A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
The brains of high functioning autistic individuals do not synchronize with those of others
Authors: Salmi J, Roine U, Glerean E, Lahnakoski J, Nieminen-von Wendt T, Tani P, Leppamaki S, Nummenmaa L, Jaaskelainen IP, Carlson S, Rintahaka P, Sams M
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD
Publication year: 2013
Journal: NeuroImage: Clinical
Journal name in source: NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL
Journal acronym: NEUROIMAGE-CLIN
Volume: 3
First page : 489
Last page: 497
Number of pages: 9
ISSN: 2213-1582
eISSN: 2213-1582
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2013.10.011
Web address : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158213001411?via=ihub
Abstract
Multifaceted and idiosyncratic aberrancies in social cognition characterize autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). To advance understanding of underlying neural mechanisms, we measured brain hemodynamic activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in individuals with ASD and matched-pair neurotypical (NT) controls while they were viewing a feature film portraying social interactions. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used as a measure of voxelwise similarity of brain activity (InterSubject Correlations-ISCs). Individuals with ASD showed lower ISC than NT controls in brain regions implicated in processing social information including the insula, posterior and anterior cingulate cortex, caudate nucleus, precuneus, lateral occipital cortex, and supramarginal gyrus. Curiously, also within NT group, autism-quotient scores predicted ISC in overlapping areas, including, e.g., supramarginal gyrus and precuneus. In ASD participants, functional connectivity was decreased between the frontal pole and the superior frontal gyrus, angular gyrus, superior parietal lobule, precentral gyrus, precuneus, and anterior/posterior cingulate gyrus. Taken together these results suggest that ISC and functional connectivity measure distinct features of atypical brain function in high-functioning autistic individuals during free viewing of acted social interactions. Our ISC results suggest that the minds of ASD individuals do not 'tick together' with others while perceiving identical dynamic social interactions. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Multifaceted and idiosyncratic aberrancies in social cognition characterize autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). To advance understanding of underlying neural mechanisms, we measured brain hemodynamic activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in individuals with ASD and matched-pair neurotypical (NT) controls while they were viewing a feature film portraying social interactions. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used as a measure of voxelwise similarity of brain activity (InterSubject Correlations-ISCs). Individuals with ASD showed lower ISC than NT controls in brain regions implicated in processing social information including the insula, posterior and anterior cingulate cortex, caudate nucleus, precuneus, lateral occipital cortex, and supramarginal gyrus. Curiously, also within NT group, autism-quotient scores predicted ISC in overlapping areas, including, e.g., supramarginal gyrus and precuneus. In ASD participants, functional connectivity was decreased between the frontal pole and the superior frontal gyrus, angular gyrus, superior parietal lobule, precentral gyrus, precuneus, and anterior/posterior cingulate gyrus. Taken together these results suggest that ISC and functional connectivity measure distinct features of atypical brain function in high-functioning autistic individuals during free viewing of acted social interactions. Our ISC results suggest that the minds of ASD individuals do not 'tick together' with others while perceiving identical dynamic social interactions. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
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