Abstract
Individuals with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) display diverse deficits in social, cognitive and behavioral functioning. To date, there has been mixed findings on the profile of executive function deficits for high-functioning adults (IQ > 70) with ASD. A conceptual distinction is commonly made between “cold” and “hot” executive functions. Cold executive functions refer to mechanistic higher-order cognitive operations (e.g., working memory), whereas hot executive functions entail cognitive abilities supported by emotional awareness and social perception (e.g., social cognition). This study aimed to determine the independence of deficits in hot and cold executive functions for high-functioning adults with ASD. Forty-two adults with ASD (64% male, aged 18–66 years) and 40 age and gender matched controls were administered The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT; emotion recognition and social inference), Letter Number Sequencing (working memory) and Hayling Sentence Completion Test (response initiation and suppression). Between-group analyses identified that the ASD group performed significantly worse than matched controls on all measures of cold and hot executive functions (d = 0.54 − 1.5). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that the ASD sample performed more poorly on emotion recognition and social inference tasks than matched controls after controlling for cold executive functions and employment status. The findings also indicated that the ability to recognize emotions and make social inferences was supported by working memory and response initiation and suppression processes. Overall, this study supports the distinction between hot and cold executive function impairments for adults with ASD. Moreover, it advances understanding of higher-order impairments underlying social interaction difficulties for this population which, in turn, may assist with diagnosis and inform intervention programs.
Highlights
Neurophysiological differences between adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and neurotypical individuals have been well documented (Bauman, 1996; Bauman and Kemper, 2005)
Descriptive statistics were generated for The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT) parts 1–3, Letter number sequencing (LNS) and Hayling
Based on TASIT norms, the majority of participants (i.e., >50%) in the control and ASD groups were in the normal range for emotion evaluation (Part 1), social inference-minimal (Part 2), and social inference-enriched (Part 3)
Summary
Neurophysiological differences between adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and neurotypical individuals have been well documented (Bauman, 1996; Bauman and Kemper, 2005). Described as an umbrella term, executive functions encompass higher-order cognitive processes and behavioral competencies such as planning, cognitive flexibility, social cognition (e.g., empathy and theory of mind [ToM]) and emotion regulation (Chan et al, 2008). These higher-order cognitive functions are mediated by the pre-frontal cortex and provide control and direction to lower-order brain functions (Stuss and Levine, 2002).
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