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Lu H, Wang S, Gao L, Xue Z, Liu J, Niu X, Zhou R, Guo X. Links between brain structure and function in children with autism spectrum disorder by parallel independent component analysis. Brain Imaging Behav 2024:10.1007/s11682-024-00957-9. [PMID: 39565558 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-024-00957-9] [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] [Accepted: 11/12/2024] [Indexed: 11/21/2024]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder accompanied by structural and functional changes in the brain. However, the relationship between brain structure and function in children with ASD remains largely obscure. In the current study, parallel independent component analysis (pICA) was performed to identify inter-modality associations by drawing on information from different modalities. Structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 105 children with ASD and 102 typically developing children (obtained from the open-access Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange database) were combined through the pICA framework. Features of structural and functional modalities were represented by the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), respectively. The relationship between the structural and functional components derived from the pICA was investigated by Pearson's correlation analysis, and between-group differences in these components were analyzed through the two-sample t-test. Finally, multivariate support vector regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the structural/functional components and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) subscores in the ASD group. This study found a significant association between VBM and ALFF components in ASD. Significant between-group differences were detected in the loading coefficients of the VBM component. Furthermore, the ALFF component loading coefficients predicted the subscores of communication and repetitive stereotypic behaviors of the ADOS. Likewise, the VBM component loading coefficients predicted the ADOS communication subscore in ASD. These findings provide evidence of a link between brain function and structure, yielding new insights into the neural mechanisms of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huibin Lu
- School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Information Transmission and Signal Processing, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
| | - Sha Wang
- School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Information Transmission and Signal Processing, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
| | - Le Gao
- School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China.
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Information Transmission and Signal Processing, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China.
| | - Zaifa Xue
- School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Information Transmission and Signal Processing, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
| | - Jing Liu
- School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Information Transmission and Signal Processing, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
| | - Xiaoxia Niu
- School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Information Transmission and Signal Processing, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
| | - Rongjuan Zhou
- Maternity and Child Health Hospital of Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao, China
| | - Xiaonan Guo
- School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Information Transmission and Signal Processing, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China
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2
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Zhao Y. Enhancing assessment and intervention for empathy deficits: the "zipper model of empathy" approach in neurodevelopmental disorders. PSYCHORADIOLOGY 2024; 4:kkae011. [PMID: 38957403 PMCID: PMC11217768 DOI: 10.1093/psyrad/kkae011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2024] [Revised: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Yili Zhao
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
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Perosanz A, Martínez O, Espinosa-Blanco P, García I, Al-Rashaida M, López-Paz JF. Comparative analysis of emotional facial expression recognition and empathy in children with prader-willi syndrome and autism spectrum disorder. BMC Psychol 2024; 12:94. [PMID: 38395942 PMCID: PMC10893661 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-024-01590-3] [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: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder that is often comorbid with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Due to the close association between these two conditions, and recognizing that Theory of Mind (ToM) is related to social behaviors in ASD, there is a growing interest in studying the reciprocity of social communication between these two groups. METHOD The primary objective of this study was to compare how children (n = 45) with PWS (n = 15), ASD (n = 15), and a control group (n = 15) respond to emotion recognition of facial expressions and empathy, which are both concepts related to ToM. The study utilized two tools named FEEL and Deusto-e-Motion 1.0. We also evaluated the Working Memory index of the WISC-IV scale, the Social Perception domain of the NEPSY-II battery, and the SCQ in both clinical groups. RESULTS Our findings suggest that individuals with PWS exhibit lower accuracy in recognizing facial expressions and empathy compared to the control group. Both clinical groups exhibited a delayed reaction time compared to the control group. Children with PWS display difficulties in recognizing emotions of disgust and surprise. In terms of cognitive empathy, children with PWS showed a greater inclination to respond to disgust as compared to children with ASD. CONCLUSIONS This study represents the initial stage in comprehending the emotional and empathetic abilities of children with PWS and ASD. The findings can provide valuable insights for developing future interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ane Perosanz
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Deusto, Avenida de las Universidades, 24, 48007, Bilbao, Biscay, Spain.
| | - Oscar Martínez
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Deusto, Avenida de las Universidades, 24, 48007, Bilbao, Biscay, Spain
| | - Patricia Espinosa-Blanco
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Deusto, Avenida de las Universidades, 24, 48007, Bilbao, Biscay, Spain
| | - Irune García
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Deusto, Avenida de las Universidades, 24, 48007, Bilbao, Biscay, Spain
| | - Mohammad Al-Rashaida
- College of Education, Department of Special Education, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Juan Francisco López-Paz
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Deusto, Avenida de las Universidades, 24, 48007, Bilbao, Biscay, Spain
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Jayashankar A, Aziz-Zadeh L. Disgust Processing and Potential Relationships with Behaviors in Autism. Curr Psychiatry Rep 2023; 25:465-478. [PMID: 37672122 PMCID: PMC10627949 DOI: 10.1007/s11920-023-01445-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW While there are reports of differences in emotion processing in autism, it is less understood whether the emotion of disgust, in particular, plays a significant role in these effects. Here, we review literature on potential disgust processing differences in autism and its possible associations with autistic traits. RECENT FINDINGS In autism, there is evidence for differences in physical disgust processing, pica behaviors, attention away from other's disgust facial expressions, and differences in neural activity related to disgust processing. In typically developing individuals, disgust processing is related to moral processing, but modulated by individual differences in interoception and alexithymia. Autistic individuals may experience atypical disgust, which may lead to difficulty avoiding contaminants and affect socio-emotional processing. In autism, such outcomes may lead to increased occurrences of illness, contribute to gastrointestinal issues, diminish vicarious learning of disgust expression and behaviors, and potentially contribute to differences in processes related to moral reasoning, though further research is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aditya Jayashankar
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
| | - Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
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Procyshyn TL, Lombardo MV, Lai MC, Jassim N, Auyeung B, Crockford SK, Deakin JB, Soubramanian S, Sule A, Terburg D, Baron-Cohen S, Bethlehem RAI. Oxytocin Enhances Basolateral Amygdala Activation and Functional Connectivity While Processing Emotional Faces: Preliminary Findings in Autistic Versus Non-Autistic Women. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2022; 17:929-938. [PMID: 35254443 PMCID: PMC9527468 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsac016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Oxytocin is hypothesized to promote social interactions by enhancing the salience of social stimuli. While previous neuroimaging studies have reported that oxytocin enhances amygdala activation to face stimuli in autistic men, effects in autistic women remain unclear. In this study, the influence of intranasal oxytocin on activation and functional connectivity of the basolateral amygdala—the brain’s ‘salience detector’—while processing emotional faces vs shapes was tested in 16 autistic and 21 non-autistic women by functional magnetic resonance imaging in a placebo-controlled, within-subject, cross-over design. In the placebo condition, minimal activation differences were observed between autistic and non-autistic women. However, significant drug × group interactions were observed for both basolateral amygdala activation and functional connectivity. Oxytocin increased left basolateral amygdala activation among autistic women (35-voxel cluster, Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) coordinates of peak voxel = −22 −10 −28; mean change = +0.079%, t = 3.159, PTukey = 0.0166) but not among non-autistic women (mean change = +0.003%, t = 0.153, PTukey = 0.999). Furthermore, oxytocin increased functional connectivity of the right basolateral amygdala with brain regions associated with socio-emotional information processing in autistic women, but not in non-autistic women, attenuating group differences in the placebo condition. Taken together, these findings extend evidence of oxytocin’s effects on the amygdala to specifically include autistic women and specify the subregion of the effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanya L Procyshyn
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Michael V Lombardo
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Laboratory for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems @UniTn, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Meng-Chuan Lai
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Nazia Jassim
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Bonnie Auyeung
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Sarah K Crockford
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Julia B Deakin
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sentil Soubramanian
- South West London and St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, London, UK
- Liaison Psychiatry Service, St Helier Hospital, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, Surrey, UK
| | - Akeem Sule
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - David Terburg
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Groote Schuur Hospital, MRC Unit on Anxiety & Stress Disorders, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Richard A I Bethlehem
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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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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Zhao L, Xue SW, Sun YK, Lan Z, Zhang Z, Xue Y, Wang X, Jin Y. Altered dynamic functional connectivity of insular subregions could predict symptom severity of male patients with autism spectrum disorder. J Affect Disord 2022; 299:504-512. [PMID: 34953921 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.12.093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties with social communication and restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior. This disorder was characterized by widespread abnormalities involving distributed brain networks. As one such key network node, the insular cortex has been regarded as a research focus of ASD neuropathology. The insula is a functionally complex brain structure. However, it is not fully clear if dynamic characteristics of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) signals in insular heterogeneous could be used to depict abnormalities in ASD. To address this question, we investigated dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) of 12 insular subregions. Data were obtained from 44 individuals with ASD and 65 typically developing age-matched controls (TDC). We assessed dFC by sliding-window method and quantified its temporal variability. Multivariable linear regression models were constructed to determine whether dFC support complementary information about symptom severity of individuals with ASD rather than static functional connectivity (sFC). The results showed that individuals with ASD exhibited dFC and sFC alterations in distinct insular subregions. Some brain regions showed only abnormal dFC but not sFC with insular subregions. These abnormal dFC could significantly predict the symptom severity of individuals with ASD. Our findings might advance our knowledge about the potential of insular heterogeneity and dynamic characteristics in understanding the neuropathology mechanism of ASD and in developing neuroimaging biomarkers for clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Zhao
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No.2318, Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Shao-Wei Xue
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No.2318, Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou 311121, China.
| | - Yun-Kai Sun
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No.2318, Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Zhihui Lan
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No.2318, Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou 311121, China; Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Ziqi Zhang
- Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Yichen Xue
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No.2318, Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, China; Institute of Psychological Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Xuan Wang
- Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Yuxin Jin
- Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
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Zhao X, Zhu S, Cao Y, Cheng P, Lin Y, Sun Z, Jiang W, Du Y. Abnormalities of Gray Matter Volume and Its Correlation with Clinical Symptoms in Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2022; 18:717-730. [PMID: 35401002 PMCID: PMC8983641 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s349247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous studies have indicated abnormal gray matter volume (GMV) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, there is little consistency across the findings within these studies, partly due to small sample size and great heterogeneity among participants between studies. Additionally, few studies have explored the correlation between clinical symptoms and GMV abnormalities in individuals with ASD. Here, the current study examined GMV alterations in whole brain and their correlations with clinical symptoms in a relatively large and homogeneous sample of participants with ASD matched typically developing (TD) controls. METHODS Forty-eight adolescents with high-functioning ASD and 29 group-matched TD controls underwent structural magnetic resonance images. Voxel-based morphometry was applied to investigate regional GMV alterations. The participants with ASD were examined for the severity of clinical symptoms with Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). The relationship between GMV abnormalities and clinical symptoms was explored in ASD group using voxel-wise correlation analysis within brain regions that showed significant GMV alterations in individuals with ASD compared with TD controls. RESULTS We found increased GMV in multiple brain regions, including the inferior frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, occipital pole, anterior cingulate, cerebellum anterior lobe, cerebellum posterior lobe, and midbrain, as well as decreased GMV in cerebellum posterior lobe in individuals with ASD. The correlation analysis showed the GMV in the left fusiform was negatively associated with the scores of sensory factor, and the GMV in the right cerebellum anterior lobe was positively associated with the scores of social self-help factor. CONCLUSION Our results indicated that widespread GMV abnormalities of brain regions occurred in individuals with ASD, suggesting a potential neural basis for the pathogenesis and symptomatology of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxin Zhao
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Shuyi Zhu
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Yang Cao
- Suzhou Guangji Hospital, Suzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Peipei Cheng
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuxiong Lin
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhixin Sun
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenqing Jiang
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Yasong Du
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
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9
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A systematic review and meta-analysis of facial emotion recognition in autism spectrum disorder: The specificity of deficits and the role of task characteristics. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 133:104518. [PMID: 34974069 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.104518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 12/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
This review assessed the specificity of facial emotion recognition impairment and the role of task characteristics in facial emotion recognition in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Based on subsets of 148 studies identified in PubMed and PsycINFO, random-effects meta-analyses showed significant impairment in recognizing all basic facial emotions in ASD. Additionally, ASD involves poorer facial emotion recognition than other clinical conditions and has similar impairment in recognizing emotional and nonemotional facial attributes, as well as in recognizing emotion in faces and other modalities. Furthermore, there are significant moderating effects for emotion complexity and holistic processing, a statistical trend for task type, and no significant effect for motion, social relevance, or stimulus salience on facial emotion recognition in ASD. Altogether, this review suggests nonselective facial emotion recognition impairment in ASD. Such impairment is relatively specific to ASD but is not specific to the recognition of emotional facial attributes or emotion recognition in the face modality. Identifying the role of task characteristics improves our understanding of the mechanisms underlying facial emotion recognition in ASD.
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10
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Léné P, Karran AJ, Labonté-Lemoyne E, Sénécal S, Fredette M, Johnson KJ, Léger PM. Is there collaboration specific neurophysiological activation during collaborative task activity? An analysis of brain responses using electroencephalography and hyperscanning. Brain Behav 2021; 11:e2270. [PMID: 34617691 PMCID: PMC8613430 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Collaboration between two individuals is thought to be associated with the synchrony of two different brain activities. Indeed, prefrontal cortical activation and alpha frequency band modulation has been widely reported, but little is known about interbrain synchrony (IBS) changes occurring during social interaction such as collaboration or competition. In this study, we assess the dynamic of IBS variation in order to provide novel insights into the frequency band modulation underlying collaboration. To address this question, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to simultaneously record the brain activity of two individuals playing a computer-based game facing four different conditions: collaboration, competition, single participation, and passive observation. The computer-based game consisted of a fast button response task. Using data recorded in sensor space, we calculated an IBS value for each frequency band using both wavelet coherence transform and phase-locking value and performed single-subject analysis to compare each condition. We found significant IBS in frontal electrodes only present during collaboration associated with alpha frequency band modulation. In addition, we observed significant IBS in the theta frequency band for both collaboration and competition conditions, along with a significant single-subject cortical activity. Competition is distinguishable through single-subject activity in several regions and frequency bands of the brain. Performance is correlated with single-subject frontal activation during collaboration in the alpha and beta frequency band.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Léné
- Département de management, HEC Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Alexander J Karran
- Département de technologies de l'information, HEC Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Elise Labonté-Lemoyne
- Département de technologies de l'information, HEC Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Sylvain Sénécal
- Département de technologies de l'information, HEC Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Marc Fredette
- Département de technologies de l'information, HEC Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Kevin J Johnson
- Département de management, HEC Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
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11
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Liu P, Sutherland M, Pollick FE. Incongruence effects in cross-modal emotional processing in autistic traits: An fMRI study. Neuropsychologia 2021; 161:107997. [PMID: 34425144 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2020] [Revised: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
In everyday life, emotional information is often conveyed by both the face and the voice. Consequently, information presented by one source can alter the way in which information from the other source is perceived, leading to emotional incongruence. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neutral correlates of two different types of emotional incongruence in audiovisual processing, namely incongruence of emotion-valence and incongruence of emotion-presence. Participants were in two groups, one group with a low Autism Quotient score (LAQ) and one with a high score (HAQ). Each participant experienced emotional (happy, fearful) or neutral faces or voices while concurrently being exposed to emotional (happy, fearful) or neutral voices or faces. They were instructed to attend to either the visual or auditory track. The incongruence effect of emotion-valence was characterized by activation in a wide range of brain regions in both hemispheres involving the inferior frontal gyrus, cuneus, superior temporal gyrus, and middle frontal gyrus. The incongruence effect of emotion-presence was characterized by activation in a set of temporal and occipital regions in both hemispheres, including the middle occipital gyrus, middle temporal gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus. In addition, the present study identified greater recruitment of the right inferior parietal lobule in perceiving audio-visual emotional expressions in HAQ individuals, as compared to the LAQ individuals. Depending on face or voice-to-be attended, different patterns of emotional incongruence were found between the two groups. Specifically, the HAQ group tend to show more incidental processing to visual information whilst the LAQ group tend to show more incidental processing to auditory information during the crossmodal emotional incongruence decoding. These differences might be attributed to different attentional demands and different processing strategies between the two groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peipei Liu
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China; School of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QB, UK; School of Education, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G3 6NH, UK
| | | | - Frank E Pollick
- School of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QB, UK.
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12
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Patterson G, Cummings KK, Jung J, Okada NJ, Tottenham N, Bookheimer SY, Dapretto M, Green SA. Effects of sensory distraction and salience priming on emotion identification in autism: an fMRI study. J Neurodev Disord 2021; 13:42. [PMID: 34556059 PMCID: PMC8461948 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-021-09391-0] [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: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Social interaction often occurs in noisy environments with many extraneous sensory stimuli. This is especially relevant for youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who commonly experience sensory over-responsivity (SOR) in addition to social challenges. However, the relationship between SOR and social difficulties is still poorly understood and thus rarely addressed in interventions. This study investigated the effect of auditory sensory distracters on neural processing of emotion identification in youth with ASD and the effects of increasing attention to social cues by priming participants with their own emotional faces. Methods While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 30 youth with ASD and 24 typically developing (TD) age-matched controls (ages 8–17 years) identified faces as happy or angry with and without simultaneously hearing aversive environmental noises. Halfway through the task, participants also viewed videos of their own emotional faces. The relationship between parent-rated auditory SOR and brain responses during the task was also examined. Results Despite showing comparable behavioral performance on the task, ASD and TD youth demonstrated distinct patterns of neural activity. Compared to TD, ASD youth showed greater increases in amygdala, insula, and primary sensory regions when identifying emotions with noises compared to no sounds. After viewing videos of their own emotion faces, ASD youth showed greater increases in medial prefrontal cortex activation compared to TD youth. Within ASD youth, lower SOR was associated with reduced increased activity in subcortical regions after the prime and greater increased activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex after the prime, particularly in trials with noises. Conclusions The results suggest that the sensory environment plays an important role in how ASD youth process social information. Additionally, we demonstrated that increasing attention to relevant social cues helps ASD youth engage frontal regions involved in higher-order social cognition, a mechanism that could be targeted in interventions. Importantly, the effect of the intervention may depend on individual differences in SOR, supporting the importance of pre-screening youth for sensory challenges prior to social interventions. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s11689-021-09391-0.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kaitlin K Cummings
- Jane and Terry Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA
| | - Jiwon Jung
- Jane and Terry Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Nana J Okada
- Jane and Terry Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.,Havard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Nim Tottenham
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA
| | - Susan Y Bookheimer
- Jane and Terry Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Mirella Dapretto
- Jane and Terry Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.,Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, 660 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Shulamite A Green
- Jane and Terry Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA. .,Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, 660 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
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13
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Ibrahim K, Soorya LV, Halpern DB, Gorenstein M, Siper PM, Wang AT. Social cognitive skills groups increase medial prefrontal cortex activity in children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res 2021; 14:2495-2511. [PMID: 34486810 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2021] [Revised: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Few studies have examined the neural mechanisms of change following social skills interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined the neural effects of social cognitive skills groups during functional MRI (fMRI) tasks of irony comprehension and eye gaze processing in school-aged children with ASD. Verbally fluent children (ages 8-11) were randomized to social cognitive skills groups or facilitated play comparison groups. Behavioral assessments and fMRI scans were obtained at baseline and endpoint (12 weeks). During fMRI, children completed two separate tasks to engage social cognition circuitry: comprehension of potentially ironic scenarios (n = 34) and viewing emotionally expressive faces with direct or averted gaze (n = 24). Whole-brain analyses were conducted to examine neural changes following treatment. Regression analyses were also conducted to explore the relationship between neural and behavioral changes. When comparing the two groups directly, the social cognitive skills group showed greater increases in activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), implicated in theory of mind, relative to the comparison group for both irony comprehension and gaze processing tasks. Increased mPFC activity during the irony task was associated with improvement in social functioning on the Social Responsiveness Scale across both groups. Findings indicate that social cognitive skills interventions may increase activity in regions associated with social cognition and mentalizing abilities. LAY SUMMARY: Social skills groups are a common intervention for school-aged children with ASD. However, few studies have examined the neural response to social skills groups in school-aged children with ASD. Here, we report on a study evaluating neural outcomes from an empirically supported social cognitive skills training curriculum using fMRI. This study seeks to understand the effects of targeting emotion recognition and theory of mind on the brain circuitry involved in social cognition in verbally fluent children ages 8-11. Results indicate increased neural activity in the mPFC, a region considered to be a central hub of the "social brain," in children randomized to social cognitive skills groups relative to a comparison group that received a high-quality, child-directed play approach. In addition, increased activation in the mPFC during an irony comprehension task was associated with gains in social functioning across both groups from pre- to post-treatment. This is the first fMRI study of social skills treatment outcomes following a randomized trial with an active treatment condition in school-aged children with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karim Ibrahim
- Seaver Autism Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.,Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Latha V Soorya
- Seaver Autism Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.,Rush Medical College, Rush University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Danielle B Halpern
- Seaver Autism Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Michelle Gorenstein
- Seaver Autism Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Paige M Siper
- Seaver Autism Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - A Ting Wang
- Seaver Autism Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
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14
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Daedelow LS, Beck A, Romund L, Mascarell-Maricic L, Dziobek I, Romanczuk-Seiferth N, Wüstenberg T, Heinz A. Neural correlates of RDoC-specific cognitive processes in a high-functional autistic patient: a statistically validated case report. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2021; 128:845-859. [PMID: 34003357 PMCID: PMC8205905 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-021-02352-w] [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: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 05/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The level of functioning of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) varies widely. To better understand the neurobiological mechanism associated with high-functioning ASD, we studied the rare case of a female patient with an exceptional professional career in the highly competitive academic field of Mathematics. According to the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) approach, which proposes to describe the basic dimensions of functioning by integrating different levels of information, we conducted four fMRI experiments targeting the (1) social processes domain (Theory of mind (ToM) and face matching), (2) positive valence domain (reward processing), and (3) cognitive domain (N-back). Patient’s data were compared to data of 14 healthy controls (HC). Additionally, we assessed the subjective experience of our case during the experiments. The patient showed increased response times during face matching and achieved a higher total gain in the Reward task, whereas her performance in N-back and ToM was similar to HC. Her brain function differed mainly in the positive valence and cognitive domains. During reward processing, she showed reduced activity in a left-hemispheric frontal network and cortical midline structures but increased connectivity within this network. During the working memory task patients’ brain activity and connectivity in left-hemispheric temporo-frontal regions were elevated. In the ToM task, activity in posterior cingulate cortex and temporo-parietal junction was reduced. We suggest that the high level of functioning in our patient is rather related to the effects in brain connectivity than to local cortical information processing and that subjective report provides a fruitful framework for interpretation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura S Daedelow
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Anne Beck
- Health and Medical University Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Lydia Romund
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lea Mascarell-Maricic
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Isabel Dziobek
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nina Romanczuk-Seiferth
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Torsten Wüstenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany. .,Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Psychological Institute, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Hauptstr. 47-51, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Andreas Heinz
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
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15
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Social Inferences in Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum and Autism: Semantic Analysis and Topic Modeling. J Autism Dev Disord 2021; 52:569-583. [PMID: 33768420 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-021-04957-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Impoverished capacity for social inference is one of several symptoms that are common to both agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This research compared the ability of 14 adults with AgCC, 13 high-functioning adults with ASD and 14 neurotypical controls to accurately attribute social meaning to the interactions of animated triangles. Descriptions of the animations were analyzed in three ways: subjective ratings, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, and topic modeling (Latent Dirichlet Allocation). Although subjective ratings indicated that all groups made similar inferences from the animations, the index of perplexity (atypicality of topic) generated from topic modeling revealed that inferences from individuals with AgCC or ASD displayed significantly less social imagination than those of controls.
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16
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Alterations in Rapid Social Evaluations in Individuals with High Autism Traits. J Autism Dev Disord 2021; 51:3575-3585. [PMID: 33394240 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04795-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Typically developing adults with low and high Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores made rapid social evaluations of neutral faces when these were primed by briefly presented emotional faces. High AQ participants rated neutral faces as more threatening than low AQ participants, regardless of the prime condition. Both groups rated target neutral faces as more threatening with fearful compared with neutral primes, while neither group demonstrated an effect of happy primes on the ratings of neutral target faces. These results demonstrate subtle anomalies in rapid visual processing of emotional faces across the broader autism spectrum. They suggest that higher autism traits may be associated with a generalized threat bias in rapid social evaluations.
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17
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Jelili S, Halayem S, Taamallah A, Ennaifer S, Rajhi O, Moussa M, Ghazzei M, Nabli A, Ouanes S, Abbes Z, Hajri M, Fakhfakh R, Bouden A. Impaired Recognition of Static and Dynamic Facial Emotions in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Stimuli of Varying Intensities, Different Genders, and Age Ranges Faces. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:693310. [PMID: 34489754 PMCID: PMC8417587 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.693310] [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] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A multitude of research on facial emotion recognition (FER) in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have been published since several years. However, these studies have mainly used static high intensity stimuli, including adult and/or children facial emotions. This current study investigated FER in children with ASD using an innovative task, composed of a combination of static (114 pictures) and dynamic (36 videos) subtests, including children, adolescent, and adult male and female faces, with high, medium, and low intensity of basic facial emotions, and neutral expression. The ASD group consisted of 45 Tunisian verbal children, and the control group consisted of 117 tunisian typically developing children. Both groups were aged 7-12 years. After adjusting for sex, age, mental age, and school grade, the ASD group scored lower than controls on all tests except for the recognition of happiness and fear in the static subtest, and the recognition of happiness, fear, and sadness in the dynamic subtest (p ≥ 0.05). In the ASD group, the total score of both the static and the dynamic subtest were positively correlated with the school grade (p < 0.001), but not with age, or mental age. Children with ASD performed better in recognizing facial emotions in children than in adults and adolescents on videos and photos (p < 0.001). Impairments in FER would have negative impact on the child's social development. Thus, the creation of new intervention instruments aiming to improve emotion recognition strategies at an early stage to individuals with ASD seems fundamental.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selima Jelili
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.,Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Soumeyya Halayem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.,Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Amal Taamallah
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.,Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Selima Ennaifer
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.,Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Olfa Rajhi
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.,Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Mohamed Moussa
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.,Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Melek Ghazzei
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.,Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Ahmed Nabli
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
| | - Sami Ouanes
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia.,Department of Psychiatry- Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Zeineb Abbes
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.,Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Malek Hajri
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.,Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | | | - Asma Bouden
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.,Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
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18
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Wagener GL, Berning M, Costa AP, Steffgen G, Melzer A. Effects of Emotional Music on Facial Emotion Recognition in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). J Autism Dev Disord 2020; 51:3256-3265. [PMID: 33201423 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04781-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Impaired facial emotion recognition in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is in contrast to their intact emotional music recognition. This study tested whether emotion congruent music enhances facial emotion recognition. Accuracy and reaction times were assessed for 19 children with ASD and 31 controls in a recognition task with angry, happy, or sad faces. Stimuli were shown with either emotionally congruent or incongruent music or no music. Although children with ASD had higher reaction times than controls, accuracy only differed when incongruent or no music was played, indicating that congruent emotional music can boost facial emotion recognition in children with ASD. Emotion congruent music may support emotion recognition in children with ASD, and thus may improve their social skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary L Wagener
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, 11, Porte des Sciences, 4366, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
| | - Madeleine Berning
- Institute of Psychology, University of Trier, Universitätsring 15, 54286, Trier, Germany
| | - Andreia P Costa
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, 11, Porte des Sciences, 4366, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Georges Steffgen
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, 11, Porte des Sciences, 4366, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - André Melzer
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, 11, Porte des Sciences, 4366, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
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19
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Libero LE, Schaer M, Li DD, Amaral DG, Nordahl CW. A Longitudinal Study of Local Gyrification Index in Young Boys With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:2575-2587. [PMID: 29850803 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Local gyrification index (LGI), a metric quantifying cortical folding, was evaluated in 105 boys with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 49 typically developing (TD) boys at 3 and 5 years-of-age. At 3 years-of-age, boys with ASD had reduced gyrification in the fusiform gyrus compared with TD boys. A longitudinal evaluation from 3 to 5 years revealed that while TD boys had stable/decreasing LGI, boys with ASD had increasing LGI in right inferior temporal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, right inferior parietal lobule, and stable LGI in left lingual gyrus. LGI was also examined in a previously defined neurophenotype of boys with ASD and disproportionate megalencephaly. At 3 years-of-age, this subgroup exhibited increased LGI in right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, and paracentral cortex, and left cingulate cortex and superior frontal gyrus relative to TD boys and increased LGI in right paracentral lobule and parahippocampal gyrus, and left precentral gyrus compared with boys with ASD and normal brain size. In summary, this study identified alterations in the pattern and development of LGI during early childhood in ASD. Distinct patterns of alterations in subgroups of boys with ASD suggests that multiple neurophenotypes exist and boys with ASD and disproportionate megalencephaly should be evaluated separately.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren E Libero
- UC Davis MIND Institute and the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, 2230 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Marie Schaer
- Office Medico-Pedagogique, Universite de Geneve, Rue David Dafour 1, Geneva 8, Switzerland
| | - Deana D Li
- UC Davis MIND Institute and the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, 2230 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - David G Amaral
- UC Davis MIND Institute and the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, 2230 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Christine Wu Nordahl
- UC Davis MIND Institute and the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, 2230 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA, USA
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20
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Correlations between facial emotion recognition and cognitive flexibility in autism spectrum disorder. ADVANCES IN AUTISM 2020. [DOI: 10.1108/aia-02-2019-0005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Purpose
Various studies have examined the role of executive functions in autism, but there is a lack of research in the current literature on cognitive flexibility in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The purpose of this study is to investigate whether cognitive flexibility deficits could be related to facial emotion recognition deficits in ASD.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 20 children with ASD and 20 typically developing children, matched for intelligence quotient and gender, were examined both in facial emotion recognition tasks and in cognitive flexibility tasks through the dimensional change card sorting task.
Findings
Despite cognitive flexibility not being a core deficit in ASD, impaired cognitive flexibility is evident in the present research. Results show that cognitive flexibility is related to facial emotion recognition and support the hypothesis of an executive specific deficit in children with autism.
Research limitations/implications
One of the limit is the use of just one cognitive test to measure cognitive flexibility and facial recognition. This could be important to be taken into account in the new research. By increasing the number of common variables assessing cognitive flexibility, this will allow for a better comparison between studies to characterize impairment in cognitive flexibility in ASD.
Practical implications
Investigating impairment in cognitive flexibility may help to plan training intervention based on the induction of flexibility.
Social implications
If the authors implement cognitive flexibility people with ASD can have also an effect on their social behavior and overcome the typical and repetitive behaviors that are the hallmark of ASD.
Originality/value
The originality is to relate cognitive flexibility deficits to facial emotion.
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21
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Al-Dewik N, Al-Jurf R, Styles M, Tahtamouni S, Alsharshani D, Alsharshani M, Ahmad AI, Khattab A, Al Rifai H, Walid Qoronfleh M. Overview and Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ADVANCES IN NEUROBIOLOGY 2020; 24:3-42. [PMID: 32006355 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-30402-7_1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder generally manifesting in the first few years of life and tending to persist into adolescence and adulthood. It is characterized by deficits in communication and social interaction and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. It is a disorder with multifactorial etiology. In this chapter, we will focus on the most important and common epidemiological studies, pathogenesis, screening, and diagnostic tools along with an explication of genetic testing in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nader Al-Dewik
- Clinical and Metabolic Genetics Section, Pediatrics Department, Hamad General Hospital (HGH), Women's Wellness and Research Center (WWRC) and Interim Translational Research Institute (iTRI), Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Doha, Qatar. .,College of Health and Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Doha, Qatar. .,Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, Kingston University, St. George's University of London, London, UK.
| | - Rana Al-Jurf
- Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Science, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
| | - Meghan Styles
- Health Profession Awareness Program, Health Facilities Development, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Doha, Qatar
| | - Sona Tahtamouni
- Child Development Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Dalal Alsharshani
- College of Health and Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Doha, Qatar
| | - Mohammed Alsharshani
- Diagnostic Genetics Division (DGD), Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (DLMP), Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Doha, Qatar
| | - Amal I Ahmad
- Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (QRI), Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Doha, Qatar
| | - Azhar Khattab
- Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (QRI), Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Doha, Qatar
| | - Hilal Al Rifai
- Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Newborn Screening Unit, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - M Walid Qoronfleh
- Research and Policy Department, World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
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22
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Brain Network Organization Correlates with Autistic Features in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders and in Their Fathers: Preliminary Data from a DWI Analysis. J Clin Med 2019; 8:jcm8040487. [PMID: 30974902 PMCID: PMC6518033 DOI: 10.3390/jcm8040487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Revised: 04/02/2019] [Accepted: 04/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that is characterized by an altered brain connectivity organization. Autistic traits below the clinical threshold (i.e., the broad autism phenotype; BAP) are frequent among first-degree relatives of subjects with ASD; however, little is known regarding whether subthreshold behavioral manifestations of ASD mirror also at the neuroanatomical level in parents of ASD probands. To this aim, we applied advanced diffusion network analysis to MRI of 16 dyads consisting of a child with ASD and his father in order to investigate: (i) the correlation between structural network organization and autistic features in preschoolers with ASD (all males; age range 1.5-5.2 years); (ii) the correlation between structural network organization and BAP features in the fathers of individuals with ASD (fath-ASD). Local network measures significantly correlated with autism severity in ASD children and with BAP traits in fath-ASD, while no significant association emerged when considering the global measures of brain connectivity. Notably, an overlap of some brain regions that are crucial for social functioning (cingulum, superior temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, frontal pole, and amygdala) in patients with ASD and fath-ASD was detected, suggesting an intergenerational transmission of these neural substrates. Overall, the results of this study may help in elucidating the neurostructural endophenotype of ASD, paving the way for bridging connections between underlying genetic and ASD symptomatology.
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23
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Specific Patterns of Emotion Recognition from Faces in Children with ASD: Results of a Cross-Modal Matching Paradigm. J Autism Dev Disord 2019; 48:844-852. [PMID: 29164447 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3389-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Children with ASD show emotion recognition difficulties, as part of their social communication deficits. We examined facial emotion recognition (FER) in intellectually disabled children with ASD and in younger typically developing (TD) controls, matched on mental age. Our emotion-matching paradigm employed three different modalities: facial, vocal and verbal. Results confirmed overall FER deficits in ASD. Compared to the TD group, children with ASD had the poorest performance in recognizing surprise and anger in comparison to happiness and sadness, and struggled with face-face matching, compared to voice-face and word-face combinations. Performance in the voice-face cross-modal recognition task was related to adaptive communication. These findings highlight the specific face processing deficit, and the relative merit of cross-modal integration in children with ASD.
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24
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Dijkhuis R, Gurbuz E, Ziermans T, Staal W, Swaab H. Social Attention and Emotional Responsiveness in Young Adults With Autism. Front Psychiatry 2019; 10:426. [PMID: 31275179 PMCID: PMC6593106 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 05/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are generally characterized by marked impairments in processing of social emotional information, but less is known about emotion processing in adults with the disorder. This study aimed to address this by collecting data on social attention (eye tracking), emotional arousal (skin conductance level, SCL), and emotional awareness (self-report) in a paradigm with social emotional video clips. Fifty-two young, intelligent adults with ASD (IQrange = 88-130, Agerange = 18-24) and 31 typically developing (TD) ASD (IQrange = 94-139, Agerange = 19-28) gender matched controls participated and reported on severity of autism symptoms [Social Responsiveness Scale for Adults (SRS-A)]. Results showed no group difference in social attention, while autism symptom severity was related to decreased attention to faces across participants (r = -.32). Average SCL was lower in the ASD group, but no group difference in arousal reactivity (change from baseline to emotional phases) was detected. Lower SCL during video clips was related to autism symptom severity across participants (r = -.29). ASD individuals reported lower emotional awareness. We conclude that, even though no deviations in social attention or emotional reactivity were found in ASD, an overall lower level of social attention and arousal may help explain difficulties in social functioning in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renee Dijkhuis
- Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Neuropedagogics and Developmental Disorders, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Emine Gurbuz
- Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Neuropedagogics and Developmental Disorders, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Tim Ziermans
- Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Neuropedagogics and Developmental Disorders, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Wouter Staal
- Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Neuropedagogics and Developmental Disorders, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.,Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Hanna Swaab
- Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Neuropedagogics and Developmental Disorders, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, Netherlands
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25
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Odriozola P, Dajani DR, Burrows CA, Gabard-Durnam LJ, Goodman E, Baez AC, Tottenham N, Uddin LQ, Gee DG. Atypical frontoamygdala functional connectivity in youth with autism. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2018; 37:100603. [PMID: 30581125 PMCID: PMC6570504 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2018] [Revised: 11/11/2018] [Accepted: 12/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Functional connectivity (FC) between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex underlies socioemotional functioning, a core domain of impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although frontoamygdala circuitry undergoes dynamic changes throughout development, little is known about age-related changes in frontoamygdala networks in ASD. Here we characterize frontoamygdala resting-state FC in a cross-sectional sample (ages 7–25) of 58 typically developing (TD) individuals and 53 individuals with ASD. Contrary to hypotheses, individuals with ASD did not show different age-related patterns of frontoamygdala FC compared with TD individuals. However, overall group differences in frontoamygdala FC were observed. Specifically, relative to TD individuals, individuals with ASD showed weaker frontoamygdala FC between the right basolateral (BL) amygdala and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC). These findings extend prior work to a broader developmental range in ASD, and indicate ASD-related differences in frontoamygdala FC that may underlie core socioemotional impairments in children and adolescents with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Odriozola
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA.
| | - Dina R Dajani
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
| | | | | | - Emma Goodman
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Adriana C Baez
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
| | - Nim Tottenham
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Lucina Q Uddin
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA; Neuroscience Program, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami FL, 33136, USA
| | - Dylan G Gee
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
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26
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Safar K, Wong SM, Leung RC, Dunkley BT, Taylor MJ. Increased Functional Connectivity During Emotional Face Processing in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:408. [PMID: 30364114 PMCID: PMC6191493 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate poor social functioning, which may be related to atypical emotional face processing. Altered functional connectivity among brain regions, particularly involving limbic structures may be implicated. The current magnetoencephalography (MEG) study investigated whole-brain functional connectivity of eight a priori identified brain regions during the implicit presentation of happy and angry faces in 20 7 to 10-year-old children with ASD and 22 typically developing controls. Findings revealed a network of increased alpha-band phase synchronization during the first 400 ms of happy face processing in children with ASD compared to controls. This network of increased alpha-band phase synchronization involved the left fusiform gyrus, right insula, and frontal regions critical for emotional face processing. In addition, greater connectivity strength of the left fusiform gyrus (maximal 85 to 208 ms) and right insula (maximal 73 to 270 ms) following happy face presentation in children with ASD compared to typically developing controls was found. These findings reflect altered neuronal communication in children with ASD only to happy faces during implicit emotional face processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina Safar
- Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Simeon M Wong
- Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Rachel C Leung
- University Health Network - Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Benjamin T Dunkley
- Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Margot J Taylor
- Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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27
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Ciaramidaro A, Bölte S, Schlitt S, Hainz D, Poustka F, Weber B, Freitag C, Walter H. Transdiagnostic deviant facial recognition for implicit negative emotion in autism and schizophrenia. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2018; 28:264-275. [PMID: 29275843 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2017.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2017] [Revised: 11/21/2017] [Accepted: 12/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Impaired facial affect recognition (FAR) is observed in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and has been linked to amygdala and fusiform gyrus dysfunction. ASD patient's impairments seem to be more pronounced during implicit rather than explicit FAR, whereas for schizophrenia data are inconsistent. However, there are no studies comparing both patient groups in an identical design. The aim of this three-group study was to identify (i) whether FAR alterations are equally present in both groups, (ii) whether they are present rather during implicit or explicit FAR, (iii) and whether they are conveyed by similar or disorder-specific neural mechanisms. Using fMRI, we investigated neural activation during explicit and implicit negative and neutral FAR in 33 young-adult individuals with ASD, 20 subjects with paranoid-schizophrenia and 25 IQ- and gender-matched controls individuals. Differences in activation patterns between each clinical group and controls, respectively were found exclusively for implicit FAR in amygdala and fusiform gyrus. In addition, the ASD group additionally showed reduced activations in medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), bilateral dorso-lateral PFC, ventro-lateral PFC, posterior-superior temporal sulcus and left temporo-parietal junction. Although subjects with ASD showed more widespread altered activation patterns, a direct comparison between both patient groups did not show disorder-specific deficits in neither patient group. In summary, our findings are consistent with a common neural deficit during implicit negative facial affect recognition in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Ciaramidaro
- Dept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/M, Germany; Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Univ. of Rome "Sapienza", Rome, Italy.
| | - Sven Bölte
- Dept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/M, Germany; Dept. of Women's and Children's Health, Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Karolinska Institutet, & Center of Psychiatry Research (CPF), Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sabine Schlitt
- Dept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/M, Germany
| | - Daniela Hainz
- Dept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/M, Germany
| | - Fritz Poustka
- Dept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/M, Germany
| | - Bernhard Weber
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/M, Germany; Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christine Freitag
- Dept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/M, Germany
| | - Henrik Walter
- Dept. of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
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28
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Lassalle A, Åsberg Johnels J, Zürcher NR, Hippolyte L, Billstedt E, Ward N, Lemonnier E, Gillberg C, Hadjikhani N. Hypersensitivity to low intensity fearful faces in autism when fixation is constrained to the eyes. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38:5943-5957. [PMID: 28881454 PMCID: PMC6866739 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Revised: 08/08/2017] [Accepted: 08/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies that showed decreased brain activation in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) viewing expressive faces did not control that participants looked in the eyes. This is problematic because ASD is characterized by abnormal attention to the eyes. Here, we collected fMRI data from 48 participants (27 ASD) viewing pictures of neutral faces and faces expressing anger, happiness, and fear at low and high intensity, with a fixation cross between the eyes. Group differences in whole brain activity were examined for expressive faces at high and low intensity versus neutral faces. Group differences in neural activity were also investigated in regions of interest within the social brain, including the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). In response to low intensity fearful faces, ASD participants showed increased activation in the social brain regions, and decreased functional coupling between the amygdala and the vmPFC. This oversensitivity to low intensity fear coupled with a lack of emotional regulation capacity could indicate an excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in their socio-affective processing system. This may result in social disengagement and avoidance of eye-contact to handle feelings of strong emotional reaction. Our results also demonstrate the importance of careful control of gaze when investigating emotional processing in ASD. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5943-5957, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amandine Lassalle
- Massachusetts General HospitalA. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of PsychiatryAutism Research Centre, Cambridge UniversityUnited Kingdom
| | - Jakob Åsberg Johnels
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, Gothenburg UniversitySweden
- Section for Speech and Language PathologyGothenburg UniversitySweden
| | - Nicole R. Zürcher
- Massachusetts General HospitalA. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Loyse Hippolyte
- Service de Génétique Médicale, University of LausanneSwitzerland
| | - Eva Billstedt
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, Gothenburg UniversitySweden
| | - Noreen Ward
- Massachusetts General HospitalA. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Eric Lemonnier
- Centre Ressource AutismeHopital Universitaire de LimogesFrance
| | | | - Nouchine Hadjikhani
- Massachusetts General HospitalA. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, Gothenburg UniversitySweden
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29
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Sato W, Sawada R, Uono S, Yoshimura S, Kochiyama T, Kubota Y, Sakihama M, Toichi M. Impaired detection of happy facial expressions in autism. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13340. [PMID: 29042592 PMCID: PMC5645383 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-11900-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2017] [Accepted: 08/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The detection of emotional facial expressions plays an indispensable role in social interaction. Psychological studies have shown that typically developing (TD) individuals more rapidly detect emotional expressions than neutral expressions. However, it remains unclear whether individuals with autistic phenotypes, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and high levels of autistic traits (ATs), are impaired in this ability. We examined this by comparing TD and ASD individuals in Experiment 1 and individuals with low and high ATs in Experiment 2 using the visual search paradigm. Participants detected normal facial expressions of anger and happiness and their anti-expressions within crowds of neutral expressions. In Experiment 1, reaction times were shorter for normal angry expressions than for anti-expressions in both TD and ASD groups. This was also the case for normal happy expressions vs. anti-expressions in the TD group but not in the ASD group. Similarly, in Experiment 2, the detection of normal vs. anti-expressions was faster for angry expressions in both groups and for happy expressions in the low, but not high, ATs group. These results suggest that the detection of happy facial expressions is impaired in individuals with ASD and high ATs, which may contribute to their difficulty in creating and maintaining affiliative social relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wataru Sato
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
| | - Reiko Sawada
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Shota Uono
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Sayaka Yoshimura
- Department of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Takanori Kochiyama
- Brain Activity Imaging Center, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, Soraku, Japan
| | - Yasutaka Kubota
- Health and Medical Services Center, Shiga University, Hikone, Japan
| | | | - Motomi Toichi
- Faculty of Human Health Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,The Organization for Promoting Neurodevelopmental Disorder Research, Kyoto, Japan
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30
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Varghese M, Keshav N, Jacot-Descombes S, Warda T, Wicinski B, Dickstein DL, Harony-Nicolas H, De Rubeis S, Drapeau E, Buxbaum JD, Hof PR. Autism spectrum disorder: neuropathology and animal models. Acta Neuropathol 2017; 134:537-566. [PMID: 28584888 PMCID: PMC5693718 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-017-1736-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 315] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2017] [Revised: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 05/31/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a major impact on the development and social integration of affected individuals and is the most heritable of psychiatric disorders. An increase in the incidence of ASD cases has prompted a surge in research efforts on the underlying neuropathologic processes. We present an overview of current findings in neuropathology studies of ASD using two investigational approaches, postmortem human brains and ASD animal models, and discuss the overlap, limitations, and significance of each. Postmortem examination of ASD brains has revealed global changes including disorganized gray and white matter, increased number of neurons, decreased volume of neuronal soma, and increased neuropil, the last reflecting changes in densities of dendritic spines, cerebral vasculature and glia. Both cortical and non-cortical areas show region-specific abnormalities in neuronal morphology and cytoarchitectural organization, with consistent findings reported from the prefrontal cortex, fusiform gyrus, frontoinsular cortex, cingulate cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum and brainstem. The paucity of postmortem human studies linking neuropathology to the underlying etiology has been partly addressed using animal models to explore the impact of genetic and non-genetic factors clinically relevant for the ASD phenotype. Genetically modified models include those based on well-studied monogenic ASD genes (NLGN3, NLGN4, NRXN1, CNTNAP2, SHANK3, MECP2, FMR1, TSC1/2), emerging risk genes (CHD8, SCN2A, SYNGAP1, ARID1B, GRIN2B, DSCAM, TBR1), and copy number variants (15q11-q13 deletion, 15q13.3 microdeletion, 15q11-13 duplication, 16p11.2 deletion and duplication, 22q11.2 deletion). Models of idiopathic ASD include inbred rodent strains that mimic ASD behaviors as well as models developed by environmental interventions such as prenatal exposure to sodium valproate, maternal autoantibodies, and maternal immune activation. In addition to replicating some of the neuropathologic features seen in postmortem studies, a common finding in several animal models of ASD is altered density of dendritic spines, with the direction of the change depending on the specific genetic modification, age and brain region. Overall, postmortem neuropathologic studies with larger sample sizes representative of the various ASD risk genes and diverse clinical phenotypes are warranted to clarify putative etiopathogenic pathways further and to promote the emergence of clinically relevant diagnostic and therapeutic tools. In addition, as genetic alterations may render certain individuals more vulnerable to developing the pathological changes at the synapse underlying the behavioral manifestations of ASD, neuropathologic investigation using genetically modified animal models will help to improve our understanding of the disease mechanisms and enhance the development of targeted treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merina Varghese
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Box 1639, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Neha Keshav
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Box 1639, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Sarah Jacot-Descombes
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Box 1639, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Children and Teenagers, University Hospitals and School of Medicine, Geneva, CH-1205, Switzerland
| | - Tahia Warda
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Box 1639, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Bridget Wicinski
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Box 1639, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Dara L Dickstein
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Box 1639, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | - Hala Harony-Nicolas
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Silvia De Rubeis
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Elodie Drapeau
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Joseph D Buxbaum
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Box 1639, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Patrick R Hof
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Box 1639, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
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31
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Okamoto Y, Kosaka H, Kitada R, Seki A, Tanabe HC, Hayashi MJ, Kochiyama T, Saito DN, Yanaka HT, Munesue T, Ishitobi M, Omori M, Wada Y, Okazawa H, Koeda T, Sadato N. Age-dependent atypicalities in body- and face-sensitive activation of the EBA and FFA in individuals with ASD. Neurosci Res 2017; 119:38-52. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2017.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Revised: 01/28/2017] [Accepted: 02/02/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
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32
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Vukusic S, Ciorciari J, Crewther DP. Electrophysiological Correlates of Subliminal Perception of Facial Expressions in Individuals with Autistic Traits: A Backward Masking Study. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:256. [PMID: 28588465 PMCID: PMC5440466 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2016] [Accepted: 04/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
People with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show difficulty in social communication, especially in the rapid assessment of emotion in faces. This study examined the processing of emotional faces in typically developing adults with high and low levels of autistic traits (measured using the Autism Spectrum Quotient—AQ). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during viewing of backward-masked neutral, fearful and happy faces presented under two conditions: subliminal (16 ms, below the level of visual conscious awareness) and supraliminal (166 ms, above the time required for visual conscious awareness). Individuals with low and high AQ differed in the processing of subliminal faces, with the low AQ group showing an enhanced N2 amplitude for subliminal happy faces. Some group differences were found in the condition effects, with the Low AQ showing shorter frontal P3b and N4 latencies for subliminal vs. supraliminal condition. Although results did not show any group differences on the face-specific N170 component, there were shorter N170 latencies for supraliminal vs. subliminal conditions across groups. The results observed on the N2, showing group differences in subliminal emotion processing, suggest that decreased sensitivity to the reward value of social stimuli is a common feature both of people with ASD as well as people with high autistic traits from the normal population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Svjetlana Vukusic
- Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University of TechnologyMelbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Joseph Ciorciari
- Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University of TechnologyMelbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - David P Crewther
- Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University of TechnologyMelbourne, VIC, Australia
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33
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Guo X, Duan X, Long Z, Chen H, Wang Y, Zheng J, Zhang Y, Li R, Chen H. Decreased amygdala functional connectivity in adolescents with autism: A resting-state fMRI study. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2016; 257:47-56. [PMID: 27969061 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2016.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2016] [Revised: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 10/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The human brain undergoes dramatic changes in amygdala-related functional connectivity network during adolescence. Given that the amygdala is a vital component of the "social brain", the Amygdala Theory of Autism has been proposed to account for atypical patterns of socio-emotional behavior in autism. Most of the previous neuroimaging evidence has concentrated on local functional or structural abnormalities of the amygdala in relation to social deficits in autism, rather than on its integrated role as part of larger brain networks. To examine whether functional integration pattern of the amygdala is altered in autism, the current study examined sixty-five adolescent subjects (30 autism and 35 healthy controls, 12-18 years old) from two independent datasets (UCLA and Leuven) of the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange. Whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity maps seeded in the amygdala were calculated and compared between patient and control groups. Compared with healthy controls, adolescents with autism showed decreased functional connectivity between the amygdala and subcortical regions in both datasets, including the bilateral thalamus and right putamen. These findings support the Amygdala Theory of Autism, demonstrating altered functional connectivity pattern associated with the amygdala in autism, and provide new insights into the pathophysiology of autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaonan Guo
- Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China
| | - Xujun Duan
- Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China.
| | - Zhiliang Long
- Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China
| | - Heng Chen
- Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China
| | - Yifeng Wang
- Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China
| | - Junjie Zheng
- Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China
| | - Youxue Zhang
- Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China
| | - Rong Li
- Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China
| | - Huafu Chen
- Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China.
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34
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Chester V, Langdon PE. The clinical utility of social information processing theory in assessing and treating offenders with autism spectrum disorder. ADVANCES IN AUTISM 2016. [DOI: 10.1108/aia-07-2016-0019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Purpose
Social deficits are central within conceptualisations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and separately linked to offending behaviour. Social problem-solving interventions are often used with offenders, but little research has examined the social information processing (SIP) skills of individuals with ASD and a history of criminal offending behaviours. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper will introduce the SIP model, review SIP research as applied to those with ASD and in forensic populations, and further consider the relevance to the assessment and treatment of offenders with ASD.
Findings
Difficulties in all areas of the SIP model are noted in ASD and research suggests these difficulties may be directly linked to behaviour.
Practical implications
It is possible that identifying SIP abilities and deficits could improve the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes for this group.
Originality/value
This paper reviews the utility of social information models in the offending behaviour of people with ASD.
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35
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Ben-Yosef D, Anaki D, Golan O. Context processing in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: How complex could it be? Autism Res 2016; 10:520-530. [PMID: 27484258 DOI: 10.1002/aur.1676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2016] [Accepted: 07/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The ability of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to process context has long been debated: According to the Weak Central Coherence theory, ASD is characterized by poor global processing, and consequently-poor context processing. In contrast, the Social Cognition theory argues individuals with ASD will present difficulties only in social context processing. The complexity theory of autism suggests context processing in ASD will depend on task complexity. The current study examined this controversy through two priming tasks, one presenting human stimuli (facial expressions) and the other presenting non-human stimuli (animal faces). Both tasks presented visual targets, preceded by congruent, incongruent, or neutral auditory primes. Local and global processing were examined by presenting the visual targets in three spatial frequency conditions: High frequency, low frequency, and broadband. Tasks were administered to 16 adolescents with high functioning ASD and 16 matched typically developing adolescents. Reaction time and accuracy were measured for each task in each condition. Results indicated that individuals with ASD processed context for both human and non-human stimuli, except in one condition, in which human stimuli had to be processed globally (i.e., target presented in low frequency). The task demands presented in this condition, and the performance deficit shown in the ASD group as a result, could be understood in terms of cognitive overload. These findings provide support for the complexity theory of autism and extend it. Our results also demonstrate how associative priming could support intact context processing of human and non-human stimuli in individuals with ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 520-530. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dekel Ben-Yosef
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002, Israel
| | - David Anaki
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002, Israel.,Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002, Israel
| | - Ofer Golan
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002, Israel
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36
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Chien VSC, Tsai AC, Yang HH, Tseng YL, Savostyanov AN, Liou M. Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome. J Vis Exp 2016. [PMID: 27500602 DOI: 10.3791/53962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Several neuroimaging studies have suggested that the low spatial frequency content in an emotional face mainly activates the amygdala, pulvinar, and superior colliculus especially with fearful faces(1-3). These regions constitute the limbic structure in non-conscious perception of emotions and modulate cortical activity either directly or indirectly(2). In contrast, the conscious representation of emotions is more pronounced in the anterior cingulate, prefrontal cortex, and somatosensory cortex for directing voluntary attention to details in faces(3,4). Asperger's syndrome (AS)(5,6) represents an atypical mental disturbance that affects sensory, affective and communicative abilities, without interfering with normal linguistic skills and intellectual ability. Several studies have found that functional deficits in the neural circuitry important for facial emotion recognition can partly explain social communication failure in patients with AS(7-9). In order to clarify the interplay between conscious and non-conscious representations of emotional faces in AS, an EEG experimental protocol is designed with two tasks involving emotionality evaluation of either photograph or line-drawing faces. A pilot study is introduced for selecting face stimuli that minimize the differences in reaction times and scores assigned to facial emotions between the pretested patients with AS and IQ/gender-matched healthy controls. Information from the pretested patients was used to develop the scoring system used for the emotionality evaluation. Research into facial emotions and visual stimuli with different spatial frequency contents has reached discrepant findings depending on the demographic characteristics of participants and task demands(2). The experimental protocol is intended to clarify deficits in patients with AS in processing emotional faces when compared with healthy controls by controlling for factors unrelated to recognition of facial emotions, such as task difficulty, IQ and gender.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent S C Chien
- Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
| | | | | | - Yi-Li Tseng
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Fu Jen Catholic University
| | | | - Michelle Liou
- Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica; Imaging Research Center, Taipei Medical University;
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37
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Klapwijk ET, Aghajani M, Colins OF, Marijnissen GM, Popma A, van Lang NDJ, van der Wee NJA, Vermeiren RRJM. Different brain responses during empathy in autism spectrum disorders versus conduct disorder and callous-unemotional traits. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2016; 57:737-47. [PMID: 26681358 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/28/2015] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Deficits in empathy are reported in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and also underlie antisocial behavior of individuals with conduct disorder and callous-unemotional traits (CD/CU+). Many studies suggest that individuals with ASD are typically impaired in cognitive aspects of empathy, and individuals with CD/CU+ typically in affective aspects. In the current study, we compared the neural correlates of cognitive and affective aspects of empathy between youth with ASD and youth with CD/CU+. METHODS Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess boys with ASD (N = 23), boys with CD/CU+ (N = 23), and typically developing (TD) boys (N = 33), aged 15-19 years. Angry and fearful faces were presented and participants were asked to either infer the emotional state from the face (other-task; emotion recognition) or to judge their own emotional response to the face (self-task; emotional resonance). RESULTS During emotion recognition, boys with ASD showed reduced responses compared to the other groups in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). During emotional resonance, the CD/CU+ and ASD groups showed reduced amygdala responses compared to the TD controls, boys with ASD showed reduced responses in bilateral hippocampus, and the CD/CU+ boys showed reduced responses in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and anterior insula (AI). CONCLUSION Results suggest differential abnormal brain responses associated with specific aspects of empathic functioning in ASD and CD/CU+. Decreased amygdala responses in ASD and CD/CU+ might point to impaired emotion processing in both disorders, whereas reduced vmPFC responses suggest problems in processing cognitive aspects of empathy in ASD. Reduced IFG/AI responses, finally, suggest decreased emotional resonance in CD/CU+.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduard T Klapwijk
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium - Leiden University Medical Center, 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, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Olivier F Colins
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium - Leiden University Medical Center, 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
| | - Natasja D J van Lang
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium - Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), 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
| | - Robert R J M Vermeiren
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium - Leiden University Medical Center, 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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38
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Ben-Itzchak E, Abutbul S, Bela H, Shai T, Zachor DA. Understanding One's Own Emotions in Cognitively-Able Preadolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2016; 46:2363-71. [PMID: 26995198 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2769-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
There are still no straightforward answers as to whether understanding one's own emotions is impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study evaluated the perception of one's own different emotions, based on the relevant section of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Module 3 test. Forty boys, aged 8-11 years, 20 diagnosed with ASD (IQ ≥ 85) and 20 typically developing children were included. Description of events that elicited specific emotions in ASD was characterized by more 'odd' statements and 'no responses' and less use of content related to 'social situations', 'interpersonal' and 'self-awareness'. More 'no responses' and odd statements were associated with the severity of ASD symptoms. Clinicians should be aware of these differentiating factors during the diagnostic process of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther Ben-Itzchak
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ariel University, 40700, Ariel, Israel.
- The Autism Center, Department of Pediatrics, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, 70300, Zerifin, Israel.
| | - Shira Abutbul
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ariel University, 40700, Ariel, Israel
| | - Hadas Bela
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ariel University, 40700, Ariel, Israel
| | - Tom Shai
- The Autism Center, Department of Pediatrics, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, 70300, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Ditza A Zachor
- The Autism Center, Department of Pediatrics, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, 70300, Zerifin, Israel
- The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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39
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Tseng A, Wang Z, Huo Y, Goh S, Russell JA, Peterson BS. Differences in neural activity when processing emotional arousal and valence in autism spectrum disorders. Hum Brain Mapp 2015; 37:443-61. [PMID: 26526072 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2015] [Revised: 09/21/2015] [Accepted: 10/19/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often have difficulty recognizing and interpreting facial expressions of emotion, which may impair their ability to navigate and communicate successfully in their social, interpersonal environments. Characterizing specific differences between individuals with ASD and their typically developing (TD) counterparts in the neural activity subserving their experience of emotional faces may provide distinct targets for ASD interventions. Thus we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a parametric experimental design to identify brain regions in which neural activity correlated with ratings of arousal and valence for a broad range of emotional faces. Participants (51 ASD, 84 TD) were group-matched by age, sex, IQ, race, and socioeconomic status. Using task-related change in blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI signal as a measure, and covarying for age, sex, FSIQ, and ADOS scores, we detected significant differences across diagnostic groups in the neural activity subserving the dimension of arousal but not valence. BOLD-signal in TD participants correlated inversely with ratings of arousal in regions associated primarily with attentional functions, whereas BOLD-signal in ASD participants correlated positively with arousal ratings in regions commonly associated with impulse control and default-mode activity. Only minor differences were detected between groups in the BOLD signal correlates of valence ratings. Our findings provide unique insight into the emotional experiences of individuals with ASD. Although behavioral responses to face-stimuli were comparable across diagnostic groups, the corresponding neural activity for our ASD and TD groups differed dramatically. The near absence of group differences for valence correlates and the presence of strong group differences for arousal correlates suggest that individuals with ASD are not atypical in all aspects of emotion-processing. Studying these similarities and differences may help us to understand the origins of divergent interpersonal emotional experience in persons with ASD. Hum Brain Mapp 37:443-461, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Tseng
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Zhishun Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yuankai Huo
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Suzanne Goh
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - James A Russell
- Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
| | - Bradley S Peterson
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.,Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, Institute for the Developing Mind, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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40
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Gallese V, Gernsbacher MA, Heyes C, Hickok G, Iacoboni M. Mirror Neuron Forum. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2015; 6:369-407. [PMID: 25520744 DOI: 10.1177/1745691611413392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vittorio Gallese
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, and Italian Institute of Technology Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition, Parma, Italy
| | | | - Cecilia Heyes
- All Souls College and Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Gregory Hickok
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine
| | - Marco Iacoboni
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Social Behavior, Brain Research Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles
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41
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Taylor LJ, Maybery MT, Grayndler L, Whitehouse AJO. Evidence for shared deficits in identifying emotions from faces and from voices in autism spectrum disorders and specific language impairment. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2015; 50:452-466. [PMID: 25588870 DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2014] [Accepted: 10/16/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI) have traditionally been conceptualized as distinct disorders, recent findings indicate that the boundaries between these two conditions are not clear-cut. While considerable research has investigated overlap in the linguistic characteristics of ASD and SLI, relatively less research has explored possible overlap in the socio-cognitive domain, particularly in terms of the emotion recognition abilities of these two groups of children. AIMS To investigate facial and vocal emotion recognition in children with ASD, children with SLI and typically developing (TD) children. To do so, the ASD group was subdivided into those with 'normal' (ALN) and those with 'impaired' (ALI) language to explore the extent to which language ability influenced performance on the emotion recognition task. METHODS & PROCEDURES Twenty-nine children with ASD (17 ALN and 12 ALI), 18 children with SLI and 66 TD children completed visual and auditory versions of an emotion recognition task. For the visual version of the task, the participants saw photographs of people expressing one of six emotions (happy, sad, scared, angry, surprised, disgusted) on the whole face. For the auditory modality, the participants heard a neutral sentence that conveyed one of the six emotional expressions in the tone of the voice. In both conditions, the children were required to indicate how the person they could see/hear was feeling by selecting a cartoon face that was presented on the computer screen. OUTCOMES & RESULTS The results showed that all clinical groups were less accurate than the TD children when identifying emotions on the face and in the voice. While the ALN children were less accurate than the TD children only when identifying expressions that require inferring another's mental state (surprise, disgust) emotional expressions, the ALI and the SLI children were less accurate than the TD children when identifying the basic (happy, sad, scared, angry) as well as the inferred emotions. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS The results indicate that children with ALI and children with SLI share emotion recognition deficits, which are likely to be driven by the poor language abilities of these two groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren J Taylor
- Neurocognitive Development Unit, School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Murray T Maybery
- Neurocognitive Development Unit, School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Luke Grayndler
- C.H.I.L.D. Association, The Glenleighden School, Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia
| | - Andrew J O Whitehouse
- Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
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42
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Daly BP, Nicholls EG, Patrick KE, Brinckman DD, Schultheis MT. Driving behaviors in adults with autism spectrum disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 2015; 44:3119-28. [PMID: 24925544 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-014-2166-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
This pilot study investigated driving history and driving behaviors between adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as compared to non-ASD adult drivers. Seventy-eight licensed drivers with ASD and 94 non-ASD comparison participants completed the Driver Behavior Questionnaire. Drivers with ASD endorsed significantly lower ratings of their ability to drive, and higher numbers of traffic accidents and citations relative to non-ASD drivers. Drivers with ASD also endorsed significantly greater numbers of difficulties on the following subscales: intentional violations, F(1, 162) = 6.15, p = .01, η p (2) = .04; mistakes, F(1, 162) = 10.15, p = .002, η p (2) = .06; and slips/lapses, F(1, 162) = 11.33, p = .001, η p (2) = .07. These findings suggest that individuals with ASD who are current drivers may experience more difficulties in driving behaviors and engage in more problematic driving behaviors relative to non-ASD drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian P Daly
- Department of Psychology, Drexel University, 3401 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA,
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43
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Neumann D, McDonald BC, West J, Keiski MA, Wang Y. Neurobiological mechanisms associated with facial affect recognition deficits after traumatic brain injury. Brain Imaging Behav 2015; 10:569-80. [DOI: 10.1007/s11682-015-9415-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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44
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Nomi JS, Uddin LQ. Face processing in autism spectrum disorders: From brain regions to brain networks. Neuropsychologia 2015; 71:201-16. [PMID: 25829246 PMCID: PMC4506751 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.03.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2014] [Revised: 02/25/2015] [Accepted: 03/27/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by reduced attention to social stimuli including the human face. This hypo-responsiveness to stimuli that are engaging to typically developing individuals may result from dysfunctioning motivation, reward, and attention systems in the brain. Here we review an emerging neuroimaging literature that emphasizes a shift from focusing on hypo-activation of isolated brain regions such as the fusiform gyrus, amygdala, and superior temporal sulcus in ASD to a more holistic approach to understanding face perception as a process supported by distributed cortical and subcortical brain networks. We summarize evidence for atypical activation patterns within brain networks that may contribute to social deficits characteristic of the disorder. We conclude by pointing to gaps in the literature and future directions that will continue to shed light on aspects of face processing in autism that are still under-examined. In particular, we highlight the need for more developmental studies and studies examining ecologically valid and naturalistic social stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason S Nomi
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States.
| | - Lucina Q Uddin
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States; Neuroscience Program, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, United States.
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45
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Sivaratnam CS, Newman LK, Tonge BJ, Rinehart NJ. Attachment and Emotion Processing in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Neurobiological, Neuroendocrine, and Neurocognitive Considerations. REVIEW JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s40489-015-0048-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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46
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Fett AKJ, Shergill SS, Krabbendam L. Social neuroscience in psychiatry: unravelling the neural mechanisms of social dysfunction. Psychol Med 2015; 45:1145-1165. [PMID: 25335852 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291714002487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Social neuroscience is a flourishing, interdisciplinary field that investigates the underlying biological processes of social cognition and behaviour. The recent application of social neuroscience to psychiatric research advances our understanding of various psychiatric illnesses that are characterized by impairments in social cognition and social functioning. In addition, the upcoming line of social neuroscience research provides new techniques to design and evaluate treatment interventions that are aimed at improving patients' social lives. This review provides a contemporary overview of social neuroscience in psychiatry. We draw together the major findings about the neural mechanisms of social cognitive processes directed at understanding others and social interactions in psychiatric illnesses and discuss their implications for future research and clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- A K J Fett
- Department of Educational Neuroscience & Research Institute LEARN!,Faculty of Psychology and Education,VU University Amsterdam,Van der Boechorststraat 1,Amsterdam,The Netherlands
| | - S S Shergill
- Department of Psychosis Studies,Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London,De Crespigny Park,London,UK
| | - L Krabbendam
- Department of Educational Neuroscience & Research Institute LEARN!,Faculty of Psychology and Education,VU University Amsterdam,Van der Boechorststraat 1,Amsterdam,The Netherlands
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47
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Hernandez LM, Rudie JD, Green SA, Bookheimer S, Dapretto M. Neural signatures of autism spectrum disorders: insights into brain network dynamics. Neuropsychopharmacology 2015; 40:171-89. [PMID: 25011468 PMCID: PMC4262896 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2014.172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2014] [Revised: 07/02/2014] [Accepted: 07/03/2014] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Neuroimaging investigations of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have advanced our understanding of atypical brain function and structure, and have recently converged on a model of altered network-level connectivity. Traditional task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and volume-based structural MRI studies have identified widespread atypicalities in brain regions involved in social behavior and other core ASD-related behavioral deficits. More recent advances in MR-neuroimaging methods allow for quantification of brain connectivity using diffusion tensor imaging, functional connectivity, and graph theoretic methods. These newer techniques have moved the field toward a systems-level understanding of ASD etiology, integrating functional and structural measures across distal brain regions. Neuroimaging findings in ASD as a whole have been mixed and at times contradictory, likely due to the vast genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity characteristic of the disorder. Future longitudinal studies of brain development will be crucial to yield insights into mechanisms of disease etiology in ASD sub-populations. Advances in neuroimaging methods and large-scale collaborations will also allow for an integrated approach linking neuroimaging, genetics, and phenotypic data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leanna M Hernandez
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jeffrey D Rudie
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Shulamite A Green
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Susan Bookheimer
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Mirella Dapretto
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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48
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Ferraro FR. No evidence of reaction time slowing in autism spectrum disorder. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2014; 20:116-22. [PMID: 25512973 DOI: 10.1177/1362361314559986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
A total of 32 studies comprising 238 simple reaction time and choice reaction time conditions were examined in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (n = 964) and controls (n = 1032). A Brinley plot/multiple regression analysis was performed on mean reaction times, regressing autism spectrum disorder performance onto the control performance as a way to examine any generalized simple reaction time/choice reaction time slowing exhibited by the autism spectrum disorder group. The resulting regression equation was Y (autism spectrum disorder) = 0.99 × (control) + 87.93, which accounted for 92.3% of the variance. These results suggest that there are little if any simple reaction time/choice reaction time slowing in this sample of individual with autism spectrum disorder, in comparison with controls. While many cognitive and information processing domains are compromised in autism spectrum disorder, it appears that simple reaction time/choice reaction time remain relatively unaffected in autism spectrum disorder.
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White SW, Mazefsky CA, Dichter GS, Chiu PH, Richey JA, Ollendick TH. Social-cognitive, physiological, and neural mechanisms underlying emotion regulation impairments: understanding anxiety in autism spectrum disorder. Int J Dev Neurosci 2014; 39:22-36. [PMID: 24951837 PMCID: PMC4180783 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2014.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2014] [Revised: 05/28/2014] [Accepted: 05/29/2014] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Anxiety is one of the most common clinical problems among children, adolescents, and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet we know little about its etiology in the context of ASD. We posit that emotion regulation (ER) impairments are a risk factor for anxiety in ASD. Specifically, we propose that one reason why anxiety disorders are so frequently comorbid with ASD is because ER impairments are ubiquitous to ASD, stemming from socio-cognitive, physiological, and neurological processes related to impaired cognitive control, regulatory processes, and arousal. In this review, we offer a developmental model of how ER impairments may arise in ASD, and when (moderating influences) and how (meditational mechanisms) they result in anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan W White
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, United States.
| | - Carla A Mazefsky
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, United States
| | - Gabriel S Dichter
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, United States; Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, United States
| | - Pearl H Chiu
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, United States
| | - John A Richey
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, United States
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50
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Fink E, de Rosnay M, Wierda M, Koot HM, Begeer S. Brief report: accuracy and response time for the recognition of facial emotions in a large sample of children with autism spectrum disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 2014; 44:2363-8. [PMID: 24634064 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-014-2084-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The empirical literature has presented inconsistent evidence for deficits in the recognition of basic emotion expressions in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which may be due to the focus on research with relatively small sample sizes. Additionally, it is proposed that although children with ASD may correctly identify emotion expression they rely on more deliberate, more time-consuming strategies in order to accurately recognize emotion expressions when compared to typically developing children. In the current study, we examine both emotion recognition accuracy and response time in a large sample of children, and explore the moderating influence of verbal ability on these findings. The sample consisted of 86 children with ASD (M age = 10.65) and 114 typically developing children (M age = 10.32) between 7 and 13 years of age. All children completed a pre-test (emotion word-word matching), and test phase consisting of basic emotion recognition, whereby they were required to match a target emotion expression to the correct emotion word; accuracy and response time were recorded. Verbal IQ was controlled for in the analyses. We found no evidence of a systematic deficit in emotion recognition accuracy or response time for children with ASD, controlling for verbal ability. However, when controlling for children's accuracy in word-word matching, children with ASD had significantly lower emotion recognition accuracy when compared to typically developing children. The findings suggest that the social impairments observed in children with ASD are not the result of marked deficits in basic emotion recognition accuracy or longer response times. However, children with ASD may be relying on other perceptual skills (such as advanced word-word matching) to complete emotion recognition tasks at a similar level as typically developing children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elian Fink
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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