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Lee JP, Chang YH, Tseng YL, Chou TL, Chien YL. Pupillary response during social emotion tasks in autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res 2024; 17:2120-2132. [PMID: 39096024 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3206] [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: 02/04/2024] [Accepted: 07/22/2024] [Indexed: 08/04/2024]
Abstract
Autistic individuals encounter challenges in recognizing emotional expressions of others. Pupillary response has been proposed as an indicator of arousal dysregulation or cognitive load. The pupillary response of autistic individuals during socio-affective tasks remains unclear. This study investigated pupillary response in autistic adults when viewing emotional faces/eyes and recognizing emotions during the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and watching interpersonal touch scenes in the social touch task. The study included 98 participants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and 37 typically developing controls (TD). Pupil size was measured using the Tobii X2-30 Eye Tracker. The results showed that autistic adults had larger maximal pupil sizes, smaller minimal pupil sizes, and greater change rates of pupil size, particularly during the RMET Eyes task. Clinical correlations revealed that attention switching difficulty positively correlated with mean pupil size in TD participants, while social communication deficits positively correlated with mean pupil size in autistic participants. In conclusion, our findings suggest atypical pupillary responses in autistic adults during socio-affective tasks, indicating heightened cognitive demand. Further investigation is necessary to understand the underlying mechanisms and their association with autistic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juei-Po Lee
- Department of Medical Education, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Hsuan Chang
- College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Li Tseng
- Department of Electrical Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Tai-Li Chou
- Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Ling Chien
- Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
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Chen C, Cheng Y, Wu C, Chiang C, Wong C, Huang C, Martínez RM, Tzeng OJL, Fan Y. A sensory signature of unaffected biological parents predicts the risk of autism in their offspring. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2024; 78:60-68. [PMID: 37807577 PMCID: PMC11488609 DOI: 10.1111/pcn.13605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
AIM Despite the emphasis on sensory dysfunction phenotypes in the revised diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there has been limited research, particularly in the field of neurobiology, investigating the concordance in sensory features between individuals with ASD and their genetic relatives. Therefore, our objective was to examine whether neurobehavioral sensory patterns could serve as endophenotypic markers for ASD. METHODS We combined questionnaire- and lab-based sensory evaluations with sensory fMRI measures to examine the patterns of sensory responsivity in 30 clinically diagnosed with ASD, 26 matched controls (CON), and 48 biological parents for both groups (27 parents of individuals with ASD [P-ASD] and 21 for individuals with CON [P-CON]). RESULTS The ASD and P-ASD groups had higher sensory responsivity and rated sensory stimuli as more unpleasant than the CON and P-CON groups, respectively. They also exhibited greater hemodynamic responses within the sensory cortices. Overlapping activations were observed within these sensory cortices in the ASD and P-ASD groups. Using a machine learning approach with robust prediction models across cohorts, we demonstrated that the sensory profile of biological parents accurately predicted the likelihood of their offspring having ASD, achieving a prediction accuracy of 71.4%. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide support for the hereditary basis of sensory alterations in ASD and suggest a potential avenue to improve ASD diagnosis by utilizing the sensory signature of biological parents, especially in families with a high risk of ASD. This approach holds promising prospects for early detection, even before the birth of the offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenyi Chen
- Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public HealthTaipei Medical UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain and Consciousness, College of Humanities and Social SciencesTaipei Medical UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
- Psychiatric Research Center, Wan Fang HospitalTaipei Medical UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Yawei Cheng
- Institute of Neuroscience and Brain Research CenterNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
- Department of Physical Medicine and RehabilitationNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung University HospitalYilanTaiwan
| | - Chien‐Te Wu
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI‐IRCN)The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS), The University of TokyoTokyoJapan
| | - Chung‐Hsin Chiang
- Department of Psychology and Research Center for Mind, Brain and LearningNational Chengchi UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Ching‐Ching Wong
- Child Developmental Assessment & Intervention Center, Department of Child & Adolescent PsychiatryTaipei City HospitalTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Chih‐Mao Huang
- Department of Biological Science and TechnologyNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
- Center for Intelligent Drug Systems and Smart Bio‐devices (IDSB)National Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
| | - Róger Marcelo Martínez
- Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public HealthTaipei Medical UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
- School of Psychological SciencesNational Autonomous University of HondurasTegucigalpaHonduras
| | - Ovid J. L. Tzeng
- Department of Biological Science and TechnologyNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityHsinchuTaiwan
- Cognitive Neuroscience LaboratoryInstitute of Linguistics, Academia SinicaTaipeiTaiwan
- College of Humanities and Social SciencesTaipei Medical UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
- Department of Educational Psychology and CounselingNational Taiwan Normal UniversityTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Yang‐Teng Fan
- Graduate Institute of MedicineYuan Ze UniversityTaoyuanTaiwan
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Mosconi MW, Stevens CJ, Unruh KE, Shafer R, Elison JT. Endophenotype trait domains for advancing gene discovery in autism spectrum disorder. J Neurodev Disord 2023; 15:41. [PMID: 37993779 PMCID: PMC10664534 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-023-09511-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with a diverse range of etiological processes, including both genetic and non-genetic causes. For a plurality of individuals with ASD, it is likely that the primary causes involve multiple common inherited variants that individually account for only small levels of variation in phenotypic outcomes. This genetic landscape creates a major challenge for detecting small but important pathogenic effects associated with ASD. To address similar challenges, separate fields of medicine have identified endophenotypes, or discrete, quantitative traits that reflect genetic likelihood for a particular clinical condition and leveraged the study of these traits to map polygenic mechanisms and advance more personalized therapeutic strategies for complex diseases. Endophenotypes represent a distinct class of biomarkers useful for understanding genetic contributions to psychiatric and developmental disorders because they are embedded within the causal chain between genotype and clinical phenotype, and they are more proximal to the action of the gene(s) than behavioral traits. Despite their demonstrated power for guiding new understanding of complex genetic structures of clinical conditions, few endophenotypes associated with ASD have been identified and integrated into family genetic studies. In this review, we argue that advancing knowledge of the complex pathogenic processes that contribute to ASD can be accelerated by refocusing attention toward identifying endophenotypic traits reflective of inherited mechanisms. This pivot requires renewed emphasis on study designs with measurement of familial co-variation including infant sibling studies, family trio and quad designs, and analysis of monozygotic and dizygotic twin concordance for select trait dimensions. We also emphasize that clarification of endophenotypic traits necessarily will involve integration of transdiagnostic approaches as candidate traits likely reflect liability for multiple clinical conditions and often are agnostic to diagnostic boundaries. Multiple candidate endophenotypes associated with ASD likelihood are described, and we propose a new focus on the analysis of "endophenotype trait domains" (ETDs), or traits measured across multiple levels (e.g., molecular, cellular, neural system, neuropsychological) along the causal pathway from genes to behavior. To inform our central argument for research efforts toward ETD discovery, we first provide a brief review of the concept of endophenotypes and their application to psychiatry. Next, we highlight key criteria for determining the value of candidate endophenotypes, including unique considerations for the study of ASD. Descriptions of different study designs for assessing endophenotypes in ASD research then are offered, including analysis of how select patterns of results may help prioritize candidate traits in future research. We also present multiple candidate ETDs that collectively cover a breadth of clinical phenomena associated with ASD, including social, language/communication, cognitive control, and sensorimotor processes. These ETDs are described because they represent promising targets for gene discovery related to clinical autistic traits, and they serve as models for analysis of separate candidate domains that may inform understanding of inherited etiological processes associated with ASD as well as overlapping neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew W Mosconi
- Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies and Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training (K-CART), University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
- Clinical Child Psychology Program, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
| | - Cassandra J Stevens
- Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies and Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training (K-CART), University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
- Clinical Child Psychology Program, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Kathryn E Unruh
- Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies and Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training (K-CART), University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Robin Shafer
- Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies and Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training (K-CART), University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Jed T Elison
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Jayashankar A, Bynum B, Butera C, Kilroy E, Harrison L, Aziz-Zadeh L. Connectivity differences between inferior frontal gyrus and mentalizing network in autism as compared to developmental coordination disorder and non-autistic youth. Cortex 2023; 167:115-131. [PMID: 37549452 PMCID: PMC10543516 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.06.014] [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: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 06/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
Prior studies have compared neural connectivity during mentalizing tasks in autism (ASD) to non-autistic individuals and found reduced connectivity between the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and mentalizing regions. However, given that the IFG is involved in motor processing, and about 80% of autistic individuals have motor-related difficulties, it is necessary to explore if these differences are specific to ASD or instead similar across other developmental motor disorders, such as developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Participants (29 ASD, 20 DCD, 31 typically developing [TD]; ages 8-17) completed a mentalizing task in the fMRI scanner, where they were asked to think about why someone was performing an action. Results indicated that the ASD group, as compared to both TD and DCD groups, showed significant functional connectivity differences when mentalizing about other's actions. The left IFG seed revealed ASD connectivity differences with the: bilateral temporoparietal junction (TPJ), left insular cortex, and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Connectivity differences using the right IFG seed revealed ASD differences in the: left insula, and right DLPFC. These results indicate that connectivity differences between the IFG, mentalizing regions, emotion and motor processing regions are specific to ASD and not a result of potentially co-occurring motor differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aditya Jayashankar
- Center for Neuroscience of Embodied Cognition (CeNEC), Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Brittany Bynum
- Center for Neuroscience of Embodied Cognition (CeNEC), Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Christiana Butera
- Center for Neuroscience of Embodied Cognition (CeNEC), Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Emily Kilroy
- Center for Neuroscience of Embodied Cognition (CeNEC), Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Laura Harrison
- Center for Neuroscience of Embodied Cognition (CeNEC), Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
- Center for Neuroscience of Embodied Cognition (CeNEC), Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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Cha WJ, Kim K. Diminished emotion recognition with reduced face gaze in complex situation in individuals with broad autism phenotype. Int J Clin Health Psychol 2023; 23:100399. [PMID: 37577162 PMCID: PMC10413062 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2023.100399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Background/objective Individuals with broad autism phenotype (BAP) showed a diminished ability to recognize emotion. This study aims to examine whether their decline in emotion recognition ability could be more clearly identified as task complexity increased and whether their decline could be influenced by their eye-gaze patterns. Method 41 individuals with BAP and 40 healthy controls performed two types of emotion recognition tasks. After confirming conditions wherein the BAP group did not perform well compared to the control group, we compared gaze proportion on faces and context between groups when performing the conditions. Results The more difficult the task, the clearer the significant relationships between the level of autistic traits and emotion recognition ability. The BAP group showed lower accuracy compared to the control group when a face with mild emotional intensity was presented with context. In terms of gaze proportion, the BAP group looked less at faces when recognizing emotions compared to the control group. Conclusion These findings indicate that diminished emotion recognition ability in individuals with BAP may be influenced by face gaze.
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Affiliation(s)
- Woo-Jin Cha
- Department of Psychology, Chung-Ang University, 84, Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 06974, Republic of Korea
| | - Kiho Kim
- Department of Psychology of Counseling, Sejong Cyber University, Cheonho-daero 680, Gwangjingu, Seoul 04992, Republic of Korea
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Fithall K, Gray IE, Linardon J, Phillipou A, Donaldson PH, Albein-Urios N, Enticott PG, Fuller-Tyszkiewicz M, Kirkovski M. Exploring the role of autistic traits and eating disorder psychopathology on mentalising ability in the general population. BMC Psychol 2023; 11:269. [PMID: 37674242 PMCID: PMC10483798 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-023-01306-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: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study evaluated the role of overlapping traits and characteristics related to autism spectrum disorder (autism) and anorexia nervosa (AN) in the general population, and the impact of these traits on mentalising ability. METHODS A sample of young adults (N = 306), aged 18-25 years, was recruited to complete an online study that consisted of 4 measures: the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, the Mentalization Scale, and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task. RESULTS Higher levels of autistic traits, particularly difficulty with attention switching, were associated with increased eating disorder psychopathology. Overall, autistic traits and eating disorder psychopathology were related among females, but not males. Difficulty with attention switching, however, was related to eating disorder psychopathology among both females and males. Autistic traits also appear to have a greater role in mentalising ability than does eating disorder psychopathology. CONCLUSION The role of attention switching in overlapping traits of autism and eating disorder psychopathology needs to be more comprehensively evaluated by future research, as does the role of biological sex. Expanded knowledge in this field will help to better understand and evaluate symptoms at presentation, leading to clearer diagnoses and potentially better treatment outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Fithall
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
| | - Indigo E Gray
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
| | - Jake Linardon
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
| | - Andrea Phillipou
- Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Orygen, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Mental Health, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Mental Health, Austin Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | | | | | | | | | - Melissa Kirkovski
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
- Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
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Ortega J, Chen Z, Whitney D. Inferential Emotion Tracking reveals impaired context-based emotion processing in individuals with high Autism Quotient scores. Sci Rep 2023; 13:8093. [PMID: 37208368 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35371-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Emotion perception is essential for successful social interactions and maintaining long-term relationships with friends and family. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience social communication deficits and have reported difficulties in facial expression recognition. However, emotion recognition depends on more than just processing face expression; context is critically important to correctly infer the emotions of others. Whether context-based emotion processing is impacted in those with Autism remains unclear. Here, we used a recently developed context-based emotion perception task, called Inferential Emotion Tracking (IET), and investigated whether individuals who scored high on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) had deficits in context-based emotion perception. Using 34 videos (including Hollywood movies, home videos, and documentaries), we tested 102 participants as they continuously tracked the affect (valence and arousal) of a blurred-out, invisible character. We found that individual differences in Autism Quotient scores were more strongly correlated with IET task accuracy than they are with traditional face emotion perception tasks. This correlation remained significant even when controlling for potential covarying factors, general intelligence, and performance on traditional face perception tasks. These findings suggest that individuals with ASD may have impaired perception of contextual information, it reveals the importance of developing ecologically relevant emotion perception tasks in order to better assess and treat ASD, and it provides a new direction for further research on context-based emotion perception deficits in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jefferson Ortega
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
| | - Zhimin Chen
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - David Whitney
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- Vision Science Program, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
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Oomen D, Cracco E, Brass M, Wiersema JR. EEG frequency tagging evidence of intact social interaction recognition in adults with autism. Autism Res 2023. [PMID: 37040541 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2929] [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: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/13/2023]
Abstract
To explain the social difficulties in autism, many studies have been conducted on social stimuli processing. However, this research has mostly used basic social stimuli (e.g., eyes, faces, hands, single agent), not resembling the complexity of what we encounter in our daily social lives and what people with autism experience difficulties with. Third-party social interactions are complex stimuli that we come across often and are also highly relevant for social functioning. Interestingly, the existing behavioral studies point to altered social interaction processing in autism. However, it is not clear whether this is due to altered recognition or altered interpretation of social interactions. Here, we specifically investigated the recognition of social interaction in adults with and without autism. More precisely, we measured neural responses to social scenes depicting either social interaction or not with an electroencephalogram frequency tagging task and compared these responses between adults with and without autism (N = 61). The results revealed an enhanced response to social scenes with interaction, replicating previous findings in a neurotypical sample. Crucially, this effect was found in both groups, with no difference between them. This suggests that social interaction recognition is not atypical in adults with autism. Taken together with the previous behavioral evidence, our study thus suggests that individuals with autism are able to recognize social interactions, but that they might not extract the same information from those interactions or that they might use the extracted information differently.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danna Oomen
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- EXPLORA, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Emiel Cracco
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- EXPLORA, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Marcel Brass
- EXPLORA, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- School of Mind and Brain/Department of Psychology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jan R Wiersema
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- EXPLORA, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Greenberg DM, Warrier V, Abu-Akel A, Allison C, Gajos KZ, Reinecke K, Rentfrow PJ, Radecki MA, Baron-Cohen S. Sex and age differences in "theory of mind" across 57 countries using the English version of the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2022385119. [PMID: 36584298 PMCID: PMC9910622 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2022385119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test (Eyes Test) is a widely used assessment of "theory of mind." The NIMH Research Domain Criteria recommends it as one of two tests for "understanding mental states." Previous studies have demonstrated an on-average female advantage on the Eyes Test. However, it is unknown whether this female advantage exists across the lifespan and across a large number of countries. Thus, we tested sex and age differences using the English version of the Eyes Test in adolescents and adults across 57 countries. We also tested for associations with sociodemographic and cognitive/personality factors. We leveraged one discovery dataset (N = 305,726) and three validation datasets (Ns = 642; 5,284; and 1,087). The results show that: i) there is a replicable on-average female advantage in performance on the Eyes Test; ii) performance increases through adolescence and shallowly declines across adulthood; iii) the on-average female advantage is evident across the lifespan; iv) there is a significant on-average female advantage in 36 out of 57 countries; v) there is a significant on-average female advantage on translated (non-English) versions of the Eyes Test in 12 out of 16 countries, as confirmed by a systematic review; vi) D-scores, or empathizing-systemizing, predict Eyes Test performance above and beyond sex differences; and vii) the female advantage is negatively linked to "prosperity" and "autonomy," and positively linked to "collectivism," as confirmed by exploratory country-level analyses. We conclude that the on-average female advantage on the Eyes Test is observed across ages and most countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M. Greenberg
- Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan5290002, Israel
- Department of Music, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan5290002, Israel
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 8AH, United Kingdom
| | - Varun Warrier
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 8AH, United Kingdom
| | - Ahmad Abu-Akel
- Institut de Psychologie, Université de Lausanne, LausanneCH-1015, Switzerland
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa3498838, Israel
| | - Carrie Allison
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 8AH, United Kingdom
| | - Krzysztof Z. Gajos
- Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States of America
| | - Katharina Reinecke
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-2355, United States of America
| | - P. Jason Rentfrow
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Marcin A. Radecki
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 8AH, United Kingdom
- Social and Affective Neuroscience Group, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Lucca55100, Italy
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 8AH, United Kingdom
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Pieslinger JF, Wiskerke J, Igelström K. Contributions of face processing, social anhedonia and mentalizing to the expression of social autistic-like traits. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:1046097. [PMID: 36620857 PMCID: PMC9817135 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1046097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Quantitative autistic-like traits (QATs) are a constellation of traits that mirror those of clinical autism and are thought to share the same mechanisms as the condition. There is great interest in identifying the genetic and neurobiological basis of QATs, but progress is hindered by the composite nature of these clinically based constructs. Social QATs are defined according to the diagnostic criteria for autism, comprising multiple potential neural mechanisms that may contribute to varying degrees. The objective of this study was to decompose social QATs into more specific constructs, in line with the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC). We chose constructs with trait-like properties and known or suggested significance for autistic social function: (1) social anhedonia, (2) prosopagnosia (face blindness), and (3) mentalizing (attributing mental states to images of eyes). We hypothesized that these constructs may all contribute to observed variance in social QATs. Methods We recruited 148 adults with a broad range of QATs (mean age 37.9 years, range 18-69; 50% female; 5.4% autistic) to an experimental behavioral study conducted online. We estimated social QATs using the social factor of the Comprehensive Autistic Traits Inventory. We used the Oxford Face Matching Task and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test to measure face matching ability and mentalizing, respectively. Social anhedonia traits were measured with the Anticipatory and Consummatory Interpersonal Pleasure Scale, and prosopagnosic traits with the 20-item Prosopagnosia Index. A combination of frequentist and Bayesian statistics was used to test the social constructs as predictors of social QATs. Results We found that social anhedonic traits, prosopagnosic traits, and face matching performance were likely predictors of social QATs, whereas mentalizing showed limited contribution. Conclusion The findings support prosopagnosic and anhedonic traits, but not mentalizing deficits, as dimensional predictors of individual differences in social function across the autistic spectrum. Further, the study strongly suggests that social reward systems and face processing networks play significant and independent roles in autistic-like social function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johan F. Pieslinger
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Joost Wiskerke
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Kajsa Igelström
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden,*Correspondence: Kajsa Igelström,
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Cross L, Piovesan A, Atherton G. Autistic people outperform neurotypicals in a cartoon version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes. Autism Res 2022; 15:1603-1608. [PMID: 35855595 PMCID: PMC9543219 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Prior research suggests that while autistic people may demonstrate poorer facial emotion recognition when stimuli are human, these differences lessen when stimuli are anthropomorphic. To investigate this further, this work explores emotion recognition in autistic and neurotypical adults (n = 196). Groups were compared on a standard and a cartoon version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test. Results indicated that autistic individuals were not significantly different from neurotypicals on the standard version. However, autistic people outperformed neurotypicals on the cartoon version. The implications for these findings regarding emotion recognition deficits and the social motivation account of autism are discussed and support the view of socio‐cognitive differences rather than deficits in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liam Cross
- Department of Psychology, Edge Hill University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Andrea Piovesan
- Department of Design and Planning in Complex Environments, Università Iuav di Venezia, Venice, Italy
| | - Gray Atherton
- Department of Psychology, Edge Hill University, Liverpool, UK
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12
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Pavlova MA, Sokolov AA. Reading language of the eyes. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 140:104755. [PMID: 35760388 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The need for assessment of social skills in clinical and neurotypical populations has led to the widespread, and still increasing use of the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test' (RMET) developed more than two decades ago by Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues for evaluation of social cognition in autism. By analyzing most recent clinical and brain imaging data, we illuminate a set of factors decisive for using the RMET. Converging evidence indicates: (i) In neurotypical individuals, RMET scores are tightly correlated with other social skills (empathy, emotional intelligence, and body language reading); (ii) The RMET assesses recognition of facial affect, but also heavily relies on receptive language skills, semantic knowledge, and memory; (iii) RMET performance is underwritten by the large-scale ensembles of neural networks well-outside the social brain; (iv) The RMET is limited in its capacity to differentiate between neuropsychiatric conditions as well as between stages and severity of a single disorder, though it reliably distinguishes individuals with altered social cognition or elevated pathological traits from neurotypical persons; (v) Merely gender (as a social construct) rather than neurobiological sex influences performance on the RMET; (vi) RMET scores do not substantially decline in healthy aging, and they are higher with higher education level, cognitive abilities, literacy, and mental well-being; (vii) Accuracy on the RMET, and engagement of the social brain, are greater when emotions are expressed and recognized by individuals with similar cultural/ethnic background. Further research is required to better inform usage of the RMET as a tool for swift and reliable examination of social cognition. In light of comparable visual input from the RMET images and faces covered by masks due to COVID-19 regulations, the analysis is of value for keeping efficient social interaction during the current pandemic, in particular, in professional settings related to social communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina A Pavlova
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Menthal Health (TüCMH), Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Arseny A Sokolov
- Service de neuropsychologie et de neuroréhabilitation, Département des neurosciences cliniques, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
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13
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Ouerchefani R, Ouerchefani N, Ben Rejeb MR, Le Gall D. Neurocognitive and neural mechanisms underlying deficit on the Reading Mind In The Eyes Task: Evidence from patients with focal prefrontal cortex damage. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2022; 44:1-18. [DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2022.2057928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Riadh Ouerchefani
- Department of Psychology, University of Tunis El Manar, High Institute of Human sciences, Tunis, Tunisia
- Department of Neurosurgery, Foch Hospital, France
| | - Naoufel Ouerchefani
- Department of Psychology, University Tunis I; Faculty of Human and Social Science of Tunisia, Tunis, Tunisia
| | | | - Didier Le Gall
- Univ Angers, Université de Nantes, LPPL, SFR Confluences, Angers, France
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14
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Uljarević M, Bott NT, Libove RA, Phillips JM, Parker KJ, Hardan AY. Characterizing Emotion Recognition and Theory of Mind Performance Profiles in Unaffected Siblings of Autistic Children. Front Psychol 2022; 12:736324. [PMID: 35283803 PMCID: PMC8907847 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.736324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 12/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotion recognition skills and the ability to understand the mental states of others are crucial for normal social functioning. Conversely, delays and impairments in these processes can have a profound impact on capability to engage in, maintain, and effectively regulate social interactions. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the performance of 42 autistic children (Mage = 8.25 years, SD = 2.22), 45 unaffected siblings (Mage = 8.65 years, SD = 2.40), and 41 typically developing (TD) controls (Mage = 8.56 years, SD = 2.35) on the Affect Recognition (AR) and Theory of Mind (TOM) subtests of the Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment Battery. There were no significant differences between siblings and TD controls. Autistic children showed significantly poorer performance on AR when compared to TD controls and on TOM when compared to both TD controls and unaffected siblings. An additional comparison of ASD, unaffected sibling and TD control subsamples, matched on full-scale IQ, revealed no group differences for either AR or TOM. AR and TOM processes have received less research attention in siblings of autistic children and remain less well characterized. Therefore, despite limitations, findings reported here contribute to our growing understanding of AR and TOM abilities in siblings of autistic children and highlight important future research directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirko Uljarević
- Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
- Department of Psychology and Counseling, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Nicholas T. Bott
- Department of Medicine, Clinical Excellence Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
- PGSP-Stanford Consortium, Department of Psychology, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA, United States
| | - Robin A. Libove
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Jennifer M. Phillips
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Karen J. Parker
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Antonio Y. Hardan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
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15
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Rum Y, Genzer S, Markovitch N, Jenkins J, Perry A, Knafo-Noam A. Are there positive effects of having a sibling with special needs? Empathy and prosociality of twins of children with non-typical development. Child Dev 2022; 93:1121-1128. [PMID: 35194782 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
This study examined whether typically developing (TD) twins of non-TD children demonstrate enhanced empathy and prosociality. Of 778 Hebrew-speaking Israeli families who participated in a twin study, 63 were identified to have a non-TD child with a TD twin, and 404 as having both twins TD. TD twins of non-TD children (27% males) were compared to the rest of the cohort of TD children (46% males) on measures of empathy and prosociality. Participants were 11 years old. TD twins of non-TD children scored significantly higher than TD twins of TD children in a measure of cognitive empathy (d = .43). No differences were found in emotional empathy and prosociality. The specificity of the positive effect on cognitive empathy is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonat Rum
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.,University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Shir Genzer
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | | | | | - Anat Perry
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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16
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Costa C, Cristea IA, Dal Bò E, Melloni C, Gentili C. Brain activity during facial processing in autism spectrum disorder: an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2021; 62:1412-1424. [PMID: 33723876 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Though aberrant face processing is a hallmark of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), findings on accompanying brain activity are divergent. Therefore, we conducted an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of studies examining brain activity during face processing. METHODS We searched PubMed and PsycINFO using combinations of terms as 'fMRI', 'Autism Spectrum Disorder', 'Face Perception'. Eligible studies reported on DSM-diagnosed ASD individuals, compared to controls (HC), using face stimuli presented in fMRI and reporting whole-brain analysis coordinates. We compared two approaches: 'convergence of differences' (primary analysis) using study-level coordinates from ASD vs. HC contrasts, and 'differences in convergence' (secondary) pooling coordinates within each group separately, and contrasting the resultant ALE maps. RESULTS Thirty-five studies (655 ASD and 668 HC) were included. Primary analysis identified a cluster in amygdala/parahippocampus where HC showed greater convergence of activation. Secondary analysis yielded no significant results. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that ASD dysfunction in face processing relies on structures involved in emotional processing rather than perception. We also demonstrate that the two ALE methodologies lead to divergent results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristiano Costa
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Ioana Alina Cristea
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.,IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
| | - Elisa Dal Bò
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.,Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Caterina Melloni
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Claudio Gentili
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.,Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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17
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Andrews K, Lariccia L, Talwar V, Bosacki S. Empathetic Concern in Emerging Adolescents: The Role of Theory of Mind and Gender Roles. THE JOURNAL OF EARLY ADOLESCENCE 2021; 41:1394-1424. [PMID: 34712001 PMCID: PMC8543568 DOI: 10.1177/02724316211002258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The current study examined the roles of gender, and gender-role orientation in young adolescents' empathetic concern. In addition, this study aimed to explore the contribution of Theory of Mind in participants' empathetic concern. Finally, this study examined whether gender and gender-role orientation were implicated in emerging adolescents' Theory of Mind understanding. One-hundred-fifty 11- to 12-year-olds (79 self-identified females) completed questionnaires measuring their empathetic concern, Theory of Mind, and their perceived gender-role orientation. Results showed that gender-role orientation, specifically, femininity and masculinity predicted empathetic concern above and beyond gender. In addition, the effects of cognitive and affective Theory of Mind are explored and discussed in relation to empathetic concern. Finally, neither gender nor gender-role orientation was found to contribute to participants' Theory of Mind understanding. These findings suggest that emerging adolescents' perceived gender roles, as well as their ability to consider another's beliefs, play a role in their expression of empathetic concern.
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18
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Riadh O, Naoufel O, Ben Rejeb MR, Le Gall D. Impaired social perception from eyes and face visual cues: evidence from prefrontal cortex damage. Soc Neurosci 2021; 16:607-626. [PMID: 34544320 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2021.1983458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Despite the key role that decoding of social-perceptual cues from faces plays in interpersonal communication, it is only recently that the potential of prefrontal cortex damage to disrupt this ability has been recognized. In fact, few studies to date had assessed whether the ability to identify the state of mind of others from the whole or part of the face is disrupted after prefrontal cortex damage and whether these two abilities are associated and share overlapped neural systems. In the present study, 30 patients with focal prefrontal lesions and 30 matched control subjects were assessed on their ability to recognize six basic emotions from facial expressions of the whole face and to identify states of mind of others from photographs of only the eyes using the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task". Results showed that frontal patients were significantly impaired compared with control subjects on both tasks. Moreover, regression analyses showed that these two abilities are associated and reciprocally predictive of one another. Finally, using voxel-based lesion analysis; we identified a partially common bilaterally distributed prefrontal network in the decoding of both emotional cues from both the whole face and eyes centered within the dorsomedial and ventral regions with extension to the lateral frontal pole.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ouerchefani Riadh
- University of Tunis El Manar, High Institute of Human Sciences, Department of Psychology, 26 Boulevard Darghouth Pacha, Tunis, Tunisia.,Univ Angers, Université De Nantes, LPPL, SFR CONFLUENCES, F-49000 Angers, France
| | | | - Mohamed Riadh Ben Rejeb
- , University Tunis I, Faculty of Human and Social Science of Tunisia, Department of Psychology, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Didier Le Gall
- Univ Angers, Université De Nantes, LPPL, SFR CONFLUENCES, F-49000 Angers, France
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19
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Mo K, Sadoway T, Bonato S, Ameis SH, Anagnostou E, Lerch JP, Taylor MJ, Lai MC. Sex/gender differences in the human autistic brains: A systematic review of 20 years of neuroimaging research. Neuroimage Clin 2021; 32:102811. [PMID: 34509922 PMCID: PMC8436080 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2020] [Revised: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Our current understanding of autism is largely based on clinical experiences and research involving male individuals given the male-predominance in prevalence and the under-inclusion of female individuals due to small samples, co-occurring conditions, or simply being missed for diagnosis. There is a significantly biased 'male lens' in this field with autistic females insufficiently understood. We therefore conducted a systematic review to examine how sex and gender modulate brain structure and function in autistic individuals. Findings from the past 20 years are yet to converge on specific brain regions/networks with consistent sex/gender-modulating effects. Despite at least three well-powered studies identifying specific patterns of significant sex/gender-modulation of autism-control differences, many other studies are likely underpowered, suggesting a critical need for future investigation into sex/gender-based heterogeneity with better-powered designs. Future research should also formally investigate the effects of gender, beyond biological sex, which is mostly absent in the current literature. Understanding the roles of sex and gender in the development of autism is an imperative step to extend beyond the 'male lens' in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Mo
- Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth & Family Mental Health and Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada
| | - Tara Sadoway
- Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
| | - Sarah Bonato
- Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth & Family Mental Health and Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada
| | - Stephanie H Ameis
- Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth & Family Mental Health and Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Evdokia Anagnostou
- Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Canada; Department of Paediatrics, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Jason P Lerch
- Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
| | - Margot J Taylor
- Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, Canada; Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
| | - Meng-Chuan Lai
- Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth & Family Mental Health and Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, Canada; Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
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20
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de Giambattista C, Ventura P, Trerotoli P, Margari F, Margari L. Sex Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Focus on High Functioning Children and Adolescents. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:539835. [PMID: 34305658 PMCID: PMC8298903 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.539835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has historically been studied, known, and diagnosed in males. Females tend to remain unidentified, especially those with average intelligence abilities. This sex/gender difference might be partially explained by biological risk factors, but it is probably also bound to methodological issues. The present study aims to examine phenotypic characteristics (cognitive, emotive, socio-communicative, and academic) of a group of 54 females with ASD matched to a group of 55 males with ASD (3-18 years), all without cognitive impairment. Results suggest that there are subtle, yet potentially meaningful, quantitative, and qualitative phenotypic differences between females and males that common screening tests are not always sensitive enough to recognize. Further studies to improve practice and course for the assessment of females, reducing sex/gender-based inequities in ASD care, are required.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Patrizia Ventura
- Child Neuropsychiatric Unit, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Paolo Trerotoli
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Francesco Margari
- Psychiatric Emergencies in Adolescence Unit, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Lucia Margari
- Child Neuropsychiatric Unit, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
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21
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Investigating the Relationship between Autistic Traits, Ruminative Thinking, and Suicidality in a Clinical Sample of Subjects with Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11050621. [PMID: 34066194 PMCID: PMC8151773 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11050621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Revised: 05/08/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: Previous literature reported in both subjects with Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and Bipolar disorder (BD) higher levels of autistic traits, linked to a greater suicidality risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the presence of autistic traits in a sample of individuals with BD or BPD, with a specific focus on suicidality. (2) Methods: We recruited two clinical samples of subjects (BPD and BD) and a control group without a diagnosis according to DSM-5 (CTL). Subjects were assessed with the AdAS Spectrum, the RRS and, for evaluating suicidality, the MOODS-SR. (3) Results: The CTL group showed significantly lower scores of both BD and BPD on AdAS Spectrum, RRS, and suicidality scores. BPD subjects showed significantly lower scores than BD ones in most of AdAS Spectrum domain scores. Correlation and regression analyses highlighted specific patterns of association among AdAS Spectrum domains, RRS, and suicidality in each clinical group. (4) Conclusions: Both BPD and BD individuals show greater levels of autistic traits, which seem to be distributed in a continuum featuring the highest levels among BD subjects. In both disorders, higher autistic traits were linked to suicidal tendencies, although with different patterns of association between BD and BPD subjects.
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22
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Hammill C, Lerch JP, Taylor MJ, Ameis SH, Chakravarty MM, Szatmari P, Anagnostou E, Lai MC. Quantitative and Qualitative Sex Modulations in the Brain Anatomy of Autism. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2021; 6:898-909. [PMID: 33713843 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Revised: 02/27/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sex-based neurobiological heterogeneity in autism is poorly understood. Research is disproportionately biased to males, leading to an unwarranted presumption that autism neurobiology is the same across sexes. Previous neuroimaging studies using amalgamated multicenter datasets to increase autistic female samples are characterized by large statistical noise. METHODS We used a better-powered dataset of 1183 scans of 839 individuals-299 (467 scans) autistic males, 74 (102 scans) autistic females, 240 (334 scans) control males, and 226 (280 scans) control females-to test two whole-brain models of overall/global sex modulations on autism neuroanatomy, by summary measures computed across the brain: the local magnitude model, in which the same brain regions/circuitries are involved across sexes but effect sizes are larger in females, indicating quantitative sex modulation; and spatial dissimilarity model, in which the neuroanatomy differs spatially between sexes, indicating qualitative sex modulation. The male and female autism groups were matched on age, IQ, and autism symptoms. Autism brain features were defined by comparisons with same-sex control individuals. RESULTS Across five metrics (cortical thickness, surface area, volume, mean absolute curvature, and subcortical volume), we found no evidence supporting the local magnitude model. We found indicators supporting the spatial dissimilarity model on cortical mean absolute curvature and subcortical volume, but not on other metrics. CONCLUSIONS The overall/global autism neuroanatomy in females and males does not simply differ quantitatively in the same brain regions/circuitries. They may differ qualitatively in spatial involvement in cortical curvature and subcortical volume. The neuroanatomy of autism may be partly sex specific. Sex stratification to inform autism preclinical/clinical research is needed to identify sex-informed neurodevelopmental targets.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jason P Lerch
- Mouse Imaging Centre, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Margot J Taylor
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Stephanie H Ameis
- Department of Psychiatry, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth and Family Mental Health and Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - M Mallar Chakravarty
- Cerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Peter Szatmari
- Department of Psychiatry, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth and Family Mental Health and Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Evdokia Anagnostou
- Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and Department of Paediatrics, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Meng-Chuan Lai
- Department of Psychiatry, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth and Family Mental Health and Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
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23
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Theory of mind in schizotypy: A behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) study. Schizophr Res Cogn 2021; 23:100190. [PMID: 33204651 PMCID: PMC7648172 DOI: 10.1016/j.scog.2020.100190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Revised: 09/06/2020] [Accepted: 09/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Schizophrenia is known for their theory of mind (ToM) impairment. However, this impairment in schizotypy (schizotypal traits) lacks investigation. Aims The present study investigated: (1) whether ToM ability was impaired in schizotypy; (2) whether the ERP amplitudes in nine brain regions of interest associated with ToM (e.g., frontal region) in schizotypy and healthy controls differed; and (3) whether the relationship between ToM performances and ERP amplitudes in schizotypy differed from that in healthy controls. Method Forty eight adolescents and young adults (16 schizotypy) with the mean age of 18 years were tested. The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) was used to assess their ToM during which ERP amplitudes were recorded. Results The schizotypy group showed significantly lower ERP amplitudes in all conditions of RMET in frontal, frontal-central, central, occipital and temporal regions when compared to those in healthy controls. Also, schizotypy's ERP amplitudes in the frontal, frontal-central, central, occipital, and temporal regions were different from those in the healthy individuals in responding to different types of ToM stimuli (positive, negative and neutral). In schizotypy group, reaction time responding to emotional stimuli was negatively related to ERP amplitudes in the frontal, central-parietal, parietal, occipital, and occipito-temporal regions during RMET while no significant correlations were found in healthy controls. Conclusion The present findings inform us with the knowledge regarding the neural and behavioral abnormality of ToM in schizotypy, suggesting that brain activity can be an alternative to detect ToM impairment in schizotypy.
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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: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [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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25
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Peñuelas-Calvo I, Sareen A, Porras-Segovia A, Cegla-Schvatzman FB, Fernandez-Berrocal P. The Association Between Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test Performance and Intelligence Quotient in Children and Adolescents With Asperger Syndrome. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:642799. [PMID: 33854452 PMCID: PMC8039142 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.642799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: There has been an extensive debate about a potential association between intelligence and social cognition. In this study, we aimed to assess the association between social cognition as measured with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET) and intelligence as measured with the fourth edition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) in children and adolescents diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 84 children diagnosed with AS aged 6-16 years (mean = 11.64; standard deviation = 2.75; 92.9% males). We analyzed the association between RMET performance and WISC-IV total score as well as the association between RMET performance and each of the four WISC-IV indexes (processing speed index, PSI; working memory index, WMI; perceptual reasoning index, PRI, and verbal comprehension index, VCI). Results: We found a positive correlation between RMET performance and full-scale intelligence quotient (r = 0.340; p < 0.01), VCI (r = 0.310; p < 0.01), PRI (r = 0.401; p < 0.01), and WMI (r = 0.292; p < 0.01). In the linear regression model, age was a significant predictor of RMET score (β = 0.409; p < 0.001) as was PRI (β = 0.309; p = 0.019). Conclusion: Our results suggest that intelligence quotient positively influences RMET performance, indicating that intelligence increases social cognition in individuals diagnosed with AS. However, weak-to-moderate size effects were found. This study contributes to understanding the mechanisms underlying the disturbance of social cognition in children and adolescents diagnosed with AS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inmaculada Peñuelas-Calvo
- Departamento de Psiquiatría Infantojuvenil, Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.,Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.,Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Aditya Sareen
- Bronxcare Health System, New York, NY, United States
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Minio-Paluello I, Porciello G, Pascual-Leone A, Baron-Cohen S. Face individual identity recognition: a potential endophenotype in autism. Mol Autism 2020; 11:81. [PMID: 33081830 PMCID: PMC7576748 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-020-00371-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2019] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Face individual identity recognition skill is heritable and independent of intellectual ability. Difficulties in face individual identity recognition are present in autistic individuals and their family members and are possibly linked to oxytocin polymorphisms in families with an autistic child. While it is reported that developmental prosopagnosia (i.e., impaired face identity recognition) occurs in 2-3% of the general population, no prosopagnosia prevalence estimate is available for autism. Furthermore, an autism within-group approach has not been reported towards characterizing impaired face memory and to investigate its possible links to social and communication difficulties. METHODS The present study estimated the prevalence of prosopagnosia in 80 autistic adults with no intellectual disability, investigated its cognitive characteristics and links to autism symptoms' severity, personality traits, and mental state understanding from the eye region by using standardized tests and questionnaires. RESULTS More than one third of autistic participants showed prosopagnosia. Their face memory skill was not associated with their symptom's severity, empathy, alexithymia, or general intelligence. Face identity recognition was instead linked to mental state recognition from the eye region only in autistic individuals who had prosopagnosia, and this relationship did not depend on participants' basic face perception skills. Importantly, we found that autistic participants were not aware of their face memory skills. LIMITATIONS We did not test an epidemiological sample, and additional work is necessary to establish whether these results generalize to the entire autism spectrum. CONCLUSIONS Impaired face individual identity recognition meets the criteria to be a potential endophenotype in autism. In the future, testing for face memory could be used to stratify autistic individuals into genetically meaningful subgroups and be translatable to autism animal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilaria Minio-Paluello
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy.
| | - Giuseppina Porciello
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Alvaro Pascual-Leone
- Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research and Center for Memory Health, Hebrew SeniorLife, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Guttmann Brain Health Institute, Institut Guttmann de Neurorehabilitació, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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27
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Pagni BA, Walsh MJM, Rogers C, Braden BB. Social Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder Across the Adult Lifespan: Influence of Age and Sex on Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task in a Cross-sectional Sample. Front Integr Neurosci 2020; 14:571408. [PMID: 33013336 PMCID: PMC7498724 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2020.571408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Approximately 50,000 U.S. teens with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) become adults every year, however little is known regarding how age influences social cognition and if men and women with ASD are differentially impacted across the adult lifespan. Social cognition declines non-linearly with age in neurotypical (NT) adults. Moreover, sex differences have been observed on RME tasks in NT adults but not adults with ASD, although aging effects have been largely ignored. Objective: This cross-sectional study examined the influence of age and sex on social cognition in adults with ASD compared to NT adults. Methods: The Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) task was administered to evaluate the theory of mind abilities in 95 adults with ASD and 82 NT adults ages 18–71 years. The main effects of diagnosis, age, and sex, as well as two-way and three-way interaction were modeled using linear and quadratic aging terms in a multiple regression analysis. Results: A main effect of diagnosis was observed, indicating poorer performance in adults with ASD relative to NT adults. Age and sex interactions were nonsignificant. Discussion: We replicated previous findings of reduced theory of mind (ToM) abilities in adults with ASD, compared to NT adults. While interactions were nonsignificant, visual inspection of quadratic age curves indicated the possibility of unique ToM trajectories in men and women with and without ASD that should be investigated in larger longitudinal studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Broc A Pagni
- Autism Brain Aging Laboratory, Arizona State University, College of Health Solutions, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Melissa J M Walsh
- Autism Brain Aging Laboratory, Arizona State University, College of Health Solutions, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Carly Rogers
- Autism Brain Aging Laboratory, Arizona State University, College of Health Solutions, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - B Blair Braden
- Autism Brain Aging Laboratory, Arizona State University, College of Health Solutions, Tempe, AZ, United States
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28
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Kirkovski M, Fuelscher I, Hyde C, Donaldson PH, Ford TC, Rossell SL, Fitzgerald PB, Enticott PG. Fixel Based Analysis Reveals Atypical White Matter Micro- and Macrostructure in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Investigation of the Role of Biological Sex. Front Integr Neurosci 2020; 14:40. [PMID: 32903660 PMCID: PMC7438780 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2020.00040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Atypical white matter (WM) microstructure is commonly implicated in the neuropathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Fixel based analysis (FBA), at the cutting-edge of diffusion-weighted imaging, can account for crossing WM fibers and can provide indices of both WM micro- and macrostructure. We applied FBA to investigate WM structure between 25 (12 males, 13 females) adults with ASD and 24 (12 males, 12 females) matched controls. As the role of biological sex on the neuropathophysiology of ASD is of increasing interest, this was also explored. There were no significant differences in WM micro- or macrostructure between adults with ASD and matched healthy controls. When data were stratified by sex, females with ASD had reduced fiber density and cross-section (FDC), a combined metric comprised of micro- and macrostructural measures, in the corpus callosum, a finding not detected between the male sub-groups. We conclude that micro- and macrostructural WM aberrations are present in ASD, and may be influenced by biological sex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Kirkovski
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.,Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Ian Fuelscher
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
| | - Christian Hyde
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
| | - Peter H Donaldson
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
| | - Talitha C Ford
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.,Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Susan L Rossell
- Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Paul B Fitzgerald
- Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Epworth Centre for Innovation in Mental Health, Epworth Health Care and Central Clinical School Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Peter G Enticott
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.,Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Abstract
Endophenotypes are measurable markers of genetic vulnerability to current or future disorder. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is well-suited to be examined within an endophenotype framework given past and current emphases on the broader autism phenotype and early detection. We conducted a scoping review to identify potential socially-related endophenotypes of ASD. We focused on paradigms related to sociality (e.g., theory of mind (TOM), social attention), which comprise most of this literature. We integrated findings from traditional behavioral paradigms with brain-based measures (e.g., electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging). Broadly, infant research regarding social attention and responsivity (Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) domain of affiliation) and attention to faces and voices (social communication) finds consistent abnormality in vulnerable infant siblings. Several additional paradigms that have shown differences in vulnerable infants and young children include animacy perception tasks (perception and understanding of others), measures of recognition and response to familiar faces (attachment), and joint attention and false-belief tasks (understanding mental states). Research areas such as alexithymia (the perception and understanding of self), empathic responding, and vocal prosody may hold interest; however, challenges in measurement across populations and age ranges is a limiting factor. Future work should address sex differences and age dependencies, specificity to ASD, and heterogeneous genetic pathways to disorder within samples individuals with ASD and relatives.
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30
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Peng Z, Chen J, Jin L, Han H, Dong C, Guo Y, Kong X, Wan G, Wei Z. Social brain dysfunctionality in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and their first-degree relatives: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2020; 298:111063. [PMID: 32179248 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2020.111063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The social brain hypothesis is regarded as a powerful theory to understand social cognition. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have specific deficits in social and communicative behavior, but the exact relationship between these deficits and abnormalities in the social brain remains unclear. The high heritability of this disorder makes it important to focus on the first-degree relatives of those affected. Research focusing on genetically at-risk (yet healthy) relatives of patients with ASD is critical to the study of neuroimaging endophenotypes. We conducted a voxel-wise activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of 9 functional neuroimaging studies published during the period from 2006 to 2018. These studies included 200 individuals with ASD, 216 unaffected family members (UF), and 235 typical development controls (TD). The voxel-wise significance threshold was p < 0.01 (uncorrected p = 0.001).The ALE meta-analyses showed hyperactivation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and superior temporal gyrus (STG) among individuals with ASD and UF, compared with TD individuals. Group comparisons showed greater likelihood of hyperactivation in the amygdala for ASD, compared with UF and TD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziwen Peng
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China; College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
| | - Jierong Chen
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Rehabilitation, Affiliated Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lili Jin
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hongying Han
- Department of Psychiatry, the Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chenjie Dong
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ya Guo
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xuejun Kong
- Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Guobin Wan
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Rehabilitation, Affiliated Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhen Wei
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Rehabilitation, Affiliated Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China.
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31
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Bathelt J, Koolschijn PC, Geurts HM. Age-variant and age-invariant features of functional brain organization in middle-aged and older autistic adults. Mol Autism 2020; 11:9. [PMID: 31993112 PMCID: PMC6977283 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-020-0316-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 01/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The majority of research effort into autism has been dedicated to understanding mechanisms during early development. As a consequence, research on the broader life course of an autism spectrum condition (ASC) has largely been neglected and almost nothing is known about ASC beyond middle age. Differences in brain connectivity that arise during early development may be maintained across the lifespan and may play protective or detrimental roles in older age. Method This study explored age-related differences in functional connectivity across middle and older age in clinically diagnosed autistic adults (n = 44, 30-73 years) and in an age-matched typical comparison group (n = 45). Results The results indicated parallel age-related associations in ASC and typical aging for the local efficiency and connection strength of the default mode network and for the segregation of the frontoparietal control network. In contrast, group differences in visual network connectivity are compatible with a safeguarding interpretation of less age-related decline in brain function in ASC. This divergence was mirrored in different associations between visual network connectivity and reaction time variability in the ASC and comparison group. Limitations The study is cross-sectional and may be affected by cohort effects. As all participants received their autism diagnosis in adulthood, this might hinder generalizability. Conclusion These results highlight the complexity of aging in ASC with both parallel and divergent trajectories across different aspects of functional network organization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe Bathelt
- Dutch Autism & ADHD Research Center, Brain & Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129-B, 1018 WS Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - P. Cédric Koolschijn
- Dutch Autism & ADHD Research Center, Brain & Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129-B, 1018 WS Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Hilde M. Geurts
- Dutch Autism & ADHD Research Center, Brain & Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129-B, 1018 WS Amsterdam, Netherlands
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32
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Ruigrok ANV, Lai MC. Sex/gender differences in neurology and psychiatry: Autism. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2020; 175:283-297. [PMID: 33008532 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-64123-6.00020-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Autism is a heterogenous set of early-onset neurodevelopmental conditions that are more prevalent in males than in females. Due to the high phenotypic, neurobiological, developmental, and etiological heterogeneity in the autism spectrum, recent research programs are increasingly exploring whether sex- and gender-related factors could be helpful markers to clarify the heterogeneity in autism and work toward a personalized approach to intervention and support. In this chapter, we summarize recent clinical and neuroscientific research addressing sex/gender influences in autism and explore how sex/gender-based investigations shed light on similar or different underlying neurodevelopmental mechanisms of autism by sex/gender. We review evidence that may help to explain some of the underlying sex-related biological mechanisms associated with autism, including genetics and the effects of sex steroid hormones in the prenatal environment. We conclude that current research points toward coexisting quantitative and, perhaps more evidently, qualitative sex/gender-modulation effects in autism across multiple neurobiological aspects. However, converging findings of specific neurobiological presentations and sex/gender-informed mechanisms cutting across the many subgroups within the autism spectrum are still lacking. Future research should use big data approaches and new stratification methods to decompose sex/gender-related heterogeneity in autism and work toward personalized, sex/gender-informed intervention and support for autistic people.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amber N V Ruigrok
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Meng-Chuan Lai
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health & The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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33
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Dell'Osso L, Carpita B, Bertelloni CA, Diadema E, Barberi FM, Gesi C, Carmassi C. Subthreshold autism spectrum in bipolar disorder: Prevalence and clinical correlates. Psychiatry Res 2019; 281:112605. [PMID: 31629303 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2019] [Revised: 10/05/2019] [Accepted: 10/07/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While few previous studies highlighted a higher prevalence of autistic traits among adults with Bipolar Disorder (BD), little is known about their clinical significance in this population. METHOD 143 subjects with BD were enrolled at the adult psychiatric inpatient clinic of the University of Pisa. Assessments included the SCID-5, the MOODS-SR, the AQ and the AdAS Spectrum. RESULTS 42.7% of the sample scored positively for significant levels of autistic traits. Subjects with high autistic traits showed a greater likelihood of a very early onset of BD, greater length of current in-hospital stay, significantly higher rates of anxiety disorders and lower rates of substance use disorders compared to patients with low autistic traits. They also show significantly greater depressive symptoms and suicidality across the lifetime. Suicidality was associated with the altered responsiveness to sensory input and inversely related to adherence to routine and inflexibility. CONCLUSION The study is a first exploration of the clinical significance of autistic traits among BD patients. Our results highlight the clinical significance of autistic traits in patients with BD, supporting the usefulness of a dimensional approach to the autism spectrum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liliana Dell'Osso
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy
| | - Barbara Carpita
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy.
| | | | - Elisa Diadema
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Camilla Gesi
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy
| | - Claudia Carmassi
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy
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34
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Peñuelas-Calvo I, Sareen A, Sevilla-Llewellyn-Jones J, Fernández-Berrocal P. The "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test in Autism-Spectrum Disorders Comparison with Healthy Controls: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 49:1048-1061. [PMID: 30406435 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3814-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
We conducted a meta-analysis of 18 studies to establish whether a relation exists between Reading the Mind in the Eye Test (RMET) performance and intelligence quotient (IQ) in individuals diagnosed with autism-spectrum disorders (ASD) and controls, taking into account relevant characteristics such as age, gender, and autism quotient. Our findings indicate that RMET performance was better in controls compared with those diagnosed with ASD. We found that RMET performance is dependent on full and verbal IQ and age in controls. However, RMET performance is negatively correlated with performance IQ in individuals diagnosed with ASD. These results suggest that the methodology applied by ASD when taking the RMET is different from control individuals and might depend less on verbal abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inmaculada Peñuelas-Calvo
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, Department of Psychiatry, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Avda. Reyes Católicos, 2, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Aditya Sareen
- Psychiatry Research Department, The Zucker Hillside Hospital, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Glen Oaks, NY, USA
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35
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The oxytocin receptor gene predicts brain activity during an emotion recognition task in autism. Mol Autism 2019; 10:12. [PMID: 30918622 PMCID: PMC6419364 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-019-0258-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2018] [Accepted: 02/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Autism is a highly varied and heritable neurodevelopmental condition, and common variants explain approximately 50% of the genetic variance of autism. One of the genes implicated in autism is the oxytocin receptor (OXTR). The current study combined genetic and brain imaging (fMRI) data to examine the moderating effect of genotype on the association between diagnosis and brain activity in response to a test of cognitive empathy. Methods Participants were adolescents (mean age = 14.7 ± 1.7) who were genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the OXTR and underwent functional brain imaging while completing the adolescent version of the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test (Eyes Test). Results Two (rs2254298, rs53576) of the five OXTR SNPs examined were significantly associated with brain activity during the Eyes Test, and three of the SNPs (rs2254298, rs53576, rs2268491) interacted with diagnostic status to predict brain activity. All of the effects localized to the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) and an overlap analysis revealed a large overlap of the effects. An exploratory analysis showed that activity within an anatomically defined rSMG and genotype can predict diagnostic status with reasonable accuracy. Conclusions This is one of the first studies to investigate OXTR and brain function in autism. The findings suggest a neurogenetic mechanism by which OXTR-dependent activity within the rSMG is related to the aetiology of autism. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13229-019-0258-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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36
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Reduced connectivity between mentalizing and mirror systems in autism spectrum condition. Neuropsychologia 2019; 122:88-97. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2018] [Revised: 11/09/2018] [Accepted: 11/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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37
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Cole EJ, Barraclough NE. Timing of mirror system activation when inferring the intentions of others. Brain Res 2018; 1700:109-117. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2018.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2018] [Revised: 07/11/2018] [Accepted: 07/12/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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38
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Lai MC, Lombardo MV, Chakrabarti B, Ruigrok AN, Bullmore ET, Suckling J, Auyeung B, Happé F, Szatmari P, Baron-Cohen S. Neural self-representation in autistic women and association with 'compensatory camouflaging'. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2018; 23:1210-1223. [PMID: 30354191 PMCID: PMC6589917 DOI: 10.1177/1362361318807159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
Prior work has revealed sex/gender-dependent autistic characteristics across behavioural and neural/biological domains. It remains unclear whether and how neural sex/gender differences are related to behavioural sex/gender differences in autism. Here, we examined whether atypical neural responses during mentalizing and self-representation are sex/gender-dependent in autistic adults and explored whether ‘camouflaging’ (acting as if behaviourally neurotypical) is associated with sex/gender-dependent neural responses. In total, N = 119 adults (33 typically developing males, 29 autistic males, 29 typically developing females and 28 autistic females) participated in a task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm to assess neural activation within right temporo-parietal junction and ventromedial prefrontal cortex during mentalizing and self-representation. Camouflaging in autism was quantified as the discrepancy between extrinsic behaviour in social–interpersonal contexts and intrinsic status. While autistic men showed hypoactive right temporo-parietal junction mentalizing and ventromedial prefrontal cortex self-representation responses compared to typically developing men, such neural responses in autistic women were not different from typically developing women. In autistic women only, increasing camouflaging was associated with heightened ventromedial prefrontal cortex self-representation response. There is a lack of impaired neural self-representation and mentalizing in autistic women compared to typically developing women. Camouflaging is heightened in autistic women and may relate to neural self-representation response. These results reveal brain-behaviour relations that help explain sex/gender-heterogeneity in social brain function in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng-Chuan Lai
- 1 University of Toronto, Canada.,2 University of Cambridge, UK.,3 National Taiwan University Hospital, Taiwan
| | | | | | | | - Edward T Bullmore
- 2 University of Cambridge, UK.,6 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, UK.,7 GlaxoSmithKline Research and Development, UK
| | | | - Bonnie Auyeung
- 2 University of Cambridge, UK.,8 The University of Edinburgh, UK
| | | | | | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- 2 University of Cambridge, UK.,6 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, UK
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39
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González-Moreno CX. Intervención en un niño con autismo mediante el juego. REVISTA DE LA FACULTAD DE MEDICINA 2018. [DOI: 10.15446/revfacmed.v66n3.62355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Introducción. El autismo es una alteración en el neurodesarrollo en la que se compromete el desarrollo comunicativo, emocional y simbólico del niño, así como la capacidad de establecer relaciones con el adulto y los objetos.Objetivo. Identificar el impacto del juego en el desarrollo comunicativo, emocional y simbólico de un niño con autismo de 3 años y 6 meses.Materiales y métodos. Se hizo una entrevista a los padres del niño y una observación a este en el contexto educativo y clínico. Se aplicó una evaluación del desarrollo infantil antes y después de realizar una intervención en la que se empleó el método experimental formativo propuesto por Vigotsky. La investigación fue de carácter cualitativo de tipo descriptivo. La intervención se diseñó considerando las necesidades de desarrollo psicológico del niño en lo que se refiere a la actividad rectora de juego.Resultados. El juego es un medio efectivo que contribuye con el desarrollo de habilidades comunicativas, emocionales y simbólicas en casos de autismo.Conclusión. La intervención clínica desde la aproximación psicológica histórico-cultural y la teoría de la actividad tiene impacto positivo en el desarrollo psicológico del niño, se propone de manera intencional y promueve el desarrollo de habilidades de corregulación social que facilitan la interacción comunicativa en casos de autismo.
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40
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Cole EJ, Barraclough NE, Enticott PG. Investigating Mirror System (MS) Activity in Adults with ASD When Inferring Others' Intentions Using Both TMS and EEG. J Autism Dev Disord 2018; 48:2350-2367. [PMID: 29453710 PMCID: PMC5996018 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3492-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
ASD is associated with mentalizing deficits that may correspond with atypical mirror system (MS) activation. We investigated MS activity in adults with and without ASD when inferring others' intentions using TMS-induced motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and mu suppression measured by EEG. Autistic traits were measured for all participants. Our EEG data show, high levels of autistic traits predicted reduced right mu (8-10 Hz) suppression when mentalizing. Higher left mu (8-10 Hz) suppression was associated with superior mentalizing performances. Eye-tracking and TMS data showed no differences associated with autistic traits. Our data suggest ASD is associated with reduced right MS activity when mentalizing, TMS-induced MEPs and mu suppression measure different aspects of MS functioning and the MS is directly involved in inferring intentions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor J Cole
- The Department of Psychology, The University of York, Heslington, York, North Yorkshire, YO10 5DD, UK.
| | - Nick E Barraclough
- The Department of Psychology, The University of York, Heslington, York, North Yorkshire, YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Peter G Enticott
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Faculty of Health, Deakin University Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Melbourne, VIC, 3125, Australia
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41
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Cole EJ, Slocombe KE, Barraclough NE. Abilities to Explicitly and Implicitly Infer Intentions from Actions in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2018; 48:1712-1726. [PMID: 29214604 PMCID: PMC5889782 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3425-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Previous research suggests that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) might be associated with impairments on implicit but not explicit mentalizing tasks. However, such comparisons are made difficult by the heterogeneity of stimuli and the techniques used to measure mentalizing capabilities. We tested the abilities of 34 individuals (17 with ASD) to derive intentions from others' actions during both explicit and implicit tasks and tracked their eye-movements. Adults with ASD displayed explicit but not implicit mentalizing deficits. Adults with ASD displayed typical fixation patterns during both implicit and explicit tasks. These results illustrate an explicit mentalizing deficit in adults with ASD, which cannot be attributed to differences in fixation patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor J Cole
- The Department of Psychology, The University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
| | - Katie E Slocombe
- The Department of Psychology, The University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Nick E Barraclough
- The Department of Psychology, The University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK
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42
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Kirkovski M, Suo C, Enticott PG, Yücel M, Fitzgerald PB. Short communication: Sex-linked differences in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are related to social functioning in autism spectrum disorder. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2018; 274:19-22. [PMID: 29500101 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2018.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2017] [Revised: 01/22/2018] [Accepted: 02/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was utilized to investigate sex differences in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) between adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and neurotypical (NT) controls. GABA at the right superior temporal sulcus (STS) is reported for 12 ASD and 14 NT participants. The results show no group differences in GABA. There was, however, a significant positive association between GABA at the STS and autism-related social impairments in females with ASD. These findings provide preliminary support for sex differences in GABAergic distribution and processes that contribute to social functioning in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Kirkovski
- Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia; Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Central Clinical School, Monash University, Clayton, Australia.
| | - Chao Suo
- Brain & Mental Health Laboratory, Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
| | - Peter Gregory Enticott
- Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia; Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Central Clinical School, Monash University, Clayton, Australia
| | - Murat Yücel
- Brain & Mental Health Laboratory, Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
| | - Paul Bernard Fitzgerald
- Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Central Clinical School, Monash University, Clayton, Australia
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43
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Floris DL, Lai MC, Nath T, Milham MP, Di Martino A. Network-specific sex differentiation of intrinsic brain function in males with autism. Mol Autism 2018. [PMID: 29541439 PMCID: PMC5840786 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-018-0192-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The male predominance in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has motivated research on sex differentiation in ASD. Multiple sources of evidence have suggested a neurophenotypic convergence of ASD-related characteristics and typical sex differences. Two existing, albeit competing, models provide predictions on such neurophenotypic convergence. These two models are testable with neuroimaging. Specifically, the Extreme Male Brain (EMB) model predicts that ASD is associated with enhanced brain maleness in both males and females with ASD (i.e., a shift-towards-maleness). In contrast, the Gender Incoherence (GI) model predicts a shift-towards-maleness in females, yet a shift-towards-femaleness in males with ASD. Methods To clarify whether either model applies to the intrinsic functional properties of the brain in males with ASD, we measured the statistical overlap between typical sex differences and ASD-related atypicalities in resting-state fMRI (R-fMRI) datasets largely available in males. Main analyses focused on two large-scale R-fMRI samples: 357 neurotypical (NT) males and 471 NT females from the 1000 Functional Connectome Project and 360 males with ASD and 403 NT males from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange. Results Across all R-fMRI metrics, results revealed coexisting, but network-specific, shift-towards-maleness and shift-towards-femaleness in males with ASD. A shift-towards-maleness mostly involved the default network, while a shift-towards-femaleness mostly occurred in the somatomotor network. Explorations of the associated cognitive processes using available cognitive ontology maps indicated that higher-order social cognitive functions corresponded to the shift-towards-maleness, while lower-order sensory motor processes corresponded to the shift-towards-femaleness. Conclusions The present findings suggest that atypical intrinsic brain properties in males with ASD partly reflect mechanisms involved in sexual differentiation. A model based on network-dependent atypical sex mosaicism can synthesize prior competing theories on factors involved in sex differentiation in ASD. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13229-018-0192-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorothea L Floris
- 1Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center, 1 Park Avenue, New York City, NY 10016 USA
| | - Meng-Chuan Lai
- 2Child and Youth Mental Health Collaborative at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M6J 1H4 Canada.,3Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 8AH UK
| | - Tanmay Nath
- 1Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center, 1 Park Avenue, New York City, NY 10016 USA
| | - Michael P Milham
- 4Center for the Developing Brain, Child Mind Institute, New York, NY 10022 USA.,5Nathan S Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962 USA
| | - Adriana Di Martino
- 1Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center, 1 Park Avenue, New York City, NY 10016 USA
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44
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Klapwijk ET, Aghajani M, Lelieveld GJ, van Lang NDJ, Popma A, van der Wee NJA, Colins OF, Vermeiren RRJM. Differential Fairness Decisions and Brain Responses After Expressed Emotions of Others in Boys with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 2018; 47:2390-2400. [PMID: 28516421 PMCID: PMC5509841 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3159-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Little is known about how emotions expressed by others influence social decisions and associated brain responses in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We investigated the neural mechanisms underlying fairness decisions in response to explicitly expressed emotions of others in boys with ASD and typically developing (TD) boys. Participants with ASD adjusted their allocation behavior in response to the emotions but reacted less unfair than TD controls in response to happiness. We also found reduced brain responses in the precental gyrus in the ASD versus TD group when receiving happy versus angry reactions and autistic traits were positively associated with activity in the postcentral gyrus. These results provide indications for a role of precentral and postcentral gyrus in social-affective difficulties in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduard T Klapwijk
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium - Leiden University Medical Center, Postbus 15, 2300 AA, Leiden, The Netherlands. .,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Moji Aghajani
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium - Leiden University Medical Center, Postbus 15, 2300 AA, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Gert-Jan Lelieveld
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.,Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Natasja D J van Lang
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium - Leiden University Medical Center, Postbus 15, 2300 AA, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Arne Popma
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology, Faculty of Law, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Nic J A van der Wee
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Olivier F Colins
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium - Leiden University Medical Center, Postbus 15, 2300 AA, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Robert R J M Vermeiren
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium - Leiden University Medical Center, Postbus 15, 2300 AA, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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45
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Cho H, Kim CH, Knight EQ, Oh HW, Park B, Kim DG, Park HJ. Changes in brain metabolic connectivity underlie autistic-like social deficits in a rat model of autism spectrum disorder. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13213. [PMID: 29038507 PMCID: PMC5643347 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-13642-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2017] [Accepted: 09/29/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The neurobiological basis of social dysfunction and the high male prevalence in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain poorly understood. Although network alterations presumably underlie the development of autistic-like behaviors, a clear pattern of connectivity differences specific to ASD has not yet emerged. Because the heterogeneous nature of ASD hinders investigations in human subjects, we explored brain connectivity in an etiologically homogenous rat model of ASD induced by exposure to valproic acid (VPA) in utero. We performed partial correlation analysis of cross-sectional resting-state 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scans from VPA-exposed and control rats to estimate metabolic connectivity and conducted canonical correlation analysis of metabolic activity and behavior scores. VPA-treated rats exhibited impairments in social behaviors, and this difference was more pronounced in male than female rats. Similarly, current analyses revealed sex-specific changes in network connectivity and identified distinct alterations in the distributed metabolic activity patterns associated with autistic-like social deficits. Specifically, diminished activity in the salience network and enhanced activity in a cortico-cerebellar circuit correlated with the severity of social behavioral deficits. Such metabolic connectivity features may represent neurobiological substrates of autistic-like behavior, particularly in males, and may serve as a pathognomonic sign in the VPA rat model of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hojin Cho
- Department of Pharmacology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,BK21 PLUS Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Department of Nuclear Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Chul Hoon Kim
- Department of Pharmacology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. .,BK21 PLUS Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. .,Brain Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. .,Severance Biomedical Science Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
| | | | - Hye Won Oh
- BK21 PLUS Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Bumhee Park
- Department of Statistics, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Yong-In, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong Goo Kim
- Department of Pharmacology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Hae-Jeong Park
- BK21 PLUS Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. .,Department of Nuclear Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. .,Department of Psychiatry, Department of Cognitive Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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46
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Hoche F, Guell X, Sherman JC, Vangel MG, Schmahmann JD. Cerebellar Contribution to Social Cognition. THE CEREBELLUM 2017; 15:732-743. [PMID: 26585120 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-015-0746-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 134] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Emotion attribution (EA) from faces is key to social cognition, and deficits in perception of emotions from faces underlie neuropsychiatric disorders in which cerebellar pathology is reported. Here, we test the hypothesis that the cerebellum contributes to social cognition through EA from faces. We examined 57 patients with cerebellar disorders and 57 healthy controls. Thirty-one patients had complex cerebrocerebellar disease (complex cerebrocerebellar disease group (CD)); 26 had disease isolated to cerebellum (isolated cerebellar disease group (ID)). EA was measured with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET), and informants were administered a novel questionnaire, the Cerebellar Neuropsychiatric Rating Scale (CNRS). EA was impaired in all patients (CD p < 0.001, ID p < 0.001). When analyzed for valence categories, both CD and ID missed more positive and negative stimuli. Positive targets produced the highest deficit (CD p < 0.001, ID p = 0.004). EA impairments correlated with CNRS measures of deficient social skills (p < 0.05) and autism spectrum behaviors (p < 0.005). Patients had difficulties with emotion regulation (CD p < 0.001, ID p < 0.001), autism spectrum behaviors (CD p < 0.049, ID p < 0.001), and psychosis spectrum symptoms (CD p < 0.021, ID p < 0.002). ID informants endorsed deficient social skills (CD p < 0.746, ID p < 0.003) and impaired attention regulation (CD p < 0.144, ID p < 0.001). Within the psychosis spectrum domain, CD patients were worse than controls for lack of empathy (CD p = 0.05; ID p = 0.49). Thus, patients with cerebellar damage were impaired on an EA task associated with deficient social skills and autism spectrum behaviors and experienced psychosocial difficulties on the CNRS. This has relevance for ataxias, the cerebellar cognitive affective/Schmahmann syndrome, and neuropsychiatric disorders with cerebellar pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Hoche
- Ataxia Unit, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Unit, Laboratory for Neuroanatomy and Cerebellar Neurobiology, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 175 Cambridge Street, 02114, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Xavier Guell
- Ataxia Unit, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Unit, Laboratory for Neuroanatomy and Cerebellar Neurobiology, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 175 Cambridge Street, 02114, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Janet C Sherman
- Psychology Assessment Center, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mark G Vangel
- Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General, Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jeremy D Schmahmann
- Ataxia Unit, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Unit, Laboratory for Neuroanatomy and Cerebellar Neurobiology, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 175 Cambridge Street, 02114, Boston, MA, USA.
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47
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Padmanabhan A, Lynch CJ, Schaer M, Menon V. The Default Mode Network in Autism. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2017; 2:476-486. [PMID: 29034353 PMCID: PMC5635856 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 154] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by deficits in social communication and interaction. Since its discovery as a major functional brain system, the default mode network (DMN) has been implicated in a number of psychiatric disorders, including ASD. Here we review converging multimodal evidence for DMN dysfunction in the context of specific components of social cognitive dysfunction in ASD: 'self-referential processing' - the ability to process social information relative to oneself and 'theory of mind' or 'mentalizing' - the ability to infer the mental states such as beliefs, intentions, and emotions of others. We show that altered functional and structural organization of the DMN, and its atypical developmental trajectory, are prominent neurobiological features of ASD. We integrate findings on atypical cytoarchitectonic organization and imbalance in excitatory-inhibitory circuits, which alter local and global brain signaling, to scrutinize putative mechanisms underlying DMN dysfunction in ASD. Our synthesis of the extant literature suggests that aberrancies in key nodes of the DMN and their dynamic functional interactions contribute to atypical integration of information about the self in relation to 'other', as well as impairments in the ability to flexibly attend to socially relevant stimuli. We conclude by highlighting open questions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aarthi Padmanabhan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | | | - Marie Schaer
- University of Geneva, Department of Psychiatry, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Vinod Menon
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
- Program in Neuroscience, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
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48
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Hull L, Mandy W. Protective effect or missed diagnosis? Females with autism spectrum disorder. FUTURE NEUROLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.2217/fnl-2017-0006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has historically been diagnosed more frequently in males than females. One explanation for this is the ‘female protective effect’: that there is something inherent in being female that makes girls and women less susceptible to ASD. Another possibility is that ASD is under-diagnosed in girls and women, due to the existence of a ‘female autism phenotype’, which is not well captured by current, male-biased diagnostic criteria. To evaluate the ‘female protective effect’ and ‘female autism phenotype’ hypotheses, this narrative review describes recent developments exploring the genetic underpinning and behavioral expression of ASD in females. We then look at the ways to better identify females with ASD who may be missed under the current diagnostic criteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Hull
- Department of Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, UK
| | - William Mandy
- Department of Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, UK
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49
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Kouklari EC, Thompson T, Monks CP, Tsermentseli S. Hot and Cool Executive Function and its Relation to Theory of Mind in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2017.1339708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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50
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Sato W, Uono S, Kochiyama T, Yoshimura S, Sawada R, Kubota Y, Sakihama M, Toichi M. Structural Correlates of Reading the Mind in the Eyes in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:361. [PMID: 28747876 PMCID: PMC5506186 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2017] [Accepted: 06/26/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral studies have shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have impaired ability to read the mind in the eyes. Although this impairment is central to their social malfunctioning, its structural neural correlates remain unclear. To investigate this issue, we assessed Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, revised version (Eyes Test) and acquired structural magnetic resonance images in adults with high-functioning ASD (n = 19) and age-, sex- and intelligence quotient-matched typically developing (TD) controls (n = 19). On the behavioral level, the Eyes Test scores were lower in the ASD group than in the control group. On the neural level, an interaction between group and Eyes Test score was found in the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ). A positive association between the Eyes Test score and gray matter volume of this region was evident in the control group, but not in the ASD group. This finding suggests that the failure to develop appropriate structural neural representations in the TPJ may underlie the impaired ability of individuals with ASD to read the mind in the eyes. These behavioral and neural findings provide support for the theories that impairments in processing eyes and the ability to infer others' mental states are the core symptoms of ASD, and that atypical features in the social brain network underlie such impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wataru Sato
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto UniversityKyoto, Japan
| | - Shota Uono
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto UniversityKyoto, Japan
| | - Takanori Kochiyama
- Brain Activity Imaging Center, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute InternationalKyoto, Japan
| | - Sayaka Yoshimura
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto UniversityKyoto, Japan
| | - Reiko Sawada
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto UniversityKyoto, Japan
| | - Yasutaka Kubota
- Health and Medical Services Center, Shiga UniversityHikone, Japan
| | | | - Motomi Toichi
- Faculty of Human Health Science, Kyoto UniversityKyoto, Japan.,The Organization for Promoting Neurodevelopmental Disorder ResearchKyoto, Japan
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