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Zheng X, Zhou F, Fu M, Xu L, Wang J, Li J, Li K, Sindermann C, Montag C, Becker B, Zhan Y, Kendrick KM. Patterns of neural activity in response to threatening faces are predictive of autistic traits: modulatory effects of oxytocin receptor genotype. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:168. [PMID: 38553454 PMCID: PMC10980722 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02889-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Autistic individuals generally demonstrate impaired emotion recognition but it is unclear whether effects are emotion-specific or influenced by oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genotype. Here we implemented a dimensional approach using an implicit emotion recognition task together with functional MRI in a large cohort of neurotypical adult participants (N = 255, male = 131, aged 17-29 years) to establish associations between autistic traits and neural and behavioral responses to specific face emotions, together with modulatory effects of OXTR genotype. A searchlight-based multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) revealed an extensive network of frontal, basal ganglia, cingulate and limbic regions exhibiting significant predictability for autistic traits from patterns of responses to angry relative to neutral expression faces. Functional connectivity analyses revealed a genotype interaction (OXTR SNPs rs2254298, rs2268491) for coupling between the orbitofrontal cortex and mid-cingulate during angry expression processing, with a negative association between coupling and autistic traits in the risk-allele group and a positive one in the non-risk allele group. Overall, results indicate extensive emotion-specific associations primarily between patterns of neural responses to angry faces and autistic traits in regions processing motivation, reward and salience but not in early visual processing. Functional connections between these identified regions were not only associated with autistic traits but also influenced by OXTR genotype. Thus, altered patterns of neural responses to threatening faces may be a potential biomarker for autistic symptoms although modulatory influences of OXTR genotype need to be taken into account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxiao Zheng
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Feng Zhou
- Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Meina Fu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Lei Xu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Jiayuan Wang
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Jialin Li
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Keshuang Li
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Cornelia Sindermann
- University of Stuttgart, Computational Digital Psychology, Interchange Forum for Reflecting on Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Christian Montag
- Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Benjamin Becker
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hongkong, Hongkong, China
| | - Yang Zhan
- Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
| | - Keith M Kendrick
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
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Zhang L, Yan G, Benson V. The influence of emotional face distractors on attentional orienting in Chinese children with autism spectrum disorder. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0250998. [PMID: 33945576 PMCID: PMC8096071 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The current study examined how emotional faces impact on attentional control at both involuntary and voluntary levels in children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A non-face single target was either presented in isolation or synchronously with emotional face distractors namely angry, happy and neutral faces. ASD and typically developing children made more erroneous saccades towards emotional distractors relative to neutral distractors in parafoveal and peripheral conditions. Remote distractor effects were observed on saccade latency in both groups regardless of distractor type, whereby time taken to initiate an eye movement to the target was longest in central distractor conditions, followed by parafoveal and peripheral distractor conditions. The remote distractor effect was greater for angry faces compared to happy faces in the ASD group. Proportions of failed disengagement trials from central distractors, for the first saccade, were higher in the angry distractor condition compared with the other two distractor conditions in ASD, and this effect was absent for the typical group. Eye movement results suggest difficulties in disengaging from fixated angry faces in ASD. Atypical disengagement from angry faces at the voluntary level could have consequences for the development of higher-level socio-communicative skills in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Zhang
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, P. R. China
- School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom
| | - Guoli Yan
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, P. R. China
- Center of Collaborative Innovation for Assessment and Promotion of Mental Health, Tianjin, P. R. China
| | - Valerie Benson
- School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom
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Yang T, Li D, Zhang Y, Zhang L, Li H, Ji GJ, Yang Z, Zhang L, Zhu C, Wang K. Eye Avoidance of Threatening Facial Expressions in Parents of Children with ASD. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2021; 17:1869-1879. [PMID: 34140771 PMCID: PMC8203098 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s300491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Previous research found that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was characterized by eye avoidance of threatening facial expressions. However, it still remains unclear as to whether these abnormalities are present in parents of children with ASD. Our study aimed to investigate the gaze patterns of parents of children with ASD in the threatening facial expressions. METHODS Thirty-four parents of children with ASD and 35 parents of typically developing (TD) children participated in our study. We investigated the total fixation time of participants when they viewed different facial expression (eg, happy, fearful, angry, sad) videos and examined changes in the fixation duration over time. RESULTS We observed the following: a) the total fixation time of the parents of children with ASD on the eyes of fearful faces was significantly shorter than that of the normal group, and the difference lasted for five seconds (four to six seconds, eight to nine seconds) throughout the process; and b) The parents of children with ASD avoided the eyes of angry expression faces at around five seconds after the stimulus onset. CONCLUSION We concluded that parents of children with ASD tended to avoid the eyes of threatening expression faces while viewing the dynamic emotions video.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Yang
- School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China
| | - Dandan Li
- School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China.,Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China
| | - Yifan Zhang
- School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China
| | - Long Zhang
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China
| | - Hong Li
- Department of Neurological Rehabilitation of Children, Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China
| | - Gong-Jun Ji
- School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China.,Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhenhai Yang
- Department of Rehabilitation therapy, The First Clinical Medical College of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China
| | - Lei Zhang
- School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China
| | - Chunyan Zhu
- School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China
| | - Kai Wang
- School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China.,Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China.,Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, 230022, People's Republic of China
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Masataka N. Implications of the idea of neurodiversity for understanding the origins of developmental disorders. Phys Life Rev 2016; 20:85-108. [PMID: 27876343 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2016.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2016] [Accepted: 11/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Neurodiversity, a term initially used mostly by civil and human rights movements since the 1990s, refers to the notion that cognitive as well as emotional properties characteristic of developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are not necessarily deficits, but fall within normal behavioural variations exhibited by humans. The purpose of the present article is to examine the relevance of this notion to scientific research on ASD. On the assumption that one crucial survival advantage of intelligent activity is vigilance toward dangers in the external world, and such vigilance must work in the social domain as well as in the non-social domain, the author argues that the pattern of operation of an individual person's mind can be categorized according to the domain toward which that individual is more oriented. Individuals with ASD, overall, do not rely upon their social relationships but rather are predisposed to process perceived non-social objects in more depth, which manifests itself as hyper-sensation and hyper-attention to detail. It can be assumed that underconnectivity among cortical areas and subcortical areas underlies such mental operation neurologically. One of the main predictions based on this assumption is that all facets of psychological function are susceptible to disruption in ASD. Indeed, it has traditionally been thought that there are such general deficits in this disorder. However, contrary to the prevalent belief that people with ASD lack empathy, in fact people with ASD are capable of empathizing with the minds of others if those others are people with ASD. Thus, the neurological underconnectivity in ASD certainly leads some processing of information in the mind to work with less coordination, but has in fact contributed to providing Homo sapiens with behavioural variants. Finally, the clinical implications of the advantages of viewing ASD as a variation in neurodiversity are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nobuo Masataka
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan.
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Gaze Behavior of Children with ASD toward Pictures of Facial Expressions. AUTISM RESEARCH AND TREATMENT 2015; 2015:617190. [PMID: 26090223 PMCID: PMC4452249 DOI: 10.1155/2015/617190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2015] [Revised: 04/29/2015] [Accepted: 05/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Atypical gaze behavior in response to a face has been well documented in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Children with ASD appear to differ from typically developing (TD) children in gaze behavior for spoken and dynamic face stimuli but not for nonspeaking, static face stimuli. Furthermore, children with ASD and TD children show a difference in their gaze behavior for certain expressions. However, few studies have examined the relationship between autism severity and gaze behavior toward certain facial expressions. The present study replicated and extended previous studies by examining gaze behavior towards pictures of facial expressions. We presented ASD and TD children with pictures of surprised, happy, neutral, angry, and sad facial expressions. Autism severity was assessed using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). The results showed that there was no group difference in gaze behavior when looking at pictures of facial expressions. Conversely, the children with ASD who had more severe autistic symptomatology had a tendency to gaze at angry facial expressions for a shorter duration in comparison to other facial expressions. These findings suggest that autism severity should be considered when examining atypical responses to certain facial expressions.
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