in the context of autism providing further support for its potential therapeutic use in autism-spectrum disorder.
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24
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McPartland JC, Bernier RA, Jeste SS, Dawson G, Nelson CA, Chawarska K, Earl R, Faja S, Johnson SP, Sikich L, Brandt CA, Dziura JD, Rozenblit L, Hellemann G, Levin AR, Murias M, Naples AJ, Platt ML, Sabatos-DeVito M, Shic F, Senturk D, Sugar CA, Webb SJ. The Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials (ABC-CT): Scientific Context, Study Design, and Progress Toward Biomarker Qualification. Front Integr Neurosci 2020; 14:16. [PMID: 32346363 PMCID: PMC7173348 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2020.00016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2019] [Accepted: 03/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Clinical research in neurodevelopmental disorders remains reliant upon clinician and caregiver measures. Limitations of these approaches indicate a need for objective, quantitative, and reliable biomarkers to advance clinical research. Extant research suggests the potential utility of multiple candidate biomarkers; however, effective application of these markers in trials requires additional understanding of replicability, individual differences, and intra-individual stability over time. The Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials (ABC-CT) is a multi-site study designed to investigate a battery of electrophysiological (EEG) and eye-tracking (ET) indices as candidate biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study complements published biomarker research through: inclusion of large, deeply phenotyped cohorts of children with ASD and typical development; a longitudinal design; a focus on well-evidenced candidate biomarkers harmonized with an independent sample; high levels of clinical, regulatory, technical, and statistical rigor; adoption of a governance structure incorporating diverse expertise in the ASD biomarker discovery and qualification process; prioritization of open science, including creation of a repository containing biomarker, clinical, and genetic data; and use of economical and scalable technologies that are applicable in developmental populations and those with special needs. The ABC-CT approach has yielded encouraging results, with one measure accepted into the FDA’s Biomarker Qualification Program to date. Through these advances, the ABC-CT and other biomarker studies in progress hold promise to deliver novel tools to improve clinical trials research in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Raphael A Bernier
- Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, United States.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Shafali S Jeste
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Geraldine Dawson
- Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Charles A Nelson
- Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.,Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Rachel Earl
- Center on Human Development and Disability, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Susan Faja
- Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.,Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Scott P Johnson
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Linmarie Sikich
- Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | | | | | | | - Gerhard Hellemann
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - April R Levin
- Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.,Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Adam J Naples
- Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, United States
| | | | - Maura Sabatos-DeVito
- Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Frederick Shic
- Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, United States.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Damla Senturk
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Catherine A Sugar
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Sara J Webb
- Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, United States.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States
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25
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Fujioka T, Tsuchiya KJ, Saito M, Hirano Y, Matsuo M, Kikuchi M, Maegaki Y, Choi D, Kato S, Yoshida T, Yoshimura Y, Ooba S, Mizuno Y, Takiguchi S, Matsuzaki H, Tomoda A, Shudo K, Ninomiya M, Katayama T, Kosaka H. Developmental changes in attention to social information from childhood to adolescence in autism spectrum disorders: a comparative study. Mol Autism 2020; 11:24. [PMID: 32272970 PMCID: PMC7146883 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-020-00321-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2019] [Accepted: 02/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Elucidating developmental changes in the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is important to support individuals with ASD. However, no report has clarified the developmental changes in attention to social information for a broad age range. The aim of this study was to investigate the developmental changes in attention to social information from early childhood to adolescence in individuals with ASD and typically developed (TD) children. METHODS We recruited children with ASD (n = 83) and TD participants (n = 307) between 2 and 18 years of age. Using the all-in-one-eye-tracking system, Gazefinder, we measured the percentage fixation time allocated to areas of interest (AoIs) depicted in movies (the eyes and mouth in movies of a human face with/without mouth motion, upright and inverted biological motion in movies showing these stimuli simultaneously, people and geometry in preference paradigm movies showing these stimuli simultaneously, and objects with/without finger-pointing in a movie showing a woman pointing toward an object). We conducted a three-way analysis of variance, 2 (diagnosis: ASD and TD) by 2 (sex: male and female) by 3 (age group: 0-5, 6-11, and 12-18 years) and locally weighted the scatterplot smoothing (LOESS) regression curve on each AoI. RESULTS In the face stimuli, the percentage fixation time to the eye region for the TD group increased with age, whereas the one for the ASD group did not. In the ASD group, the LOESS curves of the gaze ratios at the eye region increased up to approximately 10 years of age and thereafter tended to decrease. For the percentage fixation time to the people region in the preference paradigm, the ASD group gazed more briefly at people than did the TD group. LIMITATIONS It is possible that due to the cross-sectional design, the degree of severity and of social interest might have differed according to the subjects' age. CONCLUSIONS There may be qualitative differences in abnormal eye contact in ASD between individuals in early childhood and those older than 10 years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toru Fujioka
- Department of Science of Human Development, Humanities and Social Science, Faculty of Education, University of Fukui, Fukui, Fukui Japan
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui, Japan
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Kenji J. Tsuchiya
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka, Japan
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Manabu Saito
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan
| | - Yoshiyuki Hirano
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka, Japan
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Chiba University, Chiba, Chiba Japan
| | - Muneaki Matsuo
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Saga Japan
| | - Mitsuru Kikuchi
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka, Japan
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Japan
| | - Yoshihiro Maegaki
- Division of Child Neurology, Department of Brain and Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Tottori, Japan
| | - Damee Choi
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka, Japan
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Sumi Kato
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan
| | - Tokiko Yoshida
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Chiba University, Chiba, Chiba Japan
| | - Yuko Yoshimura
- Institute of Human and Social Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Japan
| | - Sawako Ooba
- Tottori University Hospital, Yonago, Tottori, Japan
| | - Yoshifumi Mizuno
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychological Medicine, University of Fukui Hospital, Eiheiji, Fukui, Japan
| | - Shinichiro Takiguchi
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka, Japan
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychological Medicine, University of Fukui Hospital, Eiheiji, Fukui, Japan
| | - Hideo Matsuzaki
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui, Japan
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Akemi Tomoda
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui, Japan
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Katsuyuki Shudo
- Development Center, Healthcare Business Division, JVCKENWOOD Corporation, Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan
| | - Masaru Ninomiya
- Development Center, Healthcare Business Division, JVCKENWOOD Corporation, Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan
| | - Taiichi Katayama
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka, Japan
| | - Hirotaka Kosaka
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui, Japan
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka, Japan
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui, Japan
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26
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Mazzoni N, Landi I, Ricciardelli P, Actis-Grosso R, Venuti P. "Motion or Emotion? Recognition of Emotional Bodily Expressions in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder With and Without Intellectual Disability". Front Psychol 2020; 11:478. [PMID: 32269539 PMCID: PMC7109394 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2019] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The recognition of emotional body movement (BM) is impaired in individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder ASD, yet it is not clear whether the difficulty is related to the encoding of body motion, emotions, or both. Besides, BM recognition has been traditionally studied using point-light displays stimuli (PLDs) and is still underexplored in individuals with ASD and intellectual disability (ID). In the present study, we investigated the recognition of happy, fearful, and neutral BM in children with ASD with and without ID. In a non-verbal recognition task, participants were asked to recognize pure-body-motion and visible-body-form stimuli (by means of point-light displays-PLDs and full-light displays-FLDs, respectively). We found that the children with ASD were less accurate than TD children in recognizing both the emotional and neutral BM, either when presented as FLDs or PLDs. These results suggest that the difficulty in understanding the observed BM may rely on atypical processing of BM information rather than emotion. Moreover, we found that the accuracy improved with age and IQ only in children with ASD without ID, suggesting that high level of cognitive resources can mediate the acquisition of compensatory mechanisms which develop with age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noemi Mazzoni
- ODFLab - Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Isotta Landi
- ODFLab - Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.,MPBA, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy
| | - Paola Ricciardelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano - Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,Milan Centre for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Rossana Actis-Grosso
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano - Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,Milan Centre for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Paola Venuti
- ODFLab - Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
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27
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Webb SJ, Shic F, Murias M, Sugar CA, Naples AJ, Barney E, Borland H, Hellemann G, Johnson S, Kim M, Levin AR, Sabatos-DeVito M, Santhosh M, Senturk D, Dziura J, Bernier RA, Chawarska K, Dawson G, Faja S, Jeste S, McPartland J. Biomarker Acquisition and Quality Control for Multi-Site Studies: The Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials. Front Integr Neurosci 2020; 13:71. [PMID: 32116579 PMCID: PMC7020808 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2019.00071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Accepted: 11/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The objective of the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials (ABC-CT) is to evaluate a set of lab-based behavioral video tracking (VT), electroencephalography (EEG), and eye tracking (ET) measures for use in clinical trials with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Within the larger organizational structure of the ABC-CT, the Data Acquisition and Analytic Core (DAAC) oversees the standardization of VT, EEG, and ET data acquisition, data processing, and data analysis. This includes designing and documenting data acquisition and analytic protocols and manuals; facilitating site training in acquisition; data acquisition quality control (QC); derivation and validation of dependent variables (DVs); and analytic deliverables including preparation of data for submission to the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR). To oversee consistent application of scientific standards and methodological rigor for data acquisition, processing, and analytics, we developed standard operating procedures that reflect the logistical needs of multi-site research, and the need for well-articulated, transparent processes that can be implemented in future clinical trials. This report details the methodology of the ABC-CT related to acquisition and QC in our Feasibility and Main Study phases. Based on our acquisition metrics from a preplanned interim analysis, we report high levels of acquisition success utilizing VT, EEG, and ET experiments in a relatively large sample of children with ASD and typical development (TD), with data acquired across multiple sites and use of a manualized training and acquisition protocol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Jane Webb
- Center on Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Frederick Shic
- Center on Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Michael Murias
- Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Catherine A. Sugar
- Department of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Adam J. Naples
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Erin Barney
- Center on Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Heather Borland
- Center on Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Gerhard Hellemann
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Scott Johnson
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Minah Kim
- Center on Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - April R. Levin
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
- Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Maura Sabatos-DeVito
- Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Megha Santhosh
- Center on Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Damla Senturk
- Department of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - James Dziura
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Raphael A. Bernier
- Center on Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States
- Center on Human Development and Disability, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | | | - Geraldine Dawson
- Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Susan Faja
- Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Shafali Jeste
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - James McPartland
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
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28
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A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Intelligent Robotic Response to Joint Attention Intervention System. J Autism Dev Disord 2020; 50:2819-2831. [DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04388-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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29
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Watanabe T, Kumazaki H, Muramatsu T, Mimura M. Specific aspects of operating an unfamiliar touchscreen for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2020; 74:157-158. [PMID: 31730251 DOI: 10.1111/pcn.12958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2019] [Revised: 11/11/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tetsuyou Watanabe
- Faculty of Frontier Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | - Hirokazu Kumazaki
- Faculty of Frontier Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.,Department of Preventive Intervention for Psychiatric Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.,Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Taro Muramatsu
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masaru Mimura
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
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30
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Fourie E, Palser ER, Pokorny JJ, Neff M, Rivera SM. Neural Processing and Production of Gesture in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Psychol 2020; 10:3045. [PMID: 32038408 PMCID: PMC6987472 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate impairments in non-verbal communication, including gesturing and imitation deficits. Reduced sensitivity to biological motion (BM) in ASD may impair processing of dynamic social cues like gestures, which in turn may impede encoding and subsequent performance of these actions. Using both an fMRI task involving observation of action gestures and a charade style paradigm assessing gesture performance, this study examined the brain-behavior relationships between neural activity during gesture processing, gesturing abilities and social symptomology in a group of children and adolescents with and without ASD. Compared to typically developing (TD) controls, participants with ASD showed atypical sensitivity to movement in right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), a region implicated in action processing, and had poorer overall gesture performance with specific deficits in hand posture. The TD group showed associations between neural activity, gesture performance and social skills, that were weak or non-significant in the ASD group. These findings suggest that those with ASD demonstrate abnormalities in both processing and production of gestures and may reflect dysfunction in the mechanism underlying perception-action coupling resulting in atypical development of social and communicative skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Fourie
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States.,Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Eleanor R Palser
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Jennifer J Pokorny
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Michael Neff
- Department of Computer Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States.,Department of Cinema and Digital Media, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Susan M Rivera
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States.,Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States.,MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States
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31
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The two-process theory of biological motion processing. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 111:114-124. [PMID: 31945392 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2018] [Revised: 12/12/2019] [Accepted: 01/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Perception, identification, and understanding of others' actions from motion information are vital for our survival in the social world. A breakthrough in the understanding of action perception was the discovery that our visual system is sensitive to human action from the sparse motion input of only a dozen point lights, a phenomenon known as biological motion (BM) processing. Previous psychological and computational models cannot fully explain the emerging evidence for the existence of BM processing during early ontogeny. Here, we propose a two-process model of the mechanisms underlying BM processing. We hypothesize that the first system, the 'Step Detector,' rapidly processes the local foot motion and feet-below-the-body information that is specific to vertebrates, is less dependent on postnatal learning, and involves subcortical networks. The second system, the 'Bodily Action Evaluator,' slowly processes the fine global structure-from-motion, is specific to conspecific, and dependent on gradual learning processed in cortical networks. This proposed model provides new insight into research on the development of BM processing.
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32
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Fujioka T, Fujisawa TX, Inohara K, Okamoto Y, Matsumura Y, Tsuchiya KJ, Katayama T, Munesue T, Tomoda A, Wada Y, Kosaka H. Attenuated relationship between salivary oxytocin levels and attention to social information in adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder: a comparative study. Ann Gen Psychiatry 2020; 19:38. [PMID: 32518579 PMCID: PMC7275403 DOI: 10.1186/s12991-020-00287-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous research studies have assessed the relationship between attention to social information and peripheral (e.g., plasma and salivary) oxytocin (OT) levels in typically developing (TD) children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A relationship between them was observed in TD children, but not in children with ASD. However, this relationship remains unexamined in other age groups. To clarify whether this lack of association is maintained throughout development in individuals with ASD, we aimed to assess the relationship between salivary OT levels and attention to social information in adolescents and adults with and without ASD. METHODS We recruited male adolescents and adults with ASD (n = 17) and TD participants (n = 24). Using the all-in-one eye-tracking system Gazefinder, we measured the percentage fixation time allocated to social information. We also measured the salivary OT levels and Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) of participants. Subsequently, we confirmed group differences and conducted a correlation analysis to investigate the relationships between these three measures. RESULTS Salivary OT levels did not show any significant difference between the ASD and TD groups and were negatively correlated with the AQ in the whole-group analysis, but not in within-group analysis. Individuals with ASD had significantly lower percentage fixation times than did TD individuals for eye regions in human faces with/without mouth motion, for upright biological motion, and for people regions in the people and geometry movies. The percentage of fixation for geometric shapes in the people and geometry movies was significantly higher in the ASD than in the TD group. In the TD group, salivary OT levels were positively correlated with percentage fixation times for upright biological motion and people and negatively correlated with inverted biological motion and geometry. However, no significant correlations were found in the ASD group. CONCLUSIONS Our exploratory results suggest that salivary OT levels in adolescents and adults with ASD are less indicative of attention to social stimuli than they are in TD adolescents and adults. It is suggested that their association is slightly weaker in adolescents and adults with ASD and that this attenuated relationship appears to be maintained throughout development.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Fujioka
- Faculty of Education, University of Fukui, Fukui, Fukui Japan.,Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka Japan.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui Japan
| | - T X Fujisawa
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka Japan.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui Japan
| | - K Inohara
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan.,Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui Japan
| | - Y Okamoto
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka Japan.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui Japan.,Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo Japan
| | - Y Matsumura
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui Japan
| | - K J Tsuchiya
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka Japan.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Japan.,Department of Psychiatry, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Japan
| | - T Katayama
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka Japan
| | - T Munesue
- Kaga Mental Hospital, Kaga, Ishikawa Japan
| | - A Tomoda
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka Japan.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui Japan
| | - Y Wada
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui Japan.,Kaga Mental Hospital, Kaga, Ishikawa Japan
| | - H Kosaka
- Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University, and University of Fukui, Suita, Osaka Japan.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui Japan.,Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui Japan
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33
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Todorova GK, Hatton REM, Pollick FE. Biological motion perception in autism spectrum disorder: a meta-analysis. Mol Autism 2019; 10:49. [PMID: 31890147 PMCID: PMC6921539 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-019-0299-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 11/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Biological motion, namely the movement of others, conveys information that allows the identification of affective states and intentions. This makes it an important avenue of research in autism spectrum disorder where social functioning is one of the main areas of difficulty. We aimed to create a quantitative summary of previous findings and investigate potential factors, which could explain the variable results found in the literature investigating biological motion perception in autism. Methods A search from five electronic databases yielded 52 papers eligible for a quantitative summarisation, including behavioural, eye-tracking, electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. Results Using a three-level random effects meta-analytic approach, we found that individuals with autism generally showed decreased performance in perception and interpretation of biological motion. Results additionally suggest decreased performance when higher order information, such as emotion, is required. Moreover, with the increase of age, the difference between autistic and neurotypical individuals decreases, with children showing the largest effect size overall. Conclusion We highlight the need for methodological standards and clear distinctions between the age groups and paradigms utilised when trying to interpret differences between the two populations.
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Van der Hallen R, Manning C, Evers K, Wagemans J. Global Motion Perception in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 49:4901-4918. [PMID: 31489542 PMCID: PMC6841654 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-04194-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Visual perception in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often debated in terms of enhanced local and impaired global perception. Deficits in global motion perception seem to support this characterization, although the evidence is inconsistent. We conducted a large meta-analysis on global motion, combining 48 articles on biological and coherent motion. Results provide evidence for a small global motion processing deficit in individuals with ASD compared to controls in both biological and coherent motion. This deficit appears to be present independent of the paradigm, task, dependent variable, age or IQ of the groups. Results indicate that individuals with ASD are less sensitive to these types of global motion, although the difference in neural mechanisms underlying this behavioral difference remains unclear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Van der Hallen
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, Department of Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
- Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Catherine Manning
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK
| | - Kris Evers
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, Department of Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium
| | - Johan Wagemans
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, Department of Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
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35
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Hsiung E, Chien SH, Chu Y, Ho MW. Adults with autism are less proficient in identifying biological motion actions portrayed with point-light displays. JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH : JIDR 2019; 63:1111-1124. [PMID: 31020725 PMCID: PMC6850387 DOI: 10.1111/jir.12623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2018] [Revised: 03/10/2019] [Accepted: 03/13/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have impairments with biological motion perception has been debated. The present study examined the ability to identify point-light-displayed (PLD) human actions in neurotypical (NT) adults and adults with ASD. METHOD Twenty-seven adults with ASD (mean age = 28.36) and 30 NT adults (mean age = 22.45) were tested. Both groups viewed 10 different biological motion actions contacting an object/tool and 10 without making contact. Each action was presented twice, and participant's naming responses and reaction times were recorded. RESULTS The ASD group had a significantly lower total number of correct items (M = 29.30 ± 5.08 out of 40) and longer response time (M = 4550 ± 1442 ms) than NT group (M = 32.77 ± 2.78; M = 3556 ± 1148 ms). Both groups were better at naming the actions without objects (ASD group: 17.33 ± 2.30, NT group: 18.67 ± 1.30) than those with objects (ASD group: 11.96 ± 3.57, NT group: 14.10 ± 1.97). Correlation analyses showed that individuals with higher Autism-spectrum Quotient scale scores tended to make more errors and responded more slowly. CONCLUSION Adults with ASD were able to identify human point-light display biological motion actions much better than chance; however, they were less proficient compared with NT adults in terms of accuracy and speed, regardless of action type.
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Affiliation(s)
- E.‐Y. Hsiung
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical SciencesChina Medical UniversityTaichungTaiwan
| | - S. H.‐L. Chien
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical SciencesChina Medical UniversityTaichungTaiwan
- Graduate Institute of Neural and Cognitive SciencesChina Medical UniversityTaichungTaiwan
| | - Y.‐H. Chu
- Department of Physical TherapyChina Medical UniversityTaichungTaiwan
| | - M. W.‐R. Ho
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical SciencesChina Medical UniversityTaichungTaiwan
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36
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Kou J, Le J, Fu M, Lan C, Chen Z, Li Q, Zhao W, Xu L, Becker B, Kendrick KM. Comparison of three different eye-tracking tasks for distinguishing autistic from typically developing children and autistic symptom severity. Autism Res 2019; 12:1529-1540. [PMID: 31369217 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2019] [Revised: 06/03/2019] [Accepted: 06/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Altered patterns of visual social attention preference detected using eye-tracking and a variety of different paradigms are increasingly proposed as sensitive biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder. However, few eye-tracking studies have compared the relative efficacy of different paradigms to discriminate between autistic compared with typically developing children and their sensitivity to specific symptoms. To target this issue, the current study used three common eye-tracking protocols contrasting social versus nonsocial stimuli in young (2-7 years old) Chinese autistic (n = 35) and typically developing (n = 34) children matched for age and gender. Protocols included dancing people versus dynamic geometrical images, biological motion (dynamic light point walking human or cat) versus nonbiological motion (scrambled controls), and child playing with toy versus toy alone. Although all three paradigms differentiated autistic and typically developing children, the dancing people versus dynamic geometry pattern paradigm was the most effective, with autistic children showing marked reductions in visual preference for dancing people and correspondingly increased one for geometric patterns. Furthermore, this altered visual preference in autistic children was correlated with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule social affect score and had the highest discrimination accuracy. Our results therefore indicate that decreased visual preference for dynamic social stimuli may be the most effective visual attention-based paradigm for use as a biomarker for autism in Chinese children. Clinical trial ID: NCT03286621 (clinicaltrials.gov); Clinical trial name: Development of Eye-tracking Based Markers for Autism in Young Children. Autism Res 2019, 12: 1529-1540. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Eye-tracking measures may be useful in aiding diagnosis and treatment of autism, although it is unclear which specific tasks are optimal. Here we compare the ability of three different social eye-gaze tasks to discriminate between autistic and typically developing young Chinese children and their sensitivity to specific autistic symptoms. Our results show that a dynamic task comparing visual preference for social (individuals dancing) versus geometric patterns is the most effective both for diagnosing autism and sensitivity to its social affect symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Kou
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Jiao Le
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Meina Fu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Chunmei Lan
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Zhuo Chen
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Qin Li
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Weihua Zhao
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Lei Xu
- Chengdu Southwest Children's Hospital, Institute of Child Rehabilitation Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Benjamin Becker
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Keith M Kendrick
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
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37
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Lee KS, Chang DHF. Biological motion perception is differentially predicted by Autistic trait domains. Sci Rep 2019; 9:11029. [PMID: 31363154 PMCID: PMC6667460 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-47377-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
We tested the relationship between biological motion perception and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient. In three experiments, we indexed observers' performance on a classic left-right discrimination task in which participants were asked to report the facing direction of walkers containing solely structural or kinematics information, a motion discrimination task in which participants were asked to indicate the apparent motion of a (non-biological) random-dot stimulus, and a novel naturalness discrimination task. In the naturalness discrimination task, we systematically manipulated the degree of natural acceleration contained in the stimulus by parametrically morphing between a fully veridical stimulus and one where acceleration was removed. Participants were asked to discriminate the more natural stimulus (i.e., acceleration-containing stimulus) from the constant velocity stimulus. Although we found no reliable associations between overall AQ scores nor subdomain scores with performance on the direction-related tasks, we found a robust association between performance on the biological motion naturalness task and attention switching domain scores. Our findings suggest that understanding the relationship between the Autism Spectrum and perception is a far more intricate problem than previously suggested. While it has been shown that the AQ can be used as a proxy to tap into perceptual endophenotypes in Autism, the eventual diagnostic value of the perceptual task depends on the task's consideration of biological content and demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka Shu Lee
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Dorita H F Chang
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. .,State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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38
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Lindor ER, van Boxtel JJ, Rinehart NJ, Fielding J. Motor difficulties are associated with impaired perception of interactive human movement in autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2019; 41:856-874. [DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2019.1634181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ebony R. Lindor
- School of Psychological Sciences and Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
- Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jeroen J.A. van Boxtel
- School of Psychological Sciences and Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia
| | - Nicole J. Rinehart
- School of Psychological Sciences and Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
- Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Joanne Fielding
- School of Psychological Sciences and Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
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39
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Brief Report: Evaluating the Utility of Varied Technological Agents to Elicit Social Attention from Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 49:1700-1708. [PMID: 30511126 PMCID: PMC6450844 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3841-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Technological agents could be effective tools to be used in interventions for enhancing social orienting for some young children with ASD. We examined response to social bids in preschool children with ASD and typical development (TD) at a very early age (i.e., around 3 years) using social prompts presented by technological agents of various forms and human comparisons. Children with ASD demonstrated less response overall to social bids compared to TD controls, across agents or human. They responded more often to a simple humanoid robot and the simple avatar compared to the human. These results support the potential utilization of specific robotic and technological agents for harnessing and potentially increasing motivation to socially-relevant behaviors in some young children with ASD.
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40
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Le Menn-Tripi C, Vachaud A, Defas N, Malvy J, Roux S, Bonnet-Brilhault F. [Sensory-psychomotor evaluation in Autism: A new tool for functional diagnosis]. Encephale 2019; 45:312-319. [PMID: 30922517 DOI: 10.1016/j.encep.2018.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Revised: 11/29/2018] [Accepted: 12/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Psychomotor impairments in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have frequently been described in scientific literature. Such deficits impact upon the development of social motor function and interfere with the ability to adjust to everyday life. The inclusion of sensory-motor signs in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) confirms their importance in the diagnosis of ASD. Previous literature has shown the presence precocity of these signs, sometimes before the alteration of the social communication. To our knowledge, there are no existing clinical tools to measure sensory-psychomotor deficit, specifically in ASD. The current paper presents the construction and validation of a new scale, designed to evaluate sensory-psychomotor signs in Autism: 'the Sensory-psychomotor Particularities Scale in Autism' (SPSA). METHOD The scale is composed of 160 items describing common sensory-psychomotor signs in autism. These items are grouped into 20 variables: touch, nociception, vestibular sensitivity, proprioceptive sensitivity, vision, auditory, multimodality, tone, posture, balance, global coordination, manual dexterity, body schema, bodily self-consciousness, relational adjustment, emotional expression, use of objects, space, time and tonico-emotional regulation. For each item, the psychomotor therapist evaluated sensori-psychomotor signs according to a five-level Likert scale (0="the sign is never expressed by the person", 1="weakly expressed", 2="moderately expressed", 3="severely expressed" and 4="the sign is very characteristic of the person and very severely expressed"). This is completed by a family interview in order to assess the impact of these signs on everyday situations. The study included 111 children with autism. The presence of neurological and genetic diseases was exclusion criteria. For each child, a global developmental evaluation was carried out by an expert clinical team specializing in ASD. Standardized clinical tools were used: Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Behavior Summarized Evaluation scale (BSE-R), Repeated and Restricted Behavior scale (RRB), Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC), Motor Development Rating scale (MDR), Sensory Profile (SP). Developmental quotients (DQ) were evaluated using various tests depending on age and ability. RESULTS Factor analysis produced three clinically relevant factors: F1: "sensory-emotional synchronization", F2: "multisensory integration" and F3: "motor skills": each containing a similar quantity of items. They account for roughly equal percentages of variance (18.9%, 18.0%, 16.8%, respectively). The factorial structure does not change if the 26 children with comorbid developmental coordination disorder are removed. The three factors show good internal consistency and excellent inter-rater reliability. F1 is comprised of 6 items: touch, nociception, proprioceptive sensitivity, vision, emotional expression and tonico-emotional regulation. This factor is significantly associated with items of the Sensory Profile (touch processing, poor registration, sensory seeking). F2 is comprised of 5 items: multimodality, bodily self-consciousness, relational adjustment, use of objects and space. This factor is associated with ADOS, BSE-R and RRB scores, and the item "touch processing" of the Sensory Profile. F3 is comprised of 4 items: tone, posture, global coordination, manual dexterity. This factor is associated with the M-ABC, the MDR and the item "low endurance" of the Sensory Profile. CONCLUSION The SPSA is a relevant clinical tool to assess the severity of sensory-psychomotor clinical signs in order to describe the individual profiles of children with ASD. It represents a critical step in advancing knowledge of the complex and heterogeneous pattern of psychomotor development in autism. It could make a valuable contribution to the field, both in research and clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Le Menn-Tripi
- Centre Ressources Autisme Région Centre Val-de-Loire, Centre Universitaire de Pédopsychiatrie, CHU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37044 Tours cedex 9, France.
| | - A Vachaud
- Centre Ressources Autisme Région Centre Val-de-Loire, Centre Universitaire de Pédopsychiatrie, CHU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37044 Tours cedex 9, France
| | - N Defas
- Centre Ressources Autisme Région Centre Val-de-Loire, Centre Universitaire de Pédopsychiatrie, CHU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37044 Tours cedex 9, France
| | - J Malvy
- Centre Ressources Autisme Région Centre Val-de-Loire, Centre Universitaire de Pédopsychiatrie, CHU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37044 Tours cedex 9, France; Inserm, UMR 1253, iBrain, Université de Tours, INSERM, 37000 Tours, France
| | - S Roux
- Inserm, UMR 1253, iBrain, Université de Tours, INSERM, 37000 Tours, France
| | - F Bonnet-Brilhault
- Centre Ressources Autisme Région Centre Val-de-Loire, Centre Universitaire de Pédopsychiatrie, CHU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37044 Tours cedex 9, France; Inserm, UMR 1253, iBrain, Université de Tours, INSERM, 37000 Tours, France
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41
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Wan G, Kong X, Sun B, Yu S, Tu Y, Park J, Lang C, Koh M, Wei Z, Feng Z, Lin Y, Kong J. Applying Eye Tracking to Identify Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 49:209-215. [PMID: 30097760 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3690-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Eye tracking (ET) holds potential for the early detection of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To overcome the difficulties of working with young children, developing a short and informative paradigm is crucial for ET. We investigated the fixation times of 37 ASD and 37 typically developing (TD) children ages 4-6 watching a 10-second video of a female speaking. ASD children showed significant reductions in fixation time at six areas of interest. Furthermore, discriminant analysis revealed fixation times at the mouth and body could significantly discriminate ASD from TD with a classification accuracy of 85.1%, sensitivity of 86.5%, and specificity of 83.8%. Our study suggests that a short video clip may provide enough information to distinguish ASD from TD children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guobin Wan
- Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, 3012 Fuqiang Rd, Futian Qu, Shenzhen, 518040, Guangdong Sheng, China
| | - Xuejun Kong
- Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 149 13th Street, 1118A, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
| | - Binbin Sun
- Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, 3012 Fuqiang Rd, Futian Qu, Shenzhen, 518040, Guangdong Sheng, China
| | - Siyi Yu
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 120 2nd Ave, Room 101, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
| | - Yiheng Tu
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 120 2nd Ave, Room 101, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
| | - Joel Park
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 120 2nd Ave, Room 101, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
| | - Courtney Lang
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 120 2nd Ave, Room 101, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
| | - Madelyn Koh
- Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 149 13th Street, 1118A, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA
| | - Zhen Wei
- Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, 3012 Fuqiang Rd, Futian Qu, Shenzhen, 518040, Guangdong Sheng, China
| | - Zhe Feng
- Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, 3012 Fuqiang Rd, Futian Qu, Shenzhen, 518040, Guangdong Sheng, China
| | - Yan Lin
- Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, 3012 Fuqiang Rd, Futian Qu, Shenzhen, 518040, Guangdong Sheng, China.
| | - Jian Kong
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 120 2nd Ave, Room 101, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA.
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Yeung MK, Lee TL, Chan AS. Frontal lobe dysfunction underlies the differential word retrieval impairment in adolescents with high-functioning autism. Autism Res 2019; 12:600-613. [PMID: 30758144 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2018] [Revised: 01/08/2019] [Accepted: 01/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
There is substantial evidence of word retrieval impairment as indicated by poor performance on the category fluency test in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying this impairment. Functional neuroimaging studies have shown that the lateral frontal cortex plays a key role in flexible word retrieval. Thus, we examined whether individuals with ASD exhibited altered frontal processing during the category fluency test using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Twenty-two adolescents with high-functioning ASD (20 males) and 22 typically developing (TD) adolescents (16 males) aged 11-18 years were recruited. All underwent a category fluency paradigm, which required production of animal or means of transportation words for 1 min each although their frontal hemodynamic changes were recorded with fNIRS. We found that adolescents with ASD produced fewer animal but not transportation words (group-by-category interaction: P = 0.003), suggesting differential word retrieval impairment. In addition, unlike TD adolescents who exhibited activation primarily in lateral frontal regions during word production, adolescents with ASD had comparable activation across lateral and medial frontal regions. More importantly, this lack of lateral-medial distinction of activation, which was associated with poor word retrieval, differed significantly between groups only in the animal category (group-by-category interaction: P = 0.018). Thus, our findings implicate frontal lobe dysfunction in the impairment of differential word retrieval in adolescents with ASD. The relatively greater involvement of the medial frontopolar cortex might reflect the use of nonspecialized brain regions to compensate for the category-dependent difficulties with word retrieval in ASD. Autism Res 2019, 12: 600-613. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Using an optical imaging tool, we found that adolescents with autism had difficulties with producing semantically related words and exhibited frontal lobe dysfunction. Nonetheless, poor word production and altered brain processing was only seen when these adolescents were asked to produce words from a category of living things but not nonliving things (i.e., animals but not means of transportation). Category-dependent word retrieval problems and frontal lobe dysfunction might be two features of this disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael K Yeung
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Tsz L Lee
- Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Agnes S Chan
- Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China.,Chanwuyi Research Center for Neuropsychological Well-Being, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
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43
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Burnside K, Wright K, Poulin-Dubois D. Social orienting predicts implicit false belief understanding in preschoolers. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 175:67-79. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2017] [Revised: 05/04/2018] [Accepted: 05/30/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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44
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Del Valle Rubido M, McCracken JT, Hollander E, Shic F, Noeldeke J, Boak L, Khwaja O, Sadikhov S, Fontoura P, Umbricht D. In Search of Biomarkers for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Res 2018; 11:1567-1579. [PMID: 30324656 PMCID: PMC6282609 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2017] [Revised: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) lacks validated measures of core social functions across development stages suitable for clinical trials. We assessed the concurrent validity between ASD clinical measures and putative biomarkers of core deficits, and their feasibility of implementation in human studies. Datasets from two adult ASD studies were combined (observational study [n = 19] and interventional study baseline data [n = 19]). Potential biomarkers included eye‐tracking, olfaction, and auditory and visual emotion recognition assessed via the Affective Speech Recognition test (ASR) and Reading‐the‐Mind‐in‐the‐Eyes Test (RMET). Current functioning was assessed with intelligence quotient (IQ), adaptive skill testing, and behavioral ratings. Autism severity was determined by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale‐2 and Social Communication Interaction Test (SCIT). Exploratory measures showed varying significant associations across ASD severity, adaptive skills, and behavior. Eye tracking endpoints showed little relationship to adaptive ability but correlated with severity and behavior. ASR scores significantly correlated with most adaptive behavior domains, as well as severity. Olfaction predicted visual and auditory emotion recognition. SCIT scores related moderately to multiple severity domains, and was the only measure not related with IQ. RMET accuracy was less related to ASD features. Eye tracking, SCIT, and ASR showed high test–retest reliability. We documented associations of proximal biomarkers of social functioning with multiple ASD dimensions. With the exception of SCIT, most correlations were modest, limiting utility as proxy measures of social communication. Feasibility and reliability were high for eye‐tracking, ASR, and SCIT. Overall, several novel experimental paradigms showed potential as social biomarkers or surrogate markers in ASD. Autism Research 2018, 11: 1567–1579. © 2018 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay Summary More accurate measurements of treatment effects are needed to help the development of new drug treatments for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study evaluates the relationship between assessments designed to measure behaviors associated with social communication and cognition in ASD with clinical and diagnostic assessments of symptom severity as well as their implementation. The assessments including eye‐tracking, auditory and visual social stimuli recognition, and olfaction identification showed potential for use in the evaluation of treatments for social difficulties in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Del Valle Rubido
- Roche Innovation Center Basel, Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development NORD, Basel, Switzerland
| | - James T McCracken
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California
| | - Eric Hollander
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York
| | - Frederick Shic
- Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Jana Noeldeke
- Roche Innovation Center Basel, Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development NORD, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Lauren Boak
- Roche Product Development Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Omar Khwaja
- Roche Innovation Center Basel, Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development NORD, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Shamil Sadikhov
- Roche Innovation Center Basel, Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development NORD, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Paulo Fontoura
- Roche Product Development Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Umbricht
- Roche Innovation Center Basel, Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development NORD, Basel, Switzerland
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45
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A touch-scaffolded model of human prosociality. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 92:453-463. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2017] [Revised: 05/21/2018] [Accepted: 07/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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46
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Del Bianco T, Ozturk Y, Basadonne I, Mazzoni N, Venuti P. The Thorn in the Dyad: A Vision on Parent-Child Relationship in Autism Spectrum Disorder. EUROPES JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2018; 14:695-709. [PMID: 30263079 PMCID: PMC6143990 DOI: 10.5964/ejop.v14i3.1453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2017] [Accepted: 03/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Parents and children form a family: their characteristics balance personal and family well-being with healthy levels of stress. Research on parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrated that higher levels of parental stress are associated with communication impairment, a core symptom of ASD. The aim of this article is to discuss the connection between non-verbal communication impairment and parental psychological distress, in families with children with ASD. The interaction between atypical communication and distress of parents likely determines a cascade effect on the parent-child dyad; in fact, it decreases the quality and frequency of interactions, preventing the establishment of a healthy parent-child relationship and leading to a series of collateral problems. To this perspective, guiding the parents to reframe their children’s atypical communicative behaviour can relieve parental stress and re-program the interactional routine. This observation stresses the importance of interventions centred on the dyad, especially during early development and soon after the diagnosis, when the communicative impairment may be extremely severe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Del Bianco
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Yagmur Ozturk
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Science, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Ilaria Basadonne
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Noemi Mazzoni
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Paola Venuti
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
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47
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Eddy CM, Cook JL. Emotions in action: The relationship between motor function and social cognition across multiple clinical populations. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2018; 86:229-244. [PMID: 29857027 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2018.05.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2018] [Revised: 05/17/2018] [Accepted: 05/25/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Clare M Eddy
- National Centre for Mental Health and College of Medical and Dental Sciences, BSMHFT, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Jennifer L Cook
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
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48
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Gauthier S, Anzalone SM, Cohen D, Zaoui M, Chetouani M, Villa F, Berthoz A, Xavier J. Behavioral Own-Body-Transformations in Children and Adolescents With Typical Development, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Developmental Coordination Disorder. Front Psychol 2018; 9:676. [PMID: 29887813 PMCID: PMC5981221 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2017] [Accepted: 04/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: In motor imitation, taking a partner's perspective often involves a mental body transformation from an embodied, ego-centered viewpoint to a disembodied, hetero-centered viewpoint. Impairments of both own-body-transformation (OBT) and abnormalities in visual-spatial processing have been reported in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the context of a visual-motor interactive task, studying OBT impairments while disentangling the contribution of visual-spatial impairments associated with motor coordination problems has not been investigated. Methods: 85 children and adolescents (39 controls with typical development, TD; 29 patients with ASD; 17 patients with developmental coordination disorder, DCD), aged 6-19 years, participated in a behavioral paradigm in which participants interacted with a virtual tightrope walker (TW) standing and moving with him. The protocol enables to distinguish ego-centered and hetero-centered perspectives. Results: We show that (1) OBT was possible but difficult for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as for TD children, when the task required the participant to perform a mental rotation in order to adopt a hetero-centered perspective. (2) Using multivariate models, hetero-centered perspective score was significantly associated with age, TW orientation, latency, and diagnosis. ASD and TD groups' performances were close and significantly correlated with age. However, it was not the case for DCD, since this group was specifically handicapped by visual-spatial impairments. (3) ASD and DCD did not perform similarly: motor performance as shown by movement amplitude was better in DCD than ASD. ASD motor response was more ambiguous and hardly readable. Conclusion: Changing perspective in a spatial environment is possible for patients with ASD although delayed compared with TD children. In patients with DCD, their visual-spatial impairments negatively modulated their performances in the experiment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soizic Gauthier
- Département de Psychiatrie de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent, AP-HP, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Boulevard de l'Hôpital, Paris, France.,CRPMS, EA 3522, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.,Equipe Berthoz, Collège de France, Paris, France
| | | | - David Cohen
- Département de Psychiatrie de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent, AP-HP, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Boulevard de l'Hôpital, Paris, France.,Sorbonne Université, Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, CNRS UMR 7222, Paris, France
| | | | - Mohamed Chetouani
- Sorbonne Université, Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, CNRS UMR 7222, Paris, France
| | - François Villa
- CRPMS, EA 3522, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | | | - Jean Xavier
- Département de Psychiatrie de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent, AP-HP, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Boulevard de l'Hôpital, Paris, France.,Sorbonne Université, Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, CNRS UMR 7222, Paris, France
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49
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Heritable aspects of biological motion perception and its covariation with autistic traits. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:1937-1942. [PMID: 29358377 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1714655115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to detect biological motion (BM) and decipher the meaning therein is essential to human survival and social interaction. However, at the individual level, we are not equally equipped with this ability. In particular, impaired BM perception and abnormal neural responses to BM have been observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by devastating social deficits. Here, we examined the underlying sources of individual differences in two abilities fundamental to BM perception (i.e., the abilities to process local kinematic and global configurational information of BM) and explored whether BM perception shares a common genetic origin with autistic traits. Using the classical twin method, we found reliable genetic influences on BM perception and revealed a clear dissociation between its two components-whereas genes account for about 50% of the individual variation in local BM processing, global BM processing is largely shaped by environment. Critically, participants' sensitivity to local BM cues was negatively correlated with their autistic traits through the dimension of social communication, with the covariation largely mediated by shared genetic effects. These findings demonstrate that the ability to process BM, especially with regard to its inherent kinetics, is heritable. They also advance our understanding of the sources of the linkage between autistic symptoms and BM perception deficits, opening up the possibility of treating the ability to process local BM information as a distinct hallmark of social cognition.
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50
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Thye MD, Bednarz HM, Herringshaw AJ, Sartin EB, Kana RK. The impact of atypical sensory processing on social impairments in autism spectrum disorder. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2018; 29:151-167. [PMID: 28545994 PMCID: PMC6987885 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2017.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 224] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2016] [Revised: 02/25/2017] [Accepted: 04/18/2017] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Altered sensory processing has been an important feature of the clinical descriptions of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There is evidence that sensory dysregulation arises early in the progression of ASD and impacts social functioning. This paper reviews behavioral and neurobiological evidence that describes how sensory deficits across multiple modalities (vision, hearing, touch, olfaction, gustation, and multisensory integration) could impact social functions in ASD. Theoretical models of ASD and their implications for the relationship between sensory and social functioning are discussed. Furthermore, neural differences in anatomy, function, and connectivity of different regions underlying sensory and social processing are also discussed. We conclude that there are multiple mechanisms through which early sensory dysregulation in ASD could cascade into social deficits across development. Future research is needed to clarify these mechanisms, and specific focus should be given to distinguish between deficits in primary sensory processing and altered top-down attentional and cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa D Thye
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, United States
| | - Haley M Bednarz
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, United States
| | - Abbey J Herringshaw
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, United States
| | - Emma B Sartin
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, United States
| | - Rajesh K Kana
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, United States.
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