Abstract
BackgroundAutism is a developmental disorder characterized by decreased interest and engagement in social interactions and by enhanced self-focus. While previous theoretical approaches to understanding autism have emphasized social impairments and altered interpersonal interactions, there is a recent shift towards understanding the nature of the representation of the self in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Still, the neural mechanisms subserving self-representations in ASD are relatively unexplored.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe used event-related fMRI to investigate brain responsiveness to images of the subjects' own face and to faces of others. Children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children viewed randomly presented digital morphs between their own face and a gender-matched other face, and made “self/other” judgments. Both groups of children activated a right premotor/prefrontal system when identifying images containing a greater percentage of the self face. However, while TD children showed activation of this system during both self- and other-processing, children with ASD only recruited this system while viewing images containing mostly their own face.Conclusions/SignificanceThis functional dissociation between the representation of self versus others points to a potential neural substrate for the characteristic self-focus and decreased social understanding exhibited by these individuals, and suggests that individuals with ASD lack the shared neural representations for self and others that TD children and adults possess and may use to understand others.
Highlights
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition in which fundamental social development and communication are compromised [1,2], often with concomitant restricted interests and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors
Behavioral responses were not collected from three autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and two typically developing (TD) children
We used this paradigm to test whether children with ASD recruit the same brain areas during self- and other-face processing as do TD children
Summary
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition in which fundamental social development and communication are compromised [1,2], often with concomitant restricted interests and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. Kanner (1943) writes ‘‘he got happiest when left alone, almost never cried to go with his mother, did not seem to notice his father’s homecomings, and was indifferent to visiting relatives...He seems to be self-satisfied...almost to draw into his shell and live within himself...To get his attention almost requires one to break down a mental barrier between his inner consciousness and the outside world.’’ Kanner’s early work includes numerous such references to the seeming indifference to social interaction and extreme self-focus exhibited by these children, who, as he observed, regarded contact with others as ‘‘interference’’ In describing another child he writes that he ‘‘...behaved as if people as such did not matter or even exist’’ and describes one young girl as giving ‘‘the impression of being self-absorbed’’ [3]. The neural mechanisms subserving selfrepresentations in ASD are relatively unexplored
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
