Social decision making in autism: On the impact of mirror neurons, motor control, and imitative behaviors

Developmental exposure to the Fox River PCB mixture modulates behavior in juvenile mice

Developmental exposures to PCBs are implicated in the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). This observation is concerning given the continued presence of PCBs in the human environment and the increasing incidence of NDDs. Previous studies reported that developmental exposure to legacy commercial PCB mixtures (Aroclors) or single PCB congeners found in Aroclors caused NDD-relevant behavioral phenotypes in animal models. However, the PCB congener profile in contemporary human samples is dissimilar to that of the legacy Aroclors, raising the question of whether human-relevant PCB mixtures similarly interfere with normal brain development. To address this question, we assessed the developmental neurotoxicity of the Fox River Mixture (FRM), which was designed to mimic the congener profile identified in fish from the PCB-contaminated Fox River that constitute a primary protein source in the diet of surrounding communities. Adult female C57BL/6 J mouse dams (8-10 weeks old) were exposed to vehicle (peanut oil) or FRM at 0.1, 1.0, or 6.0 mg/kg/d in their diet throughout gestation and lactation, and neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed in their pups. Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) and measures of general development were quantified at postnatal day (P) 7, while performance in the spontaneous alternation task and the 3-chambered social approach/social novelty task was assessed on P35. Triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) were quantified in serum collected from the dams when pups were weaned and from pups on P28 and P35. Developmental exposure to FRM did not alter pup weight or body temperature on P7, but USVs were significantly decreased in litters exposed to FRM at 0.1 or 6.0 mg/kg/d in the maternal diet. FRM also impaired male and female pups' performance in the social novelty task. Compared to sex-matched vehicles, significantly decreased social novelty was observed in male and female pups in the 0.1 and 6.0 mg/kg/d dose groups. FRM did not alter performance in the spontaneous alternation or social approach tasks. FRM increased serum T3 levels but decreased serum T4 levels in P28 male pups in the 1.0 and 6.0 mg/kg/d dose groups. In P35 female pups and dams, serum T3 levels decreased in the 6.0 mg/kg/d dose group while T4 levels were not altered. Collectively, these findings suggest that FRM interferes with the development of social communication and social novelty, but not memory, supporting the hypothesis that contemporary PCB exposures pose a risk to the developing brain. FRM had sex, age, and dose-dependent effects on serum thyroid hormone levels that overlapped but did not perfectly align with the FRM effects on behavioral outcomes. These observations suggest that changes in thyroid hormone levels are not likely the major factor underlying the behavioral deficits observed in FRM-exposed animals.

Exploring Embodied and Bioenergetic Approaches in Trauma Therapy: Observing Somatic Experience and Olfactory Memory

Recent studies highlight how body psychotherapy is becoming highly cited, especially in connection with studies on trauma-related disorders. This review highlights the theoretical assumptions and recent points in common with embodied simulation and new sensory theories by integrating bioenergetic analysis, embodiment, and olfactory memory in trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) therapy. Embodied memory, rooted in sensorimotor experiences, shapes cognitive functions and emotional responses. Trauma, embodied in somatic experiences, disrupts these processes, leading to symptoms such as chronic pain and dissociation. The literature discussed highlights the impact of burning odors on individuals with PTSD and those who have experienced childhood maltreatment. Burning odors can increase stress and heart rate in war veterans, with sensitivity to these odors intensifying over time since the trauma. Additionally, adults who experienced childhood maltreatment exhibit faster processing of unpleasant odors and increased symptom severity. Grounding techniques, such as adopting a balanced posture, enhance breathing and sensory capabilities, potentially aiding in managing symptoms associated with trauma-related disorders such as PTSD.

Creative therapy in health and disease: Inner vision

Can we better understand the unique mechanisms of de novo abilities in light of our current knowledge of the psychological and neuroscientific literature on creativity? This review outlines the state-of-the-art in the neuroscience of creativity and points out crucial aspects that still demand further exploration, such as brain plasticity. The progressive development of current neuroscience research on creativity presents a multitude of prospects and potentials for furnishing efficacious therapy in the context of health and illness. Therefore, we discuss directions for future studies, identifying a focus on pinpointing the neglected beneficial practices for creative therapy. We emphasize the neglected neuroscience perspective of creativity on health and disease and how creative therapy could offer limitless possibilities to improve our well-being and give hope to patients with neurodegenerative diseases to compensate for their brain injuries and cognitive impairments by expressing their hidden creativity.

On computational models of theory of mind and the imitative reinforcement learning in spiking neural networks

Theory of Mind is referred to the ability of inferring other's mental states, and it plays a crucial role in social cognition and learning. Biological evidences indicate that complex circuits are involved in this ability, including the mirror neuron system. The mirror neuron system influences imitation abilities and action understanding, leading to learn through observing others. To simulate this imitative learning behavior, a Theory-of-Mind-based Imitative Reinforcement Learning (ToM-based ImRL) framework is proposed. Employing the bio-inspired spiking neural networks and the mechanisms of the mirror neuron system, ToM-based ImRL is a bio-inspired computational model which enables an agent to effectively learn how to act in an interactive environment through observing an expert, inferring its goals, and imitating its behaviors. The aim of this paper is to review some computational attempts in modeling ToM and to explain the proposed ToM-based ImRL framework which is tested in the environment of River Raid game from Atari 2600 series.

Female rats prefer to forage food from males, an effect that is not influenced by stress

As social beings, animals and humans alike make real life decisions that are often influenced by other members. Most current research has focused on the influence of same-sex peers on individual decision-making, with potential opposite sex effect scarcely explored. Here, we developed a behavioral model to observe food foraging decision-making in female rats under various social situations. We found that female rats preferred to forage food from male over female rats or from the no-rat storage side. Female rats were more likely to forage food from familiar males than from unfamiliar. This opposite-sex preference was not altered by the lure of sweet food, or with estrous cycle, nor under stress conditions. These results suggest that the opposite sex influences food foraging decision-making in female rats. The behavioral model established could facilitate future investigation into the underlying neurobiological mechanisms.

Viruses and autism: A Bi-mutual cause and effect

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of heterogeneous, multi-factorial, neurodevelopmental disorders resulting from genetic and environmental factors interplay. Infection is a significant trigger of autism, especially during the critical developmental period. There is a strong interplay between the viral infection as a trigger and a result of ASD. We aim to highlight the mutual relationship between autism and viruses. We performed a thorough literature review and included 158 research in this review. Most of the literature agreed on the possible effects of the viral infection during the critical period of development on the risk of developing autism, especially for specific viral infections such as Rubella, Cytomegalovirus, Herpes Simplex virus, Varicella Zoster Virus, Influenza virus, Zika virus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Viral infection directly infects the brain, triggers immune activation, induces epigenetic changes, and raises the risks of having a child with autism. At the same time, there is some evidence of increased risk of infection, including viral infections in children with autism, due to lots of factors. There is an increased risk of developing autism with a specific viral infection during the early developmental period and an increased risk of viral infections in children with autism. In addition, children with autism are at increased risk of infection, including viruses. Every effort should be made to prevent maternal and early-life infections and reduce the risk of autism. Immune modulation of children with autism should be considered to reduce the risk of infection.

Invasive Computational Psychiatry

Computational psychiatry, a relatively new yet prolific field that aims to understand psychiatric disorders with formal theories about the brain, has seen tremendous growth in the past decade. Despite initial excitement, actual progress made by computational psychiatry seems stagnant. Meanwhile, understanding of the human brain has benefited tremendously from recent progress in intracranial neuroscience. Specifically, invasive techniques such as stereotactic electroencephalography, electrocorticography, and deep brain stimulation have provided a unique opportunity to precisely measure and causally modulate neurophysiological activity in the living human brain. In this review, we summarize progress and drawbacks in both computational psychiatry and invasive electrophysiology and propose that their combination presents a highly promising new direction-invasive computational psychiatry. The value of this approach is at least twofold. First, it advances our mechanistic understanding of the neural computations of mental states by providing a spatiotemporally precise depiction of neural activity that is traditionally unattainable using noninvasive techniques with human subjects. Second, it offers a direct and immediate way to modulate brain states through stimulation of algorithmically defined neural regions and circuits (i.e., algorithmic targeting), thus providing both causal and therapeutic insights. We then present depression as a use case where the combination of computational and invasive approaches has already shown initial success. We conclude by outlining future directions as a road map for this exciting new field as well as presenting cautions about issues such as ethical concerns and generalizability of findings.

Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with action-observation-execution on social interaction and communication in autism spectrum disorder: Feasibility study

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the feasibility of a combined high-frequency rTMS (HF-rTMS) with action observation and execution (AOE) on social interaction and communication in children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fifteen children underwent 10 sessions of 5-Hz HF-rTMS on the right inferior frontal gyrus combined with AOE. An experimental group received the real HF-rTMS while the control group received the sham one. For the AOE protocol, they were instructed to watch and imitate a video showing the procedure, including reaching and grasping tasks, gustatory tasks, and facial expressions. Their behavioural outcomes were evaluated using the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale (VABS) and electroencephalograms (EEGs) recorded at three time points: baseline, immediately after each treatment, and at the 1-week follow-up after the 10th treatment.

RESULTS

There were increased VABS subitem scores in the experimental group, including the receptive, expressive, domestic, and community scores but no such increase was observed in the control group. For the EEG, the beta rhythm at C3 and C4 increased in the experimental group. Additionally, positive correlations were observed between changes in the scores for the expressive subitem and changes in the beta rhythm on the C4 electrode at baseline and immediately after treatment in the experimental group. The control group showed no significant differences in any items for both observation and imitation times.

CONCLUSION

Ten sessions of HF-rTMS combined with AOE could improve both the subitems of communication and daily living skills domain in children aged 7-12 years with ASD. Although it is still inconclusive, this behavioural improvement may be partly attributable to increased cortical activity, as evidenced by beta rhythms.

Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present difficulties in integrating mental state information in complex moral tasks. Yet, ASD research has not examined whether this process is influenced by emotions, let alone while capturing its neural bases. We investigated how language-induced emotions modulate intent-based moral judgment in ASD. In a fMRI task, 30 adults with ASD and 27 neurotypical controls read vignettes whose protagonists commit harm either accidentally or intentionally, and then decided how much punishment the protagonist deserved. Emotional content was manipulated across scenarios through the use of graphic language (designed to trigger arousing negative responses) vs. plain (just-the-facts, emotionless) language. Off-line functional connectivity correlates of task performance were also analyzed. In ASD, emotional (graphic) descriptions amplified punishment ratings of accidental harms, associated with increased activity in fronto-temporo-limbic, precentral, and postcentral/supramarginal regions (critical for emotional and empathic processes), and reduced connectivity among the orbitofrontal cortex and the angular gyrus (involved in mentalizing). Language manipulation did not influence intentional harm processing in ASD. In conclusion, in arousing and ambiguous social situations that lack intentionality clues (i.e. graphic accidental harm scenarios), individuals with ASD would misuse their emotional responses as the main source of information to guide their moral decisions. Conversely, in face of explicit harmful intentions, they would be able to compensate their socioemotional alterations and assign punishment through non-emotional pathways. Despite limitations, such as the small sample size and low ecological validity of the task, results of the present study proved reliable and have relevant theoretical and translational implications.

COMSI®-A Form of Treatment That Offers an Opportunity to Play, Communicate and Become Socially Engaged through the Lens of Nature-A Single Case Study about an 8-Year-Old Boy with Autism and Intellectual Disability

This case study shows how an 8-year-old boy with autism and mild intellectual disability underwent positive psychological development in terms of play, social communication, and mentalization during a year and a half of group-based therapy using COMSI^®-(COMmunication and Social Interaction). This eclectic treatment has a relational approach and is based on developmental psychology, knowledge of autism, and the impact of nature and animals on human health. The change in the child was been studied using both quantitative and qualitative methods. His general intellectual capacity was measured using the Wechler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, and his Mentalization Ability/Theory of Mind was assessed using three tests: Eva and Anna, Hiding the fruit and Kiki and the cat. Throughout the study period, change was documented with the help of the therapists' process notes and the parents' descriptions. The results show that support for the child comes from three different sources: nature, animals, and the therapists. Animals and nature form the basis for episodes of coordinated attention in conversation and play with therapists. The therapists' approach used sensitivity and compliance with the child's needs and focus of interest.

Imitative and contagious behaviors in animals and their potential roles in the study of neurodevelopmental disorders

Social learning in the forms of imitative and contagious behaviors are essential for learning abilities and social interaction. However, children with neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities show impairments in these behaviors, which profoundly affect their communication skills and cognitive functions. Although these deficits are well studied in humans, pre-clinical animal model assessments of imitative and contagious behavioral deficits are limited. Here, we first define various forms of social learning as well as their developmental and evolutionary significance in humans. We also explore the impact of imitative and contagious behavioral deficits in several neurodevelopmental disorders associated with autistic-like symptoms. Second, we highlight imitative and contagious behaviors observed in nonhuman primates and other social animals commonly used as models for neurodevelopmental disorders. Lastly, we conceptualize these behaviors in the contexts of mirror neuron activity, learning, and empathy, which are highly debated topics. Taken together, this review furthers the understanding of imitative and contagious behaviors. We hope to prompt and guide future behavioral studies in animal models of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Activity of Mirror Neurons and Its Effect on Various Diseases

Ayna nöronların nöroanatomik yapılanması ve işlevselliğinin araştırılması son yıllarda oldukça artmıştır. Özellikle nörolojik ve ortopedik hasta gruplarında uygulanan tedavi yaklaşımlarında pasif uygulamalar yerine hastanın katılımının olduğu aktif uygulamalar tercih edilmektedir. Bunun temel sebeplerinden birisi ayna nöronları ve birincil motor korteksi dâhil ederek tedaviyi kalıcı hale getirmeyi amaçlamaktır. Ayna nöronların fonksiyonel ve disfonksiyonel durumlarını ortaya koymak, tedavi seanslarında hastaların semptomlarını anlamada çok büyük katkı sağlamaktadır. Özellikle ayna nöronları aktive ederek planlanan ayna terapisi ile hastalar nöronal bağlantılarını yeniden yapılandırarak nöroplastik aktivite sağlarlar ve böylece iyileşme süreçlerine katkıda bulunmuş olurlar. Literatür taramalarında ayna nöronların aktivasyonlarının yer aldığı hastalıkların yapısal özellikleri birbirinden farklı olsa da ortak özellik olarak ayna nöronların aktive edilerek tedaviye katkı sağladığını söylemek mümkündür. Yapılan tedavi uygulamalarında, ilgili fonksiyonel hareketin hasta tarafından fiziksel olarak yapılmadığı durumlarda dahi bilişsel olarak hareketin yapıldığının imgelenmesi, ayna nöronları aktive ederek hastanın iyilik halini arttırdığı belirlenmiştir. 

The degree of mu rhythm suppression in women is associated with presence of children as well as empathy and anxiety level

In experiments on observing and performing social gestures, the level of mu rhythm suppression is associated with the activity of the mirror neuron system (MNS), which is responsible for the perception and understanding of nonverbal signals in social communication. In turn, while MNS activity may be associated primarily with empathy, it is also associated with other psychological and demographic factors affecting the effectiveness of cortical neural networks.In this study, we verified the influence of empathy, state and trait anxiety levels, presence and number of children, age, and menstrual cycle phase on the mu-suppression level in 40 women. We used 32-channel EEG recorded during observation, and synchronous execution of various hand movements. The ICA infomax method was used for decomposing and selecting the left hemisphere component of the mu-rhythm.Mu-suppression was higher in women with one child, with higher levels of empathy, and with lower anxiety levels. It is possible that MNS activity is stronger in women during parental care.

Brain-Inspired Affective Empathy Computational Model and Its Application on Altruistic Rescue Task

Affective empathy is an indispensable ability for humans and other species' harmonious social lives, motivating altruistic behavior, such as consolation and aid-giving. How to build an affective empathy computational model has attracted extensive attention in recent years. Most affective empathy models focus on the recognition and simulation of facial expressions or emotional speech of humans, namely Affective Computing. However, these studies lack the guidance of neural mechanisms of affective empathy. From a neuroscience perspective, affective empathy is formed gradually during the individual development process: experiencing own emotion—forming the corresponding Mirror Neuron System (MNS)—understanding the emotions of others through the mirror mechanism. Inspired by this neural mechanism, we constructed a brain-inspired affective empathy computational model, this model contains two submodels: (1) We designed an Artificial Pain Model inspired by the Free Energy Principle (FEP) to the simulate pain generation process in living organisms. (2) We build an affective empathy spiking neural network (AE-SNN) that simulates the mirror mechanism of MNS and has self-other differentiation ability. We apply the brain-inspired affective empathy computational model to the pain empathy and altruistic rescue task to achieve the rescue of companions by intelligent agents. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first one to reproduce the emergence process of mirror neurons and anti-mirror neurons in the SNN field. Compared with traditional affective empathy computational models, our model is more biologically plausible, and it provides a new perspective for achieving artificial affective empathy, which has special potential for the social robots field in the future.

Multimodal cues displayed by submissive rats promote prosocial choices by dominants

Animals often display prosocial behaviors, performing actions that benefit others. Although prosociality is essential for social bonding and cooperation, we still know little about how animals integrate behavioral cues from those in need to make decisions that increase their well-being. To address this question, we used a two-choice task where rats can provide rewards to a conspecific in the absence of self-benefit and investigated which conditions promote prosociality by manipulating the social context of the interacting animals. Although sex or degree of familiarity did not affect prosocial choices in rats, social hierarchy revealed to be a potent modulator, with dominant decision-makers showing faster emergence and higher levels of prosocial choices toward their submissive cage mates. Leveraging quantitative analysis of multimodal social dynamics prior to choice, we identified that pairs with dominant decision-makers exhibited more proximal interactions. Interestingly, these closer interactions were driven by submissive animals that modulated their position and movement following their dominants and whose 50-kHz vocalization rate correlated with dominants' prosociality. Moreover, Granger causality revealed stronger bidirectional influences in pairs with dominant focals and submissive recipients, indicating increased behavioral coordination. Finally, multivariate analysis highlighted body language as the main information dominants use on a trial-by-trial basis to learn that their actions have effects on others. Our results provide a refined understanding of the behavioral dynamics that rats use for action-selection upon perception of socially relevant cues and navigate social decision-making.

A neurocomputational model of creative processes

Creativity is associated with finding novel, surprising, and useful solutions. We argue that creative cognitive processes, divergent thinking, abstraction, and improvisation are constructed on different novelty-based processes. The prefrontal cortex plays a role in creative ideation by providing a control mechanism. Moreover, thinking about novel solutions activates the distant or loosely connected neurons of a semantic network that involves the hippocampus. Novelty can also be interpreted as different combinations of earlier learned processes, such as the motor sequencing mechanism of the basal ganglia. In addition, the cerebellum is responsible for the precise control of movements, which is particularly important in improvisation. Our neurocomputational perspective is based on three creative processes centered on novelty seeking, subserved by the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, cerebellum, basal ganglia, and dopamine. The algorithmic implementation of our model would enable us to describe commonalities and differences between these creative processes based on the proposed neural circuitry. Given that most previous studies have mainly provided theoretical and conceptual models of creativity, this article presents the first brain-inspired neural network model of creative cognition.

Pupil dilation predicts modulation of direct gaze on action value calculations

Perceiving direct gaze facilitates social cognition and behaviour. We hypothesized that direct gaze modulates decision-making, particularly calculations of action values. To test our hypothesis, we used the reinforcement learning paradigm in situations with or without direct gaze. Forty adults were recruited and participated in pupil size measurements and a two-armed bandit task. The task was conducted with 70% and 30% reward probabilities for each option. During the task, a female showing the Direct Gaze (DG) or Closed Eyes (CE) condition was presented from the start of each trial. The results showed that behavioural bias to choices with 70% reward probability increased more in the DG condition than in the CE condition and the expected reward value. This bias to choices with 70% reward in the DG condition was predicted by pupil dilation to DG. These results suggest that participants over-evaluated the expected reward value in the DG condition, and this DG effect may be related to subjective expectations of rewarding events indexed by pupil dilations. It is considered that perceiving direct gaze is a driver of reward expectations that modulate action value calculations and then cognitive processing and behaviours are facilitated.

A Brain-Inspired Theory of Mind Spiking Neural Network for Reducing Safety Risks of Other Agents

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are increasingly applied to complex tasks that involve interaction with multiple agents. Such interaction-based systems can lead to safety risks. Due to limited perception and prior knowledge, agents acting in the real world may unconsciously hold false beliefs and strategies about their environment, leading to safety risks in their future decisions. For humans, we can usually rely on the high-level theory of mind (ToM) capability to perceive the mental states of others, identify risk-inducing errors, and offer our timely help to keep others away from dangerous situations. Inspired by the biological information processing mechanism of ToM, we propose a brain-inspired theory of mind spiking neural network (ToM-SNN) model to enable agents to perceive such risk-inducing errors inside others' mental states and make decisions to help others when necessary. The ToM-SNN model incorporates the multiple brain areas coordination mechanisms and biologically realistic spiking neural networks (SNNs) trained with Reward-modulated Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity (R-STDP). To verify the effectiveness of the ToM-SNN model, we conducted various experiments in the gridworld environments with random agents' starting positions and random blocking walls. Experimental results demonstrate that the agent with the ToM-SNN model selects rescue behavior to help others avoid safety risks based on self-experience and prior knowledge. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides a new perspective to explore how agents help others avoid potential risks based on bio-inspired ToM mechanisms and may contribute more inspiration toward better research on safety risks.

Broken or socially mistuned mirroring in ASD? An investigation via transcranial magnetic stimulation

Individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience persistent difficulties during social interactions and communication. Previously, it has been suggested that deficits in the so-called "mirror system," active during both action execution and observation, may underlie these social difficulties. It is still a topic of debate however whether deficiencies in the simulation of others' actions (i.e., "broken" mirroring) forms a general feature of ASD, or whether these mostly reflect a lack of social attunement. The latter would suggest an overall intact mirror system, but an impaired modulation of mirror activity according to variable social contexts. In this study, 25 adults with ASD and 28 age- and IQ-matched control participants underwent transcranial magnetic stimulation during the observation of hand movements under variable conditions. Hand movements were presented via a live interaction partner, either without social context to assess basic motor mirroring or in combination with direct and averted gaze from the actor to assess socially modulated mirroring. Overall, no significant group differences were revealed, indicating no generally diminished mirror activity in ASD. Interestingly however, regression analyses revealed that, among ASD participants, higher symptom severity was associated with both reduced basic motor mirroring and aberrant socially modulated mirroring (i.e., no enhancement of mirror system activity upon observation of the interaction partner's direct vs. averted gaze). These findings further challenge the notion that mirror system dysfunctions constitute a principal feature of ASD, but demonstrate that variations in mirroring may be related to differential expressions of ASD symptom severity. LAY SUMMARY: Our findings show similar activity levels in brain regions responsible for action simulation and understanding in adults with autism, compared to adults without autism. However, the presence of more severe autism symptoms was linked to reduced activity in these regions. This suggests lower levels of brain activity during action understanding in some, but not all, persons with autism, which may contribute to the social difficulties these persons experience in daily life.

Flights and Perchings of the BrainMind: A Temporospatial Approach to Psychotherapy

This article introduces a process-oriented approach for improving present moment conceptualization in psychotherapy that is in alignment with neuroscience: the Temporospatial movements of mind (TSMM) model. We elaborate on seven temporal movements that describe the moment-to-moment morphogenesis of emotional feelings and thoughts from inception to maturity. Temporal refers to the passage of time through which feelings and thoughts develop, and electromagnetic activity, that among other responsibilities, bind information across time. Spatial dynamics extend from an undifferentiated to three dimensional experiences of emotional and cognitive processes. Neurophysiologically, spatial refers to structures within the brain and their varying interactions with one another. This article culminates in the development of an atheoretical temporospatial grid that may help clinicians conceptualize where patients are in their cognitive and emotional development to further guide technique.

The Transdiagnostic Relevance of Self-Other Distinction to Psychiatry Spans Emotional, Cognitive and Motor Domains

Self-other distinction refers to the ability to distinguish between our own and other people's physical and mental states (actions, perceptions, emotions etc.). Both the right temporo-parietal junction and brain areas associated with the human mirror neuron system are likely to critically influence self-other distinction, given their respective contributions to theory of mind and embodied empathy. The degree of appropriate self-other distinction will vary according to the exact social situation, and how helpful it is to feel into, or remain detached from, another person's mental state. Indeed, the emotional resonance that we can share with others affords the gift of empathy, but over-sharing may pose a downside, leading to a range of difficulties from personal distress to paranoia, and perhaps even motor tics and compulsions. The aim of this perspective paper is to consider how evidence from behavioral and neurophysiological studies supports a role for problems with self-other distinction in a range of psychiatric symptoms spanning the emotional, cognitive and motor domains. The various signs and symptoms associated with problematic self-other distinction comprise both maladaptive and adaptive (compensatory) responses to dysfunction within a common underlying neuropsychological mechanism, compelling the adoption of more holistic transdiagnostic therapeutic approaches within Psychiatry.

The mirror mechanism in schizophrenia: A systematic review and qualitative meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Mirror neuron system (MNS) consists of visuomotor neurons that are responsible for the mirror neuron activity (MNA), meaning that each time an individual observes another individual performing an action, these neurons encode that action, and are activated in the observer's cortical motor system. Previous studies report its malfunction in autism, opening doors to investigate the underlying pathophysiology of the disorder in a more elaborate way and coming up with new rehabilitation methods. The study of MNA function in schizophrenia patients has not been as frequent and conclusive as in autism. In this research, we aimed to evaluate the functional integrity of MNA and the microstructural integrity of MNS in schizophrenia patients.

METHODS

We included case-control studies that have evaluated MNA in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls using a variety of objective assessment tools. In August 2022, we searched Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science for eligible studies. We used an adapted version of the NIH Quality Assessment of Case-Control Studies tool to assess the quality of the included studies. Evidence was analyzed using vote counting methods of the direction of the effect and was tested statistically using the Sign test. Certainty of evidence was assessed using CERQual.

RESULTS

We included 32 studies for the analysis. Statistical tests revealed decreased MNA (p = 0.002) in schizophrenia patients. The certainty of the evidence was judged to be moderate. Investigations of heterogeneity revealed a possible relationship between the age and the positive symptoms of participants in the included studies and the direction of the observed effect.

DISCUSSION

This finding contributes to gaining a better understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of the disorder by revealing its possible relation to some of the symptoms in schizophrenia patients, while also highlighting a new commonality with autism.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO identifier: CRD42021236453.

Introducing Social Breathing: A Model of Engaging in Relational Systems

We address what it means to "engage in a relationship" and suggest Social Breathing as a model of immersing ourselves in the metaphorical social air around us, which is necessary for shared intention and joint action. We emphasize how emergent properties of social systems arise, such as the shared culture of groups, which cannot be reduced to the individuals involved. We argue that the processes involved in Social Breathing are: (1) automatic, (2) implicit, (3) temporal, (4) in the form of mutual bi-directional interwoven exchanges between social partners and (5) embodied in the coordination of the brains and behaviors of social partners. We summarize cross-disciplinary evidence suggesting that these processes involve a multi-person whole-brain-body network which is critical for the development of both we-ness and relational skills. We propose that Social Breathing depends on each individual's ability to sustain multimodal interwovenness, thus providing a theoretical link between social neuroscience and relational/multi-person psychology. We discuss how the model could guide research on autism, relationships, and psychotherapy.

Computational model of decreased suppression of mu rhythms in patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders during movement observation—preliminary findings

Objectives

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) represent developmental conditions with deficits in the cognitive, motor, communication and social domains. It is thought that imitative behaviour may be impaired in children with ASD. The Mirror Neural System (MNS) concept plays an important role in theories explaining the link between action perception, imitation and social decision-making in ASD.

Methods

In this study, Emergent 7.0.1 software was used to build a computational model of the phenomenon of MNS influence on motion imitation. Seven point populations of Hodgkin–Huxley artificial neurons were used to create a simplified model.

Results

The model shows pathologically altered processing in the neural network, which may reflect processes observed in ASD due to reduced stimulus attenuation. The model is considered preliminary—further research should test for a minimally significant difference between the states: normal processing and pathological processing.

Conclusions

The study shows that even a simple computational model can provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the phenomena observed in experimental studies, including in children with ASD.

Unique deficit in embodied simulation in autism: An fMRI study comparing autism and developmental coordination disorder

A deficit in pre‐cognitively mirroring other people's actions and experiences may be related to the social impairments observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, it is unclear whether such embodied simulation deficits are unique to ASD or instead are related to motor impairment, which is commonly comorbid with ASD. Here we aim to disentangle how, neurologically, motor impairments contribute to simulation deficits and identify unique neural signatures of ASD. We compare children with ASD (N = 30) to children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD; N = 23) as well as a typically developing group (N = 33) during fMRI tasks in which children observe, imitate, and mentalize about other people's actions. Results indicate a unique neural signature in ASD: during action observation, only the ASD group shows hypoactivity in a region important for simulation (inferior frontal gyrus, pars opercularis, IFGop). However, during a motor production task (imitation), the IFGop is hypoactive for both ASD and DCD groups. For all tasks, we find correlations across groups with motor ability, even after controlling for age, IQ, and social impairment. Conversely, across groups, mentalizing ability is correlated with activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex when controlling for motor ability. These findings help identify the unique neurobiological basis of ASD for aspects of social processing. Furthermore, as no previous fMRI studies correlated brain activity with motor impairment in ASD, these findings help explain prior conflicting reports in these simulation networks.

Nuclear receptor corepressors in intellectual disability and autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by neurocognitive dysfunctions, such as impaired social interaction and language learning. Gene-environment interactions have a pivotal role in ASD pathogenesis. Nuclear receptor corepressors (NCORs) are transcription co-regulators physically associated with histone deacetylases (HDACs) and many known players in ASD etiology such as transducin β-like 1 X-linked receptor 1 and methyl-CpG binding protein 2. The epigenome-modifying NCOR complex is sensitive to many ASD risk factors, including HDAC inhibitor valproic acid and a variety of endocrine factors, xenobiotic chemicals, or metabolites that can directly bind to multiple nuclear receptors. Here, we review recent studies of NCORs in neurocognition using animal models and human genetics approaches. We discuss functional interplays between NCORs and other known players in ASD etiology. It is conceivable that the NCOR complex may bridge the in utero environmental risk factors of ASD with epigenetic remodeling and can serve as a converging point for many gene-environment interactions in the pathogenesis of ASD and intellectual disability.

Jumping to conclusions in autism: integration of contextual information and confidence in decision-making processes

Individuals with Autism spectrum condition (ASC) present cognitive biases and a difficulty to integrate emotional responses in decision-making, which is necessary for adequate social functioning. Thus, understanding the underlying mechanisms of the altered decision-making in individuals with ASC may eventually have a positive impact on their social functioning. The Picture decision task was employed to observe the effect of new information (fragments of an incomplete picture), interpretative context (verbal cues), and the level of confidence on decision-making processes. Our study administered the task to 49 children with ASC and 37 children with Typical Development (TD). Children with TD showed a higher probability of success when an interpretative context was given. Conversely, children with ASC had an equal probability of success regardless of whether an interpretative context was provided or not. In addition, unlike children with TD, the level of confidence did not allow predicting the probability of successful decisions in children with ASC. Finally, children with ASC had more probability of jumping to conclusions, a decision made quickly with only one fragment of the picture while being completely sure of it. These results are discussed in light of current cognitive and emotional theories on ASC.

Social cognition in childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes

PURPOSE

Social cognition is involved in the perception, processing, and interpretation of social information. For this reason, social cognition is a crucial domain for successful communication and interpersonal relationships. With this in mind, we aimed to assess social cognition in children with Self-Limited Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (CECTS) and its association with traditional executive function tests and clinical variables of epilepsy.

METHODS

We evaluated 23 patients with CECTS (65% male, mean age of 10.64 years) and 20 healthy children (75% male, mean age of 10.15 years). We used the Faux-Pas Child Task (FP) to analyze social cognition and a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests to evaluate domains of classic executive functions.

RESULTS

Patients with CECTS had impairments in FP compared to healthy children [p < 0.001]. Impairments in some areas of traditional executive functions were related to worse social cognition in patients with CECTS. Epilepsy-related factors did not impair the performance on FP, except for the number of antiseizure medication [p = 0.016].

CONCLUSIONS

Social cognition is impaired in children and adolescents with CECTS. The presence of ongoing seizures and frequent epileptiform activity were not correlated with social cognition. Therefore, epilepsy per se was more relevant for social cognition than its severity.

The influence of subcortical shortcuts on disordered sensory and cognitive processing

The very earliest stages of sensory processing have the potential to alter how we perceive and respond to our environment. These initial processing circuits can incorporate subcortical regions, such as the thalamus and brainstem nuclei, which mediate complex interactions with the brain's cortical processing hierarchy. These subcortical pathways, many of which we share with other animals, are not merely vestigial but appear to function as 'shortcuts' that ensure processing efficiency and preservation of vital life-preserving functions, such as harm avoidance, adaptive social interactions and efficient decision-making. Here, we propose that functional interactions between these higher-order and lower-order brain areas contribute to atypical sensory and cognitive processing that characterizes numerous neuropsychiatric disorders.

Central neurogenetic signatures of the visuomotor integration system

Visuomotor impairments characterize numerous neurological disorders and neurogenetic syndromes, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Dravet, Fragile X, Prader-Willi, Turner, and Williams syndromes. Despite recent advances in systems neuroscience, the biological basis underlying visuomotor functional impairments associated with these clinical conditions is poorly understood. In this study, we used neuroimaging connectomic approaches to map the visuomotor integration (VMI) system in the human brain and investigated the topology approximation of the VMI network to the Allen Human Brain Atlas, a whole-brain transcriptome-wide atlas of cortical genetic expression. We found the genetic expression of four genes-TBR1, SCN1A, MAGEL2, and CACNB4-to be prominently associated with visuomotor integrators in the human cortex. TBR1 gene transcripts, an ASD gene whose expression is related to neural development of the cortex and the hippocampus, showed a central spatial allocation within the VMI system. Our findings delineate gene expression traits underlying the VMI system in the human cortex, where specific genes, such as TBR1, are likely to play a central role in its neuronal organization, as well as on specific phenotypes of neurogenetic syndromes.

Cross-Modal Coordination of Face-Directed Gaze and Emotional Speech Production in School-Aged Children and Adolescents with ASD

Autism spectrum disorder involves persistent difficulties in social communication. Although these difficulties affect both verbal and nonverbal communication, there are no quantitative behavioral studies to date investigating the cross-modal coordination of verbal and nonverbal communication in autism. The objective of the present study was to characterize the dynamic relation between speech production and facial expression in children with autism and to establish how face-directed gaze modulates this cross-modal coordination. In a dynamic mimicry task, experiment participants watched and repeated neutral and emotional spoken sentences with accompanying facial expressions. Analysis of audio and motion capture data quantified cross-modal coordination between simultaneous speech production and facial expression. Whereas neurotypical children produced emotional sentences with strong cross-modal coordination and produced neutral sentences with weak cross-modal coordination, autistic children produced similar levels of cross-modal coordination for both neutral and emotional sentences. An eyetracking analysis revealed that cross-modal coordination of speech production and facial expression was greater when the neurotypical child spent more time looking at the face, but weaker when the autistic child spent more time looking at the face. In sum, social communication difficulties in autism spectrum disorder may involve deficits in cross-modal coordination. This finding may inform how autistic individuals are perceived in their daily conversations.

Vitality from Experiences in Nature and Contact with Animals-A Way to Develop Joint Attention and Social Engagement in Children with Autism?

Animals are increasingly included in treatment for children with autism, and research has shown positive effects, such as increased social initiatives, decreased typical autistic behaviors, and decreased stress. However, there are still knowledge gaps, for example, on underlying mechanisms and effects from longer treatment duration. The purpose of this study is to contribute to these gaps and ask questions about the ways in which animals and nature can improve conditions for psychological development through support from therapists. The method is based on grounded theory. Data comes from a treatment model (duration 1½ years, a total of nine children), from environmental psychology and developmental psychology, both typical and atypical as in autism. The results consist of three key categories; reduce stress and instill calm, arouse curiosity and interest, and attract attention spontaneously. These three key categories are related to an underlying core variable, vitality forms, which was described by Daniel Stern and, according to him, is important in forming overall experiences. The starting point is the brain's way of encoding many internal and external events based on movement perception. Here it is argued that the vitality forms from nature and animals are particularly favorable for effecting development-promoting interactions with a therapist.

Effects of CBD-Enriched Cannabis sativa Extract on Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms: An Observational Study of 18 Participants Undergoing Compassionate Use

Autism Spectrum Disorders comprise conditions that may affect cognitive development, motor skills, social interaction, communication, and behavior. This set of functional deficits often results in lack of independence for the diagnosed individuals, and severe distress for patients, families, and caregivers. There is a mounting body of evidence indicating the effectiveness of pure cannabidiol (CBD) and CBD-enriched Cannabis sativa extract (CE) for the treatment of autistic symptoms in refractory epilepsy patients. There is also increasing data support for the hypothesis that non-epileptic autism shares underlying etiological mechanisms with epilepsy. Here we report an observational study with a cohort of 18 autistic patients undergoing treatment with compassionate use of standardized CBD-enriched CE (with a CBD to THC ratio of 75/1). Among the 15 patients who adhered to the treatment (10 non-epileptic and five epileptic) only one patient showed lack of improvement in autistic symptoms. Due to adverse effects, three patients discontinued CE use before 1 month. After 6-9 months of treatment, most patients, including epileptic and non-epileptic, showed some level of improvement in more than one of the eight symptom categories evaluated: Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; Behavioral Disorders; Motor Deficits; Autonomy Deficits; Communication and Social Interaction Deficits; Cognitive Deficits; Sleep Disorders and Seizures, with very infrequent and mild adverse effects. The strongest improvements were reported for Seizures, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Sleep Disorders, and Communication and Social Interaction Deficits. This was especially true for the 10 non-epileptic patients, nine of which presented improvement equal to or above 30% in at least one of the eight categories, six presented improvement of 30% or more in at least two categories and four presented improvement equal to or above 30% in at least four symptom categories. Ten out of the 15 patients were using other medicines, and nine of these were able to keep the improvements even after reducing or withdrawing other medications. The results reported here are very promising and indicate that CBD-enriched CE may ameliorate multiple ASD symptoms even in non-epileptic patients, with substantial increase in life quality for both ASD patients and caretakers.

Empathy Impairment in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Conditions From a Multidimensional Perspective: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Although empathy has always been considered to be impaired in individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASCs), the relevant findings have been inconsistent. The present meta-analysis aims to determine which empathy components are impaired and how culture, gender, and age moderate such empathy impairment.

Methods: By using “Autism,” “Asperger Syndrome,” “Empathy,” and related Chinese synonyms as keywords, we searched the databases of Weipu, Wanfang, CNKI, Web of Science, Science Direct, SpringerLink, and Elsevier through “subject” and “keyword” searches. We also conducted a manual search according to the references. In total, 51 studies from Eastern and Western countries were included in this meta-analysis, which comprised 144 independent effects, 2,095 individuals with ASCs and 2,869 controls without ASCs. For the retrieved data, Hedge's g was taken as the quantitative measure of effect, and CMA V2.0 software was used for publication bias tests (by using Rosenthal's Classic Failsafe-N and Egger's methods), heterogeneity tests (by using a Q-test, I²-test, and H-test) and a moderating effect test (by using a univariate regression model).

Results: The results showed that the empathy impairment evident in individuals with ASCs is component specific; that is, trait-cognitive empathy, trait-empathic concern, state-cognitive empathy, and state-empathic concern are impaired, whereas state-empathic accuracy remains intact, and trait-empathic accuracy is superior to the trait-empathic accuracy in neurotypical individuals. The univariate regression model showed that gender moderates the impairment of the trait-empathic concern, trait-empathic accuracy, and state-cognitive empathy in autistic individuals and that age moderates the impairment of the trait-cognitive empathy, trait-empathic accuracy, state-empathic concern, and state-empathic accuracy in autistic individuals. However, culture does not moderate any empathy components (trait-cognitive empathy, trait-empathic concern, or state-cognitive empathy) involved in the present meta-analysis.

Conclusions: These findings contribute to ending the controversy over the empathic integrity of individuals with ASCs and shed some light on future research about the empathy impairment of autistic individuals. More specifically, subsequent studies should distinguish specific empathy components and consider the role of gender and age when demonstrating empathy impairment in individuals with ASCs. Moreover, related studies based on Asian collectivist cultural samples and female samples should be further enriched.

Both the mirror and the affordance systems might be impaired in adults with high autistic traits. Evidence from EEG mu and beta rhythms

The association of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with an altered mirror neuron system is still controversial. At the same time, the processing of object affordances by persons with ASD is a neglected issue. In this electroencephalographic study, adults differing in their autism quotient (AQ) scores were selected. We found anomalous modulation of mu and beta rhythms in high-AQ, compared to low-AQ persons, while they watched a set of goal-directed manual actions. This confirms that observing actions involving implicit intentions most clearly reveals the impairment of the mirror neurons system (MNS). The high-AQ group also showed anomalous mu and beta modulation when they looked at pictures of manipulable objects, indicating a deficit in processing motor affordances. We conclude that high-AQ adults have neural impairment of both the MNS and the affordance systems, which could underlie their relational problems with both people and objects. Autism Res 2019, 12: 1032-1042. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Adults with autistic traits (high-autism quotient [AQ] scores) and matched controls (low-AQ) observed intentional hand actions, and pictures of manipulable and non-manipulable objects. The high-AQ group compared to the control group, showed anomalous modulation of the electroencephalographic motoric rhythms (mu and beta) while observing familiar goal-directed actions, confirming an impairment of their mirror neuron system. Also, their brain rhythms were anomalous when they watched manipulable objects, which suggest a dysfunction in their relation with objects (affordance system).

Sophisticated Deception in Junior Middle School Students: An ERP Study

Sophisticated deception refers to the deception of others based on inferences of their mental states (e.g., answering honestly when inferring that the other will not believe their answer). Studying the brain mechanism of sophisticated deception in junior middle school students can provide physiological evidence for deception detection and deceptive ability measurement. Sixteen junior middle school students were asked to engage in different trial types (i.e., instructed truth/lie and chosen truth/lie), during which we recorded their response times (RT) along with electroencephalographic data to calculate event-related potentials (ERPs). We observed significant differences in amplitude [N2, P3, N450, and medial frontal negativity (MFN)] between chosen reactions (sophisticated deception and simple deception) and instructed reactions (instructed truth and instructed lie) in both the stimulus presentation and feedback stages. In the former, the task scores of participants in the chosen condition were significantly and positively correlated with the N2 amplitude over the central brain area during sophisticated deception. In the latter, the task scores of participants in the chosen condition were negatively correlated with the MFN amplitude over the left frontal and left frontocentral regions. Overall, deception intention, rather than simply making counterfactual statements, appears to underlie the increased demand for cognitive control in deceivers. This can be attributed to deceivers' need to strongly consider their opponent's mental state-the better the deceivers' deceptive ability, the more they will make conjectures about the mental state of their opponent with sophisticated deception and monitor conflict; the less conflict they experience while answering honestly with the intention to deceive, the more conflict may arise when the results of their deception are inconsistent with these conjectures.

Dynamic Communications Between GABAA Switch, Local Connectivity, and Synapses During Cortical Development: A Computational Study

Several factors regulate cortical development, such as changes in local connectivity and the influences of dynamical synapses. In this study, we simulated various factors affecting the regulation of neural network activity during cortical development. Previous studies have shown that during early cortical development, the reversal potential of GABA_A shifts from depolarizing to hyperpolarizing. Here we provide the first integrative computational model to simulate the combined effects of these factors in a unified framework (building on our prior work: Khalil et al., 2017a,b). In the current study, we extend our model to monitor firing activity in response to the excitatory action of GABA_A. Precisely, we created a Spiking Neural Network model that included certain biophysical parameters for lateral connectivity (distance between adjacent neurons) and nearby local connectivity (complex connections involving those between neuronal groups). We simulated different network scenarios (for immature and mature conditions) based on these biophysical parameters. Then, we implemented two forms of Short-term synaptic plasticity (depression and facilitation). Each form has two distinct kinds according to its synaptic time constant value. Finally, in both sets of networks, we compared firing rate activity responses before and after simulating dynamical synapses. Based on simulation results, we found that the modulation effect of dynamical synapses for evaluating and shaping the firing activity of the neural network is strongly dependent on the physiological state of GABA_A. Moreover, the STP mechanism acts differently in every network scenario, mirroring the crucial modulating roles of these critical parameters during cortical development. Clinical implications for pathological alterations of GABAergic signaling in neurological and psychiatric disorders are discussed.

Social decision making in autism: On the impact of mirror neurons, motor control, and imitative behaviors

The Mirror Neuron System (MNS) plays a crucial role in action perception and imitative behavior, which is suggested to be impaired in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). In this review, we discuss the plausibility and empirical evidence of a neural interaction between the MNS, action perception, empathy, imitative behavior, and their impact on social decision making in ASDs. To date, there is no consensus regarding a particular theory in ASDs and its underlying mechanisms. Some theories have completely focused on social difficulties, others have emphasized sensory aspects. Based on the current studies, we suggest a multilayer neural network model including the MNS on a first layer and transforming this information to a higher layer network responsible for reasoning. Future studies with ASD participants combining behavioral tasks with neuroimaging methods and transcranial brain stimulation as well as computational modeling can help validate and complement this suggested model. Moreover, we propose applying the behavioral paradigms, and the neurophysiological markers mentioned in this review article for evaluating psychiatric treatment approaches in ASDs. The investigation of modulating effects of different treatment approaches on the neurophysiological markers of the MNS can help find specific subgroups of ASDs patients and support tailored psychiatric interventions.