Social Cognition in Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Epilepsy.

Grazia Maria Giovanna Pastorino,Michele Roccella,Luigi Vetri,Francesca Felicia Operto,Chiara Padovano,Chiara Scuoppo,Valentina Vivenzio,Marco Carotenuto,Nazareno Pastorino,Giangennaro Coppola

doi:10.3389/fneur.2021.658823

Grazia Maria Giovanna Pastorino, Michele Roccella + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.658823

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Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of our study was to perform a comparative analysis of social cognition in children and adolescents with epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specific learning disorder (SLD) and in typical development (TD) controls. The secondary aim was to relate social cognition to some clinical and demographic characteristics.Methods: Our work is a transversal observational study. The recruits were 179 children and adolescents aged between 6 and 18 years diagnosed with epilepsy, ASD, or SLD and 32 subjects with TD. All the participants underwent neuropsychological assessment of Emotion Recognition (ER) and Theory of Mind (ToM) skills.Results: All three clinical groups performed significantly worse than controls in ER and ToM. The ASD group achieved significantly lower performance than the other groups; however, the scores of SLD and epilepsy groups were comparable. The ER performances are related to non-verbal intelligence only in the group with epilepsy.Conclusion: Children and adolescents with focal epilepsy, SLD, or ASD may present a deficit of varying extent in emotion recognition and ToM, compared with TD peers. These difficulties are more pronounced in individuals with ASD, but impairment worthy of clinical attention also emerges in individuals with SLD and epilepsy.

Highlights

The purpose of our study was to perform a comparative analysis of social cognition in children and adolescents with epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specific learning disorder (SLD) and in typical development (TD) controls
This cross-sectional observational study aimed to exploring social cognition skills in children and adolescents with focal epilepsy, specific learning disorder, and level 1 autism spectrum disorder compared to typically developing controls
With regard to autism spectrum disorders, we found that the Theory of Mind (ToM) and Emotion recognition (ER) deficits are especially present in this population despite the higher IQ; in children with ASD, specific and differentiated support should be provided to assist the learning of these social skills

Summary

Introduction

The purpose of our study was to perform a comparative analysis of social cognition in children and adolescents with epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specific learning disorder (SLD) and in typical development (TD) controls. The recognition of emotions allows us to identify other’s emotions, moods, and states of mind through facial expression [7]. Some neural structures, such as the amygdala, the insular cortex, and the basal ganglia, have been identified in the process of recognizing emotions [8]. This ability develops from childhood to adolescence: toddlers are more able to recognize happiness, and as they grow up, they become more capable of identifying other emotions: sadness, fear, disgust in both boys and girls [9]. A set of brain regions appear to be involved in ToM tasks, including the bilateral temporo-parietal junction, posterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex [13, 14]

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