High Autism Spectrum Quotient Research Articles

Does stochastic resonance improve performance for individuals with higher autism-spectrum quotient?

While noise is generally believed to impair performance, the detection of weak stimuli can sometimes be enhanced by introducing optimum noise levels. This phenomenon is termed 'Stochastic Resonance' (SR). Past evidence suggests that autistic individuals exhibit higher neural noise than neurotypical individuals. It has been proposed that the enhanced performance in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on some tasks could be due to SR. Here we present a computational model, lab-based, and online visual identification experiments to find corroborating evidence for this hypothesis in individuals without a formal ASD diagnosis. Our modeling predicts that artificially increasing noise results in SR for individuals with low internal noise (e.g., neurotypical), however not for those with higher internal noise (e.g., autistic, or neurotypical individuals with higher autistic traits). It also predicts that at low stimulus noise, individuals with higher internal noise outperform those with lower internal noise. We tested these predictions using visual identification tasks among participants from the general population with autistic traits measured by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ). While all participants showed SR in the lab-based experiment, this did not support our model strongly. In the online experiment, significant SR was not found, however participants with higher AQ scores outperformed those with lower AQ scores at low stimulus noise levels, which is consistent with our modeling. In conclusion, our study is the first to investigate the link between SR and superior performance by those with ASD-related traits, and reports limited evidence to support the high neural noise/SR hypothesis.

A Study of the Relationship between Social Communication Skills and Sensitivity to Paralanguage

Sixty office workers at a temporary employment agency were surveyed for their Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Sensitivity to Paralanguage (SP) scores. The SP measure contains 12 questions and requires participants to guess the nature of the social relationship between two people based on a 30-second acoustic sample of their dialogue. Paralanguage was selected for investigation in this study rather than nonverbal aspects of communication because people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tendencies — who tend to avoid looking at the face of the interlocutor — still use paralanguage effectively. Social communication skills (SCS) were defined as the sum of scores from the AQ subscales “Social skills” and “Communication”, and participants were categorized into either high or low SCS groups. Five participants had AQ scores of 26 or more, including one participant with an AQ score of 36. The five high AQ scorers were all male and all in the low SCS group. The low SCS group had a mean SP score that was 0.47 points higher than the high SCS group. The results indicate that people with poor SCS were more effective in guessing the social relationship between the two parties based on paralanguage than those with high SCS. There are two possible explanations for this finding. The first is that the SP test favors people with ASD tendencies in the low SCS group. The second is that the high SCS group may typically rely on senses other than hearing when making social judgments. In future, the reasons for our finding may be clarified by creating a “sensitivity to nonverbal cues” measurement that uses only visual information.

Strong Relationship Between Rapid Auditory Processing and Affective Prosody Recognition Among Adults with High Autistic Traits.

This study investigated whether individuals with high autistic traits rely on psychoacoustic abilities in affective prosody recognition (APR). In 94 college students, Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and psychoacoustic abilities were measured. Results indicated that higher AQ, higher rapid auditory processing (RAP), and maleness were associated with a lower APR accuracy for low-intensity prosodies. There was a strong positive association between RAP and APR for participants with high AQ, whereas low-AQ participants showed no such pattern. The findings suggest a reliance on psychoacoustic abilities as compensatory mechanism for deficits in higher-order processing of emotional signals in social interactions, and imply potential benefits of auditory interventions in improving APR among individuals with high autistic traits.

Comparing executive functions profiles in anorexia nervosa and autism spectrum disorder in adolescence.

ObjectiveExecutive functions (EFs) inefficiencies in anorexia nervosa (AN), especially in set‐shifting and central coherence, suggest a link between AN and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This study aimed at comparing EF profiles in AN and ASD, and investigating clinical variables associated with the identified EF difficulties.MethodOne hundred and sixty‐two adolescents with AN or ASD completed self‐report questionnaires assessing depression, anxiety and autism symptoms. Parents completed the behaviour rating of executive functions parent‐form (BRIEF‐P). Besides comparing EFs in AN and ASD, we also analysed clinical variables scoring below and above the mean age score across the all sample. We additionally examined the relationship between clinical variables and the BRIEF‐P indexes in AN.ResultsParticipants with ASD had greater EF difficulties than participants with AN on all BRIEF‐P scales. In the whole sample, higher autistic features were related to poorer EF. In AN, lower body mass index and particularly higher autism‐spectrum quotient (BRI: Beta = 0.55; p < 0.001 and GEC: Beta = 0.50; p < 0.001) were most strongly associated with poorer EF.ConclusionAlthough participants with ASD showed greater difficulties, autistic traits were related to alter EFs in AN. Exploring further this dimension can undeniably allow better adaptive cognitive remediation programs.

Integration of Facial Expression and Gaze Direction in Individuals with a High Level of Autistic Traits.

Background. We investigated whether individuals with high levels of autistic traits integrate relevant communicative signals, such as facial expression, when decoding eye-gaze direction. Methods. Students with high vs. low scores on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) performed a task in which they responded to the eye directions of faces, presented on the left or the right side of a screen, portraying different emotional expressions. Results. In both groups, the identification of gaze direction was faster when the eyes were directed towards the center of the scene. However, in the low AQ group, this effect was larger for happy faces than for neutral faces or faces showing other emotional expressions, whereas participants from high AQ group were not affected by emotional expressions. Conclusions. These results suggest that individuals with more autistic traits may not integrate multiple communicative signals based on their emotional value.

Autistic Traits, STEM, and Medicine: Autism Spectrum Quotient Scores Predict Medical Students’ Career Specialty Preferences

There is a higher than chance representation of autistic people and people with elevated autistic traits in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) industries. Medical students, despite studying a STEM subject, have lower autistic traits than other STEM students. Medicine is heterogenous, covering technique-oriented specialties (e.g., surgery) with little patient interaction, person-oriented specialties (e.g., pediatrics), and general practice. We present an online survey in which 502 UK university students (medicine, n = 344; STEM, n = 94; non-STEM, n = 64) reported their study area and career aspirations and completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), a quantitative self-report measure of autistic traits. Our main findings were that medical students had significantly lower AQ scores than other STEM ( p &lt; .001, d = 0.614) and non-STEM students ( p &lt; .001, d = 0.874), and that medical students aiming to pursue technique-focused career paths had significantly higher AQ scores than medical students aiming to pursue person-oriented career paths ( p = .009, d = 0.318). Each of these effects remained statistically significant after adjusting for alpha inflation. The findings of this study corroborate those of previous research reporting a link between autism and STEM; they also provide evidence that autistic traits are a predictor of medical students’ career ambitions, with those students with high AQ scores being more likely to pursue technique-focused (as opposed to person-focused) roles. This may be informative for developing and optimizing the strengths of individuals with differing levels of autistic traits.

Decreased grey matter volumes in unaffected mothers of individuals with autism spectrum disorder reflect the broader autism endophenotype

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with an early onset and a strong genetic origin. Unaffected relatives may present similar but subthreshold characteristics of ASD. This broader autism phenotype is especially prevalent in the parents of individuals with ASD, suggesting that it has heritable factors. Although previous studies have demonstrated brain morphometry differences in ASD, they are poorly understood in parents of individuals with ASD. Here, we estimated grey matter volume in 45 mothers of children with ASD (mASD) and 46 age-, sex-, and handedness-matched controls using whole-brain voxel-based morphometry analysis. The mASD group had smaller grey matter volume in the right middle temporal gyrus, temporoparietal junction, cerebellum, and parahippocampal gyrus compared with the control group. Furthermore, we analysed the correlations of these brain volumes with ASD behavioural characteristics using autism spectrum quotient (AQ) and systemizing quotient (SQ) scores, which measure general autistic traits and the drive to systemize. Smaller volumes in the middle temporal gyrus and temporoparietal junction correlated with higher SQ scores, and smaller volumes in the cerebellum and parahippocampal gyrus correlated with higher AQ scores. Our findings suggest that atypical grey matter volumes in mASD may represent one of the neurostructural endophenotypes of ASD.

Objective pupillometry shows that perceptual styles covary with autistic-like personality traits

We measured the modulation of pupil size (in constant lighting) elicited by observing transparent surfaces of black and white moving dots, perceived as a cylinder rotating about its vertical axis. The direction of rotation was swapped periodically by flipping stereo-depth of the two surfaces. Pupil size modulated in synchrony with the changes in front-surface color (dilating when black). The magnitude of pupillary modulation was larger for human participants with higher Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), consistent with a local perceptual style, with attention focused on the front surface. The modulation with surface color, and its correlation with AQ, was equally strong when participants passively viewed the stimulus. No other indicator, including involuntary pursuit eye movements, covaried with AQ. These results reinforce our previous report with a similar bistable stimulus (Turi, Burr, & Binda, 2018), and go on to show that bistable illusory motion is not necessary for the effect, or its dependence on AQ.

Alterations in Rapid Social Evaluations in Individuals with High Autism Traits.

Typically developing adults with low and high Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores made rapid social evaluations of neutral faces when these were primed by briefly presented emotional faces. High AQ participants rated neutral faces as more threatening than low AQ participants, regardless of the prime condition. Both groups rated target neutral faces as more threatening with fearful compared with neutral primes, while neither group demonstrated an effect of happy primes on the ratings ofneutral target faces. These results demonstrate subtle anomalies in rapid visual processing of emotional faces across the broader autism spectrum. They suggest that higher autism traits may be associated with a generalized threat bias in rapid social evaluations.

Risk Factors Leading to Preference for Extreme Facial Retouching.

Young women posting their edited face photographs on social networking sites have become a popular phenomenon, but an excessively retouched face image sometimes gives a strange impression to its viewers. This study investigates what personal characteristics facilitate a bias toward an excessively edited face image. Thirty young Asian women evaluated the attractiveness and naturalness of their face images, which were edited in eight different levels—from mild to excessive—by expanding their eyes and thinning their chin. The mildly retouched face was evaluated as more attractive than the original face, but the excessively retouched face was evaluated as unattractive and unnatural in comparison with the original face. The preferred face edit level was higher for one's own face than for others. Moreover, participants with higher autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) scores were found to regard excessively edited face images as more attractive. The attention to detail subscale of the AQ showed a significant positive correlation with the preferred face edit level. The imagination subscale, on the contrary, showed a significant negative correlation with the preferred face edit level. The pupil response for self-face images was significantly larger than those for others' face images, but this difference decreased with higher AQ scores. This study suggests that an increased attractiveness in their mildly retouched face promotes this behavior of retouching one's own face, but autistic traits, which are insensitive to the creepiness of the excessively retouched face, might pose a potential risk to inducing retouch dependence.

Autism-Spectrum Quotient Is Associated with Observational Skill Acquisition in Healthy Young Adults

Although observational motor learning is one method of skill acquisition, this type of motor learning is not equally effective for all individuals. To clarify factors associated with the effectiveness of motor learning, we examined the association between model-observational skill acquisition and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), which is reportedly associated with motor learning via visual information. Twenty healthy adults performed the Kendama task. The participants practiced under three conditions: using their own methods (self), following observation of model actions (model-observation), and following observation of their own actions (self-observation). Measurement trials were performed 20 times prior to self-practice sessions and after each practice session. Success ratios were calculated for each measurement trial. All participants completed the AQ. The difference in success ratios for measurement sessions following practices between the self and model-observation conditions was significantly negatively correlated with AQ scores. Individuals with low AQ values can more easily acquire skills via model-observational motor learning than those with relatively higher AQ values.

Social Bayes: Using Bayesian Modeling to Study Autistic Trait–Related Differences in Social Cognition

BackgroundThe autistic spectrum is characterized by profound impairments of social interaction. The exact subpersonal processes, however, that underlie the observable lack of social reciprocity are still a matter of substantial controversy. Recently, it has been suggested that the autistic spectrum might be characterized by alterations of the brain’s inference about the causes of socially relevant sensory signals. MethodsWe used a novel reward-based learning task that required integration of nonsocial and social cues in conjunction with computational modeling. Thirty-six healthy subjects were selected based on their score on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), and AQ scores were assessed for correlations with cue-related model parameters and task scores. ResultsIndividual differences in AQ scores were significantly correlated with participants’ total task scores, with high AQ scorers performing more poorly in the task (r = −.39, 95% confidence interval = −0.68 to −0.13). Computational modeling of the behavioral data unmasked a learning deficit in high AQ scorers, namely, the failure to integrate social context to adapt one’s belief precision—the precision afforded to prior beliefs about changing states in the world—particularly in relation to the nonsocial cue. ConclusionsMore pronounced autistic traits in a group of healthy control subjects were related to lower scores associated with misintegration of the social cue. Computational modeling further demonstrated that these trait-related performance differences are not explained by an inability to process the social stimuli and their causes, but rather by the extent to which participants consider social information to infer the nonsocial cue.

Measuring subthreshold autistic traits in the general population: Psychometric properties of the Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS Spectrum) scale

The Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS Spectrum) has been developed to assess the wide spectrum of autistic-like clinical and non-clinical features in adults. Nevertheless, its psychometric properties have been analyzed only with clinical individuals so far. This study was aimed at investigating the dimensionality, reliability and validity of the AdAS Spectrum on a non-clinical sample. Participants were 395 Spanish undergraduate students (60% males; mean age of 21.1 years, SD = 2.6), who completed the AdAS Spectrum, the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), and the Empathy Quotient (EQ). A confirmatory factor analysis supported the seven-factor structure of the questionnaire. Internal consistency was excellent for the total score and acceptable for five factors. Test-retest reliability over a 4-week period was good. Higher AdAS Spectrum scores significantly correlated with higher AQ and lower EQ scores, supporting the validity of the scale. Moreover, participants studying Science/Technology programs did significantly differ from students following Social/Humanities degree courses on all the AdAS Spectrum scores. Overall, findings support the psychometric properties of the AdAS in a non-clinical sample. Future research is needed to further examine the factorial structure and the internal consistency of the scale in larger samples of general population.

Effects of Pattern Complexity on the Retrieval Stage of Visual Short-Term Memory in Relation to Autistic-Like Traits

Our study aimed to examine the effects of pattern complexity on visual short-term memory (VSTM) at the retrieval stage in typical developing adults with different autism spectrum quotient (AQ) scores. Participants underwent electroencephalography during a same-different task, in which they judged as rapidly and accurately as possible whether the target pattern (S1) was the same or different from the comparison pattern (S2). In the same-different task, pattern complexity (simple and complex patterns) was manipulated. We analyzed two peaks of waveforms (P3b and positive slow wave [PSW]) elicited by S2 and compared them between the high and low AQ groups (each n = 11). The PSW amplitude was greater in the high AQ group than those in the low AQ group (p < .05; ηp2 = 0.14 to 0.15). In particular, although the low AQ group showed lower PSW amplitude for complex patterns than for simple patterns, the high AQ group showed a high PSW amplitude for both simple and complex patterns. The low AQ group had efficient memory search and distinguished between S1 and S2 only for simple patterns while the high AQ group exhibited them for both simple and complex patterns, because the PSW in the retrieval stage may be related to the memory search modulated by cognitive load. Thus, individual differences were observed especially in a high cognitive load (complex patterns). People with high AQ scores show more specific processing at the retrieval stage of VSTM as compared to those with low AQ scores.

Association between maternal Autism Spectrum Quotient scores and the tendency to see pragmatic impairments as a problem.

The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that individuals with higher Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores would be more permissive of pragmatic impairments than those with lower AQ scores. We investigated the presence of a correlation between the AQ scores of mothers with children in grades 1 to 6 and their evaluation of assumed pragmatic impairments in children using the Maternal Evaluation of Pragmatic Impairments in Children (MEPC) measure. Mothers were asked to rate how they would feel if their child showed the communication behaviors listed in scales D (coherence), E (inappropriate initiation), F (stereotyped language), G (use of context), and H (nonverbal communication) of the Children’s Communication Checklist-2, which measures pragmatic impairments. All responses were given on a five-point Likert scale. The results indicated that the higher the maternal AQ score, the less the mother tended to evaluate pragmatic impairments as a problem. We also examined whether the age and gender of assumed children influenced the correlation between AQ and MEPC scores, but found no significant correlation. The partial correlation coefficients were calculated for each subscale, none of which was significant. A negative correlation was found between AQ and MEPC scores as a whole.

Individual differences and the effect of face configuration information in the McGurk effect

The McGurk effect, which denotes the influence of visual information on audiovisual speech perception, is less frequently observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to those without it; the reason for this remains unclear. Several studies have suggested that facial configuration context might play a role in this difference. More specifically, people with ASD show a local processing bias for faces-that is, they process global face information to a lesser extent. This study examined the role of facial configuration context in the McGurk effect in 46 healthy students. Adopting an analogue approach using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), we sought to determine whether this facial configuration context is crucial to previously observed reductions in the McGurk effect in people with ASD. Lip-reading and audiovisual syllable identification tasks were assessed via presentation of upright normal, inverted normal, upright Thatcher-type, and inverted Thatcher-type faces. When the Thatcher-type face was presented, perceivers were found to be sensitive to the misoriented facial characteristics, causing them to perceive a weaker McGurk effect than when the normal face was presented (this is known as the McThatcher effect). Additionally, the McGurk effect was weaker in individuals with high AQ scores than in those with low AQ scores in the incongruent audiovisual condition, regardless of their ability to read lips or process facial configuration contexts. Our findings, therefore, do not support the assumption that individuals with ASD show a weaker McGurk effect due to a difficulty in processing facial configuration context.

The Glasgow Sensory Questionnaire: Validation of a French Language Version and Refinement of Sensory Profiles of People with High Autism-Spectrum Quotient.

Sensory sensitivity peculiarities represent an important characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We first validated a French language version of the Glasgow Sensory Questionnaire (GSQ) (Robertson and Simmons in J Autism Dev Disord 43(4):775-784, 2013). The GSQ score was strongly positively correlated with the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) (r = 0.81, p < 10-6, n = 245). We further examined sensory profiles of groups with high versus low AQ. The high AQ group scored higher at the GSQ than the low AQ group for every sensory modality. Moreover, the high AQ group showed greater consistency in their patterns of hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity between sensory modalities, and stronger correlations between hyper and hyposensitivity. Results are discussed in the context of theories accounting for atypical sensory perception in ASD.

Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neurological Status (RBANS) performance in non-clinical individuals with high levels of autistic traits

This study examined performance on the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neurological Status (RBANS), a brief neuropsychological test battery of cognitive function, in participants with two levels of sub-clinical autistic symptoms as quantified by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (ASQ). Participants were non-clinical college participants classified as displaying either Low (0–15 ASQ score, n = 183) ASQ traits or High (16 or higher ASQ score, n = 91) ASQ traits. Participants were given the ASQ and the RBANS. High ASQ subjects scored lower on Picture Naming (p < .02), Semantic Fluency (p < .05), Story Recall (p < .04) and the Language Index (p < .01).

Salivary Oxytocin Concentration Associates with the Subjective Feeling of Body Ownership during the Rubber Hand Illusion.

Oxytocin is a hormone of the posterior pituitary that promotes lactation, maternal bonding, and birth. Recent studies have shown that oxytocin may modulate social recognition in both sexes, and thus it may be related to empathy. Brain regions that are associated with social recognition and empathy (e.g., the insular cortex) are activated in the rubber hand illusion (RHI), which involves illusory ownership of a rubber hand caused by brush strokes applied synchronously to both a rubber hand and one of the participant's hand, which is hidden from view. It is intriguing to examine whether oxytocin modulates plastic changes in body representation, such as the changes occurring in the RHI. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between salivary oxytocin concentration and the feeling of rubber hand ownership. Brush strokes were applied synchronously or asynchronously to the participant's hand and a rubber hand on different days. Salivary oxytocin was measured before and after the behavioral tasks. We found that participants who had high concentrations of salivary oxytocin tended to feel strong ownership of the rubber hand. We also found that the participants with a high autism spectrum quotient (AQ) score who particularly felt difficulties in social skills and communications tended to feel weak rubber hand ownership. We observed that illusory body ownership was closely linked to social communications and a related neuroendocrine basis. The results of the present study suggest that an individual's salivary oxytocin concentration can predict the extent to which the individual experiences the RHI; furthermore, oxytocin might modulate the sensation of body ownership.

Autistic Traits Affect P300 Response to Unexpected Events, regardless of Mental State Inferences.

Limited use of contextual information has been suggested as a way of understanding cognition in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, it has also been argued that individuals with ASD may have difficulties inferring others' mental states. Here, we examined how individuals with different levels of autistic traits respond to contextual deviations by measuring event-related potentials that reflect context usage. The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) was used to quantify autistic-like traits in 28 university students, and 19 participants were defined as Low or High AQ groups. To additionally examine inferences about mental state, two belief conditions (with or without false belief) were included. Participants read short stories in which the final sentence included either an expected or an unexpected word and rated the word's degree of deviation from expectation. P300 waveform analysis revealed that unexpected words were associated with larger P300 waveforms for the Low AQ group, but smaller P300 responses in the High AQ group. Additionally, AQ social skill subscores were positively correlated with evaluation times in the Unexpected condition, whether a character's belief was false or not. This suggests that autistic traits can affect responses to unexpected events, possibly because of decreased availability of context information.