High Autistic Traits Research Articles

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

Autism is characterized by impairments of social interaction, but the underlying subpersonal processes are still a matter of controversy. It has been suggested that the autistic spectrum might be characterized by alterations of the brain's inference on the causes of socially relevant signals. However, it is unclear at what level of processing such trait-related alterations may occur. We used a reward-based learning task that requires the integration of nonsocial and social cues in conjunction with computational modeling. Healthy subjects (N = 36) were selected based on their Autism Quotient Spectrum (AQ) score, and AQ scores were assessed for correlations with model parameters and task scores. Individual differences in AQ were inversely correlated with participants' task scores (r = -.39, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-.68, -.13]). Moreover, AQ scores were significantly correlated with a social weighting parameter that indicated how strongly the decision was influenced by the social cue (r = -.42, 95% CI [-.66, -.19]), but not with other model parameters. Also, more pronounced social weighting was related to higher scores (r = .50, 95% CI [.20, .86]). Our results demonstrate that higher autistic traits in healthy subjects are related to lower scores in a learning task that requires social cue integration. Computational modeling further demonstrates that these trait-related performance differences are not explained by an inability to process the social stimuli and its causes, but rather by the extent to which participants take into account social information during decision making.

Is impaired joint attention present in non-clinical individuals with high autistic traits?

BackgroundJoint attention skills are impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recently, varying degrees of autistic social attention deficit have been detected in the general population. We investigated gaze-triggered attention in individuals with high and low levels of autistic traits under visual–auditory cross-modal conditions, which are more sensitive to social attention deficits than unimodal paradigms.MethodsSixty-six typically developing adults were divided into low- and high-autistic-trait groups according to scores on the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) questionnaire. We examined gaze-triggered attention under visual–auditory cross-modal conditions. Two sounds (a social voice and a non-social tone) were manipulated as targets to infer the relationship between the cue and the target. Two types of stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) conditions (a shorter 200-ms SOA and a longer 800-ms SOA) were used to directly test the effect of gaze cues on the detection of a sound target across different temporal intervals.ResultsIndividuals with high autistic traits (high-AQ group) did not differ from those with low autistic traits (low-AQ group) with respect to gaze-triggered attention when voices or tones were used as targets under the shorter SOA condition. In contrast, under the longer SOA condition, gaze-triggered attention was not observed in response to tonal targets among individuals in the high-AQ group, whereas it was observed among individuals in the low-AQ group. The results demonstrated that cross-modal gaze-triggered attention is short-lived in individuals with high autistic traits.ConclusionsThis finding provides insight into the cross-modal joint attention function among individuals along the autism spectrum from low autistic traits to ASD and may further our understanding of social behaviours among individuals at different places along the autistic trait continuum.

Emotion recognition through static faces and moving bodies: a comparison between typically developed adults and individuals with high level of autistic traits.

We investigated whether the type of stimulus (pictures of static faces vs. body motion) contributes differently to the recognition of emotions. The performance (accuracy and response times) of 25 Low Autistic Traits (LAT group) young adults (21 males) and 20 young adults (16 males) with either High Autistic Traits or with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HAT group) was compared in the recognition of four emotions (Happiness, Anger, Fear, and Sadness) either shown in static faces or conveyed by moving body patch-light displays (PLDs). Overall, HAT individuals were as accurate as LAT ones in perceiving emotions both with faces and with PLDs. Moreover, they correctly described non-emotional actions depicted by PLDs, indicating that they perceived the motion conveyed by the PLDs per se. For LAT participants, happiness proved to be the easiest emotion to be recognized: in line with previous studies we found a happy face advantage for faces, which for the first time was also found for bodies (happy body advantage). Furthermore, LAT participants recognized sadness better by static faces and fear by PLDs. This advantage for motion kinematics in the recognition of fear was not present in HAT participants, suggesting that (i) emotion recognition is not generally impaired in HAT individuals, (ii) the cues exploited for emotion recognition by LAT and HAT groups are not always the same. These findings are discussed against the background of emotional processing in typically and atypically developed individuals.

Spontaneous Facial Mimicry is Modulated by Joint Attention and Autistic Traits.

Joint attention (JA) and spontaneous facial mimicry (SFM) are fundamental processes in social interactions, and they are closely related to empathic abilities. When tested independently, both of these processes have been usually observed to be atypical in individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). However, it is not known how these processes interact with each other in relation to autistic traits. This study addresses this question by testing the impact of JA on SFM of happy faces using a truly interactive paradigm. Sixty‐two neurotypical participants engaged in gaze‐based social interaction with an anthropomorphic, gaze‐contingent virtual agent. The agent either established JA by initiating eye contact or looked away, before looking at an object and expressing happiness or disgust. Eye tracking was used to make the agent's gaze behavior and facial actions contingent to the participants' gaze. SFM of happy expressions was measured by Electromyography (EMG) recording over the Zygomaticus Major muscle. Results showed that JA augments SFM in individuals with low compared with high autistic traits. These findings are in line with reports of reduced impact of JA on action imitation in individuals with ASC. Moreover, they suggest that investigating atypical interactions between empathic processes, instead of testing these processes individually, might be crucial to understanding the nature of social deficits in autism. Autism Res 2016, 9: 781–789. © 2015 The Authors Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Autism Research

Rubber hand presentation modulates visuotactile interference effect especially in persons with high autistic traits.

Persons with high autistic traits showed diverse reactions as to their multisensory integration, whereas neurotypical persons adequately integrate visual and tactile information. Successive visual stimuli sometimes interfere ordering of successive tactile stimuli. Presentation of a hand-shaped object would affect the interference. Besides, its associations with autistic traits have not been reported. Here, we investigated the effect of a rubber hand presentation on interferences to tactile temporal order judgment by successive visual stimuli. We also investigated whether individual differences associated with autistic traits. A rubber hand was placed palm down in front of the participant in one condition, while in other conditions, it was inverted or was not presented. Participants were required to judge the temporal order of tactile stimuli presented to the index finger and ring finger of their unseen right hand, and needed to ignore the visual stimuli placed on the corresponding fingers of the rubber hand. When incongruent visual stimuli were delivered along with presentation of the rubber hand, the participant's judgment was notably reversed. In contrast, the degree of reversals significantly decreased when the rubber hand was not presented or presented in an inverted direction. Additionally, we found that participants with high autistic traits tended to show large reversal with the rubber hand presentation, while they showed small reversal when the rubber hand was inverted. Our results suggest that rubber hand corresponding to one's own hand facilitates visuotactile interference. Furthermore, autistic traits may affect the integration of visuotactile inputs when the rubber hand is presented.

Enhanced pro-active distractor filtering in adults with high autistic traits

Enhanced pro-active distractor filtering in adults with high autistic traits

Autism spectrum traits in normal individuals: a preliminary VBM analysis.

In light of the new DSM-5 autism spectrum disorders diagnosis in which the autism spectrum reflects a group of neurodevelopmental disorders existing on a continuum from mild to severe expression of autistic traits, and recent empirical findings showing a continuous distribution of autistic traits in the general population, our voxel based morphometry study compares normal individuals with high autistic traits to normal individuals with low autistic traits. We hypothesize that normal individuals with high autistic traits in terms of empathizing and systemizing [high systemizing (HS)/low empathizing (LE)] share brain irregularities with individuals that fall within the clinical autism spectrum disorder. We find differences in several social brain network areas between our groups. Specifically, we find increased gray matter (GM) volume in the orbitofrontal cortex, the cuneus, the hippocampus and parahippocampus and reduced GM volume in the inferior temporal cortex, the insula, and the amygdala in our HS/LE individuals relative to our HE/LS (low autistic traits in terms of empathizing and systemizing) individuals.

1-A-D-17. The influence of spatial frequency and autistic traits on the perception of change in facial expression: An event-related potential study

We studied visual information process of dynamic facial expressions in autism spectrum condition. Our aim was to investigate how P1 and N170 ERP components are affected by an interaction with the spatial frequencies and autistic traits. We filtered low spatial frequency information or high spatial frequency information from grayscale face pictures. These face stimuli consisted of neutral, happy and angry expressions. Sixteen healthy participants observed the change in facial expression (Miyoshi et al., 2004). They were assessed autistic traits by Autism-Spectrum Quotient Japanese version (AQ, Baron-Cohen et al., 2001; Wakabayashi et al., 2004). When participants viewed the change in low spatial frequency facial expression, P1 amplitude from parieto-occipital electrode was attenuated in participants with high AQ group. In the high spatial frequency condition, participants with greater autistic trait showed more smaller N170 amplitude to the change in facial expression at the posterior temporal site. Our findings suggest that individuals with high autistic traits may have aberrant visual processing of spatial frequency information.

Is it me? Self-recognition bias across sensory modalities and its relationship to autistic traits.

BackgroundAtypical self-processing is an emerging theme in autism research, suggested by lower self-reference effect in memory, and atypical neural responses to visual self-representations. Most research on physical self-processing in autism uses visual stimuli. However, the self is a multimodal construct, and therefore, it is essential to test self-recognition in other sensory modalities as well. Self-recognition in the auditory modality remains relatively unexplored and has not been tested in relation to autism and related traits. This study investigates self-recognition in auditory and visual domain in the general population and tests if it is associated with autistic traits.MethodsThirty-nine neurotypical adults participated in a two-part study. In the first session, individual participant’s voice was recorded and face was photographed and morphed respectively with voices and faces from unfamiliar identities. In the second session, participants performed a ‘self-identification’ task, classifying each morph as ‘self’ voice (or face) or an ‘other’ voice (or face). All participants also completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). For each sensory modality, slope of the self-recognition curve was used as individual self-recognition metric. These two self-recognition metrics were tested for association between each other, and with autistic traits.ResultsFifty percent ‘self’ response was reached for a higher percentage of self in the auditory domain compared to the visual domain (t = 3.142; P < 0.01). No significant correlation was noted between self-recognition bias across sensory modalities (τ = −0.165, P = 0.204). Higher recognition bias for self-voice was observed in individuals higher in autistic traits (τAQ = 0.301, P = 0.008). No such correlation was observed between recognition bias for self-face and autistic traits (τAQ = −0.020, P = 0.438).ConclusionsOur data shows that recognition bias for physical self-representation is not related across sensory modalities. Further, individuals with higher autistic traits were better able to discriminate self from other voices, but this relation was not observed with self-face. A narrow self-other overlap in the auditory domain seen in individuals with high autistic traits could arise due to enhanced perceptual processing of auditory stimuli often observed in individuals with autism.

Autism Spectrum Disorder and Mental Health Problems Among Prisoners

Background The provision of support for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within the community is improving as a consequence of policy and legislative changes. However, specialist services are not currently provided in prisons. Objectives This aim of the study was to determine the extent of ASD and co-occurring mental health problems among prisoners. We tested the hypothesis that ASD traits would be unrecognised by prison staff and would be significantly associated with increased rates of anxiety, depression and suicidality. Methods ASD traits were measured among 240 prisoners in a resettlement prison in London, UK using the 20-item Autism Quotient (AQ-20). Anxiety, depression and suicidality were assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Results There were 39 participants (16%) with an AQ-20 score ≥10; indicating significant autistic traits. Mental health data were available for 37 ‘high autistic trait’ participants and another 101 prisoners with no/low ASD traits. There was a significant positive association between AQ-20 and suicidality scores (r=.29, p=0.001). Participants with ASD traits had significantly higher suicidality scores (means=15.1 vs. 5, p= 0.001) and chi-square analysis showed that they were more likely to have a high suicidality rating (27% vs. 8%, p=0.003) than those without ASD traits. Moreover, those with ASD were significantly more likely to be experiencing a current episode of depression (30% vs. 6%, p Conclusion Our initial data suggests that severity of ASD traits is a risk factor for suicidality and common mental health problems among prisoners.

Relationship between autistic traits and hoarding in a large non-clinical Chinese sample: mediating effect of anxiety and depression.

Researchers and clinical practitioners have found that hoarding appears in many autism patients and that most of these patients show high anxiety and depression. There is no consensus on the relationship between autistic traits and hoarding, and little research concerning the role of negative emotions. This study investigated the relationship between autistic traits and hoarding in a large non-clinical Chinese sample. Participants were 3,229 university students (M age = 20.5 yr., SD = 1.6; 1,839 men) who were recruited in classroom. They completed measures of hoarding, autistic symptomology, anxiety, and depression: specifically the Saving Inventory-Revised, the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, and The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Mediating effects of anxiety and depression in the correlation between autistic traits and hoarding were also explored. There was a weak but significant correlation between autistic traits and hoarding. Significant mediating effects of anxiety and depression were observed. Hoarding in people with high autistic traits could be influenced by anxiety and depression.

Differentiating neural reward responsiveness in autism versus ADHD

Although attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) share certain neurocognitive characteristics, it has been hypothesized to differentiate the two disorders based on their brain's reward responsiveness to either social or monetary reward. Thus, the present fMRI study investigated neural activation in response to both reward types in age and IQ-matched boys with ADHD versus ASD relative to typically controls (TDC). A significant group by reward type interaction effect emerged in the ventral striatum with greater activation to monetary versus social reward only in TDC, whereas subjects with ADHD responded equally strong to both reward types, and subjects with ASD showed low striatal reactivity across both reward conditions. Moreover, disorder-specific neural abnormalities were revealed, including medial prefrontal hyperactivation in response to social reward in ADHD versus ventral striatal hypoactivation in response to monetary reward in ASD. Shared dysfunction was characterized by fronto-striato-parietal hypoactivation in both clinical groups when money was at stake. Interestingly, lower neural activation within parietal circuitry was associated with higher autistic traits across the entire study sample. In sum, the present findings concur with the assumption that both ASD and ADHD display distinct and shared neural dysfunction in response to reward.

ADHD Symptoms, Autistic Traits, and Substance Use and Misuse in Adult Australian Twins

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder frequently co-occur. Several studies show increased risk of substance use disorders in ADHD, yet there is limited information related to how ADHD symptoms, autistic traits, and their combined effects are associated with nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis use and use disorders in the general population. Cross-sectional interview and self-report questionnaire data from 3,080 young adult Australian twins (mean age 31.9 years) were used to assess ADHD symptoms, autistic traits, substance use, and substance use disorders. Substance use disorders-based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria-were assessed in the full sample as well as in those who reported substance use. Logistic regression analyses were used for comparing the associations between ADHD symptoms, autistic traits, substance use, and substance misuse after conduct disorder, sex, age, and zygosity were controlled for. Greater ADHD symptoms and autistic traits scores were associated with elevated levels of regular smoking; cannabis use; and nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis use disorders, even after conduct disorder was adjusted for. In contrast, for alcohol use, those with high autistic traits scores were less likely to report drinking to intoxication. However, upon initiation, and similar to the findings for nicotine and cannabis, they were at elevated risk for developing alcohol dependence. Increased liability to ADHD and elevated autistic traits scores were associated with substance use and misuse, with the exception of alcohol use. Given the social underpinnings of drinking, persons with autistic traits may be less likely to engage in it; however, upon engagement in drinking, their vulnerability to alcohol dependence is elevated.

Going ‘Above and Beyond’: Are Those High in Autistic Traits Less Pro-social?

Few studies have explored how the cognitive differences associated with autistic spectrum disorder translate into everyday social behaviour. This study investigated pro-social behaviour in students scoring high and low on the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ), using a novel scenario task: ‘Above and Beyond’. Each scenario involved an opportunity to behave pro-socially, and thus required balancing the needs of a character against participants’ own interests. High AQ participants both generated responses and selected courses of action that were less pro-social than those of the low AQ group. For actions of low pro-social value they gave higher self-satisfaction ratings; conversely, they gave lower self-satisfaction ratings for high pro-social actions. The implications for everyday functioning are considered for those with high autistic traits.

The Brain’s Response to the Human Voice Depends on the Incidence of Autistic Traits in the General Population

Optimal brain sensitivity to the fundamental frequency (F0) contour changes in the human voice is important for understanding a speaker’s intonation, and consequently, the speaker’s attitude. However, whether sensitivity in the brain’s response to a human voice F0 contour change varies with an interaction between an individual’s traits (i.e., autistic traits) and a human voice element (i.e., presence or absence of communicative action such as calling) has not been investigated. In the present study, we investigated the neural processes involved in the perception of F0 contour changes in the Japanese monosyllables “ne” and “nu.” “Ne” is an interjection that means “hi” or “hey” in English; pronunciation of “ne” with a high falling F0 contour is used when the speaker wants to attract a listener’s attention (i.e., social intonation). Meanwhile, the Japanese concrete noun “nu” has no communicative meaning. We applied an adaptive spatial filtering method to the neuromagnetic time course recorded by whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) and estimated the spatiotemporal frequency dynamics of event-related cerebral oscillatory changes in beta band during the oddball paradigm. During the perception of the F0 contour change when “ne” was presented, there was event-related de-synchronization (ERD) in the right temporal lobe. In contrast, during the perception of the F0 contour change when “nu” was presented, ERD occurred in the left temporal lobe and in the bilateral occipital lobes. ERD that occurred during the social stimulus “ne” in the right hemisphere was significantly correlated with a greater number of autistic traits measured according to the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), suggesting that the differences in human voice processing are associated with higher autistic traits, even in non-clinical subjects.

Autistic Traits Modulate Mimicry of Social but not Nonsocial Rewards

Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are associated with diminished responsiveness to social stimuli, and especially to social rewards such as smiles. Atypical responsiveness to social rewards, which reinforce socially appropriate behavior in children, can potentially lead to a cascade of deficits in social behavior. Individuals with ASC often show diminished spontaneous mimicry of social stimuli in a natural setting. In the general population, mimicry is modulated both by the reward value and the sociality of the stimulus (i.e., whether the stimulus is perceived to belong to a conspecific or an inanimate object). Since empathy and autistic traits are distributed continuously in the general population, this study aimed to test if and how these traits modulated automatic mimicry of rewarded social and nonsocial stimuli. High and low rewards were associated with human and robot hands using a conditioned learning paradigm. Thirty-six participants from the general population then completed a mimicry task involving performing a prespecified hand movement which was either compatible or incompatible with a hand movement presented to the participant. High autistic traits (measured using the Autism Spectrum Quotient, AQ) predicted lesser mimicry of high-reward than low-reward conditioned human hands, whereas trait empathy showed an opposite pattern of correlations. No such relations were observed for high-reward vs. low-reward conditioned robot hands. These results demonstrate how autistic traits and empathy modulate the effects of reward on mimicry of social compared to nonsocial stimuli. This evidence suggests a potential role for the reward system in underlying the atypical social behavior in individuals with ASC, who constitute the extreme end of the spectrum of autistic traits.

Magno- and Parvocellular Contrast Responses in Varying Degrees of Autistic Trait

Autistic tendency has been associated with altered visual perception, especially impaired visual motion sensitivity and global/local integration, as well as enhanced visual search and local shape recognition. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying these abnormalities remain poorly defined. The current study recruited 29 young adults displaying low, middle or high autistic trait as measured by Baron-Cohen's Autism spectrum Quotient (AQ), and measured motion coherence thresholds psychophysically, with manipulation of dot lifetime and stimulus contrast, as well as nonlinear cortical visual evoked potentials (VEPs) over a range of temporal luminance contrast levels from 10% to 95%. Contrast response functions extracted from the major first order and second order Wiener kernel peaks of the VEPs showed consistent variation with AQ group, and Naka-Rushton fits enabled contrast gain and semi-saturation contrasts to be elicited for each peak. A short latency second order response (previously associated with magnocellular processing) with high contrast gain and a saturating contrast response function showed higher amplitude for the High AQ (compared with Mid and Low groups) indicating poorer neural recovery after rapid stimulation. A non-linearity evoked at longer interaction times (previously associated with parvocellular processing) with no evidence of contrast saturation and lower contrast gain showed no difference between autism quotient groups across the full range of stimulus contrasts. In addition, the short latency first order response and a small, early second order second slice response showed gain and semi-saturation parameters indicative of magnocellular origin, while the longer latency first order response probably reflects a mixture of inputs (including feedback from higher cortical areas). Significant motion coherence (AQ group) * (dot lifetime) interactions with higher coherence threshold for limited dot lifetime stimuli is consistent with atypical magnocellular functioning, however psychophysical performance for those with High AQ is not explained fully, suggesting that other factors may be involved.

Exposure to the self-face facilitates identification of dynamic facial expressions: influences on individual differences.

A growing literature suggests that the self-face is involved in processing the facial expressions of others. The authors experimentally activated self-face representations to assess its effects on the recognition of dynamically emerging facial expressions of others. They exposed participants to videos of either their own faces (self-face prime) or faces of others (nonself-face prime) prior to a facial expression judgment task. Their results show that experimentally activating self-face representations results in earlier recognition of dynamically emerging facial expression. As a group, participants in the self-face prime condition recognized expressions earlier (when less affective perceptual information was available) compared to participants in the nonself-face prime condition. There were individual differences in performance, such that poorer expression identification was associated with higher autism traits (in this neurocognitively healthy sample). However, when randomized into the self-face prime condition, participants with high autism traits performed as well as those with low autism traits. Taken together, these data suggest that the ability to recognize facial expressions in others is linked with the internal representations of our own faces.

What Does Visual Cortical Physiology of Neurotypical Populations Tell Us about the WCC and EPF Theories of Autism?

The signs of autism spectrum disorders (ASD)—lack of social communication, fixation, and repetitive action have to include visual perceptual abnormalities. Two theories currently attempt to explain the perceptual anomalies: the Weak Central Coherence (WCC) hypothesis and the Enhanced Perceptual Function (EPF) hypothesis. WCC developed from the observation of lack of Gestalt vision–with domination by local rather than global attentional processes. The EPF hypothesis proposed that individuals with ASD retain access to some local attentional processes that are supplanted by global processing in normals. The situation is complicated by dichotomies: magno/parvocellular pathways afferent to visual cortex, dorsal/ventral cortical streams, and global/local perception. Our study recruited 29 young adults displaying low, middle, or high autistic traits as measured by Baron-Cohen's Autism spectrum Quotient (AQ) and utilized motion coherence thresholds and nonlinear visual evoked potentials over a range of temporal l...

P2-27: Electrophysiological Correlates of Conscious and Unconscious Processing of Emotional Faces in Individuals with High and Low Autistic Traits

P2-27: Electrophysiological Correlates of Conscious and Unconscious Processing of Emotional Faces in Individuals with High and Low Autistic Traits