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Hidaka S, Chen N, Ishii N, Iketani R, Suzuki K, Longo MR, Wada M. No differences in implicit hand maps among different degrees of autistic traits. Autism Res 2023; 16:1750-1764. [PMID: 37409496 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or higher levels of autistic traits have atypical characteristics in sensory processing. Atypicalities have been reported for proprioceptive judgments, which are tightly related to internal bodily representations underlying position sense. However, no research has directly investigated whether self-bodily representations are different in individuals with ASD. Implicit hand maps, estimated based on participants' proprioceptive sensations without sight of their hand, are known to be distorted such that the shape is stretched along the medio-lateral hand axis even for neurotypical participants. Here, with the view of ASD as falling on a continuous distribution among the general population, we explored differences in implicit body representations along with autistic traits by focusing on relationships between autistic traits and the magnitudes of the distortions in implicit hand maps (N ~ 100). We estimated the magnitudes of distortions in implicit hand maps both for fingers and hand surfaces on the dorsal and palmar sides of the hand. Autistic traits were measured by questionnaires (Autism Spectrum [AQ] and Empathy/Systemizing [EQ-SQ] Quotients). The distortions in implicit hand maps were replicated in our experimental situations. However, there were no significant relationships between autistic traits and the magnitudes of the distortions as well as within-individual variabilities in the maps and localization performances. Consistent results were observed from comparisons between IQ-matched samples of people with and without a diagnosis of ASD. Our findings suggest that there exist perceptual and neural processes for implicit body representations underlying position sense consistent across levels of autistic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Souta Hidaka
- Department of Psychology, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Na Chen
- Developmental Disorders Section, Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa City, Japan
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Naomi Ishii
- Developmental Disorders Section, Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa City, Japan
| | - Risa Iketani
- Department of Psychology, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kirino Suzuki
- Department of Psychology, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Matthew R Longo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Makoto Wada
- Developmental Disorders Section, Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa City, Japan
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Longo MR. Distortion of mental body representations. Trends Cogn Sci 2022; 26:241-254. [PMID: 34952785 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Our body is central to our sense of self, and distorted body representations are found in several serious medical conditions. This paper reviews evidence that distortions of body representations are also common in healthy individuals, and occur in domains including tactile spatial perception, proprioception, and the conscious body image. Across domains, there is a general tendency for body width to be overestimated compared to body length. Intriguingly, distortions in both eating disorders and chronic pain appear to be exaggerations of this baseline pattern of distortions, suggesting that these conditions may relate to dysfunction of mechanisms for body perception. Distortions of body representations provide a revealing window into basic aspects of self-perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew R Longo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK.
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Zopf R, Kosourikhina V, Brooks KR, Polito V, Stephen ID. Visual body-size adaptation and estimation of tactile distance. Br J Psychol 2021; 112:1012-1027. [PMID: 34120340 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2020] [Revised: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Estimating the size of bodies is crucial for interactions with physical and social environments. Body-size perception is malleable and can be altered using visual adaptation paradigms. However, it is unclear whether such visual adaptation effects also transfer to other modalities and influence, for example, the perception of tactile distances. In this study, we employed a visual adaptation paradigm. Participants were exposed to images of expanded or contracted versions of self- or other-identity bodies. Before and after this adaptation, they were asked to manipulate the width of body stimuli to appear as 'normal' as possible. We replicated an effect of visual adaptation such that the body-size selected as most 'normal' was larger after exposure to expanded and thinner after exposure to contracted adaptation stimuli. In contrast, we did not find evidence that this adaptation effect transfers to distance estimates for paired tactile stimuli delivered to the abdomen. A Bayesian analysis showed that our data provide moderate evidence that there is no effect of visual body-size adaptation on the estimation of spatial parameters in a tactile task. This suggests that visual body-size adaptation effects do not transfer to somatosensory body-size representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regine Zopf
- Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Perception in Action Research Centre, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Body Image and Ingestion Group, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Veronika Kosourikhina
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Kevin R Brooks
- Perception in Action Research Centre, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Body Image and Ingestion Group, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Vince Polito
- Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Body Image and Ingestion Group, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ian D Stephen
- Perception in Action Research Centre, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Body Image and Ingestion Group, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medical, Health & Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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