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Barreto C, Curtin A, Topoglu Y, Day-Watkins J, Garvin B, Foster G, Ormanoglu Z, Sheridan E, Connell J, Bennett D, Heffler K, Ayaz H. Prefrontal Cortex Responses to Social Video Stimuli in Young Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. Brain Sci 2024; 14:503. [PMID: 38790481 PMCID: PMC11119834 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14050503] [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: 04/13/2024] [Revised: 05/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting individuals worldwide and characterized by deficits in social interaction along with the presence of restricted interest and repetitive behaviors. Despite decades of behavioral research, little is known about the brain mechanisms that influence social behaviors among children with ASD. This, in part, is due to limitations of traditional imaging techniques specifically targeting pediatric populations. As a portable and scalable optical brain monitoring technology, functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) provides a measure of cerebral hemodynamics related to sensory, motor, or cognitive function. Here, we utilized fNIRS to investigate the prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity of young children with ASD and with typical development while they watched social and nonsocial video clips. The PFC activity of ASD children was significantly higher for social stimuli at medial PFC, which is implicated in social cognition/processing. Moreover, this activity was also consistently correlated with clinical measures, and higher activation of the same brain area only during social video viewing was associated with more ASD symptoms. This is the first study to implement a neuroergonomics approach to investigate cognitive load in response to realistic, complex, and dynamic audiovisual social stimuli for young children with and without autism. Our results further confirm that new generation of portable fNIRS neuroimaging can be used for ecologically valid measurements of the brain function of toddlers and preschool children with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candida Barreto
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Adrian Curtin
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Yigit Topoglu
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | | | - Brigid Garvin
- St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA 19134, USA
| | - Grant Foster
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Zuhal Ormanoglu
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | | | - James Connell
- School of Education, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - David Bennett
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19129, USA
| | - Karen Heffler
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19129, USA
| | - Hasan Ayaz
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Drexel Solutions Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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Pavăl D. The dopamine hypothesis of autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive analysis of the evidence. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2023; 173:1-42. [PMID: 37993174 DOI: 10.1016/bs.irn.2023.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
Despite intensive research into the etiopathogenesis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), limited progress has been achieved so far. Among the plethora of models seeking to clarify how ASD arises, a coherent dopaminergic model was lacking until recently. In 2017, we provided a theoretical framework that we designated "the dopamine hypothesis of ASD". In the meantime, numerous studies yielded empirical evidence for this model. 4 years later, we provided a second version encompassing a refined and reconceptualized framework that accounted for these novel findings. In this chapter, we will review the evidence backing the previous versions of our model and add the most recent developments to the picture. Along these lines, we intend to lay out a comprehensive analysis of the supporting evidence for the dopamine hypothesis of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denis Pavăl
- The Romanian Association for Autoimmune Encephalitis, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Department of Psychiatry, "Iuliu Hațieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
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Parker TC, Zhang X, Noah JA, Tiede M, Scassellati B, Kelley M, McPartland JC, Hirsch J. Neural and visual processing of social gaze cueing in typical and ASD adults. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.01.30.23284243. [PMID: 36778502 PMCID: PMC9915835 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.30.23284243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Atypical eye gaze in joint attention is a clinical characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite this documented symptom, neural processing of joint attention tasks in real-life social interactions is not understood. To address this knowledge gap, functional-near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and eye-tracking data were acquired simultaneously as ASD and typically developed (TD) individuals engaged in a gaze-directed joint attention task with a live human and robot partner. We test the hypothesis that face processing deficits in ASD are greater for interactive faces than for simulated (robot) faces. Consistent with prior findings, neural responses during human gaze cueing modulated by face visual dwell time resulted in increased activity of ventral frontal regions in ASD and dorsal parietal systems in TD participants. Hypoactivity of the right dorsal parietal area during live human gaze cueing was correlated with autism spectrum symptom severity: Brief Observations of Symptoms of Autism (BOSA) scores (r = âˆ'0.86). Contrarily, neural activity in response to robot gaze cueing modulated by visual acquisition factors activated dorsal parietal systems in ASD, and this neural activity was not related to autism symptom severity (r = 0.06). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that altered encoding of incoming facial information to the dorsal parietal cortex is specific to live human faces in ASD. These findings open new directions for understanding joint attention difficulties in ASD by providing a connection between superior parietal lobule activity and live interaction with human faces. Lay Summary Little is known about why it is so difficult for autistic individuals to make eye contact with other people. We find that in a live face-to-face viewing task with a robot, the brains of autistic participants were similar to typical participants but not when the partner was a live human. Findings suggest that difficulties in real-life social situations for autistic individuals may be specific to difficulties with live social interaction rather than general face gaze.
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