Neurotypical Adolescents Research Articles

'It's different for girls': Gender differences in the friendships and conflict of autistic and neurotypical adolescents.

This mixed-methods study examined gender differences in the friendships and conflict experiences of autistic girls and boys relative to their neurotypical peers. In total, 102 adolescents (27 autistic girls, 26 autistic boys, 26 neurotypical girls, and 23 neurotypical boys), aged between 11 and 18 years completed the Friendship Qualities Scale, the Revised Peer Experiences Questionnaire and were interviewed about their friendships. Results demonstrated that in many ways, the friendships and social experiences of autistic girls are similar to those of neurotypical girls. Autistic girls, however, have significantly more social challenges than their neurotypical peers, experiencing more conflict and finding that conflict harder to manage successfully. Autistic boys showed quantitatively different friendship patterns to all other groups. There were consistent gender differences in the type of conflict which boys and girls experienced, regardless of diagnostic status. These findings suggest that gender, rather than diagnosis per se, plays a critical role in the way that autistic adolescents perceive and experience their social relationships.

Dissociations in the neural substrates of language and social functioning in autism spectrum disorder.

Impairments in social communication (coupled with intact nonsocial language skills) are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the neural correlates of these social communication deficits in adolescents and young adults with ASD are not fully understood. The communication checklist self-report (CC-SR) was administered to adolescents and young adults with ASD (n = 52) and typically developing (TD) controls (n = 64) to assess structural-language, pragmatic-language, and social-engagement. One high-resolution T1-weighted structural image was obtained from each participant. FreeSurfer was used to quantify cortical thickness. A main effect of diagnosis, with the ASD group performing worse than the TD group on all three CC-SR scales, and a diagnosis by scale interaction, driven by low social-engagement self-ratings in the ASD group, were found. There were also group differences in the relationship between scores on two of the three CC-SR scales and cortical thickness in multiple regions (pragmatic-language: left rostral frontal; social-engagement: left medial prefrontal). These interactions were driven by poorer self-ratings of language/social skills associated with decreased cortical thickness in the ASD group, while in the TD group worse self-ratings were associated with thicker cortex. Self-ratings of language/social-communication were lower in the ASD than the TD group. Moreover, language/social-communication self-ratings showed a different relationship with cortical thickness for the ASD and TD groups in the left inferior frontal region for pragmatic language ratings and the left medial prefrontal cortex for social engagement ratings. These findings suggest thinner cortex is associated with more impaired pragmatic language and social communication abilities in ASD. Autism Res 2018, 11: 1175-1186. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: The present study examines the associations between brain structure and language/social communication ability in adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as compared to neurotypical adolescents and young adults. We utilized thickness of the cerebral cortex as a measure of brain structure, and we found different correlations between language or social communication ability and cortical thickness in distinct regions for the ASD and TD groups. These findings suggest that for regions implicated in language/social communication ability, decreased cortical thickness is associated with more impaired pragmatic language and social communication abilities in ASD.

Perceptions of self and other: Social judgments and gaze patterns to videos of adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder.

Neurotypical adults often form negative first impressions of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and are less interested in engaging with them socially. In contrast, individuals with autism spectrum disorder actively seek out the company of others who share their diagnosis. It is not clear, however, whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder form more positive first impressions of autistic peers when diagnosis is not explicitly shared. We asked adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder to watch brief video clips of adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder and answer questions about their impressions of the individuals in the videos. Questions were related to participants' perceptions of the social skills of the individuals in the video, as well as their own willingness to interact with that person. We also measured gaze patterns to the faces, eyes, and mouths of adolescents in the video stimuli. Both participant groups spent less time gazing at videos of autistic adolescents. Regardless of diagnostic group, all participants provided more negative judgments of autistic than neurotypical adolescents in the videos. These data indicate that, without being explicitly informed of a shared diagnosis, adolescents with autism spectrum disorder form negative first impressions of autistic adolescents that are similar to, or lower than, those formed by neurotypical peers.

Mentalizing skills do not differentiate believers from non-believers, but credibility enhancing displays do.

The ability to mentalize has been marked as an important cognitive mechanism enabling belief in supernatural agents. In five studies we cross-culturally investigated the relationship between mentalizing and belief in supernatural agents with large sample sizes (over 67,000 participants in total) and different operationalizations of mentalizing. The relative importance of mentalizing for endorsing supernatural beliefs was directly compared with credibility enhancing displays–the extent to which people observed credible religious acts during their upbringing. We also compared autistic with neurotypical adolescents. The empathy quotient and the autism-spectrum quotient were not predictive of belief in supernatural agents in all countries (i.e., The Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States), although we did observe a curvilinear effect in the United States. We further observed a strong influence of credibility enhancing displays on belief in supernatural agents. These findings highlight the importance of cultural learning for acquiring supernatural beliefs and ask for reconsiderations of the importance of mentalizing.

Attentional Networks in Adolescents with High-functioning Autism: An fMRI Investigation.

Background:Attentional deficits in Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often noted, but their specific nature remains unclear.Objective:The present study used the child Attentional Network Task (Child ANT) in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine if the consistently cited deficits of orienting attention are truly due to dysfunctions of orienting-based networks. We hypothesized that these observations are, in fact, a reflection of executive dysfunctions. As such, we expected that although ASD adolescents would perform worse on the orienting portion of the Child ANT, the strongest differences in activation between them and the neurotypical (NT) control group would be in areas classically associated with executive functioning (e.g., the frontal gyri and anterior cingulate cortex). Method:The brain activity of six high-functioning adolescents with ASD and six NT adolescents was recorded while these individuals performed the three subcomponents of the Child ANT. Results:ASDs were shown to be more accurate than NTs for the alerting, less accurate for the orienting, and similar in accuracy for the executive portions of the Child ANT. fMRI data showed increased bilateral frontal gyri recruitment, areas conventionally associated with executive control, during the orienting task for the ASD group. Conclusion: We submit that the increased activations represent neurocorrelates of signal fixation attributable to the subset of executive control responsible for sustained maintenance signals, not the main components of orienting. Therefore, excessive fixation in ASD adolescents is likely due to dysfunctions of executive control and not the orienting subcomponent of the attention network.

Functional Connectivity Between the Temporoparietal Cortex and Cerebellum in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The neural basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not yet understood. ASD is marked by social deficits and is strongly associated with cerebellar abnormalities. We studied the organization and cerebellar connectivity of the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), an area that plays a crucial role in social cognition. We applied localized independent component analysis to resting-state fMRI data from autistic and neurotypical adolescents to yield an unbiased parcellation of the bilateral TPJ into 11 independent components (ICs). A comparison between neurotypical and autistic adolescents showed that the organization of the TPJ was not significantly altered in ASD. Second, we used the time courses of the TPJ ICs as spatially unbiased "seeds" for a functional connectivity analysis applied to voxels within the cerebellum. We found that the cerebellum contained a fine-grained, lateralized map of the TPJ. The connectivity of the TPJ subdivisions with cerebellar zones showed one striking difference in ASD. The right dorsal TPJ showed markedly less connectivity with the left Crus II. Disturbed cerebellar input to this key region for cognition and multimodal integration may contribute to social deficits in ASD. The findings might also suggest that the right TPJ and/or left Crus II are potential targets for noninvasive brain stimulation therapies.

Structural and functional correlates of a quantitative autistic trait measured using the social responsive scale in neurotypical male adolescents.

Behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been suggested to be considered as quantitative traits. This study investigated the structural and functional correlates of autistic traits measured using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) in neurotypical adolescents. Twenty-six neurotypical male adolescents (12-18 years old) were recruited for this study and underwent structural and resting functional magnetic resonance image scanning, and intelligence quotient and SRS evaluations. We used the automated surface-based method (FreeSurfer) to measure cortical thickness and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analysis to derive the FC map of the dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC). Brain-wise regression analyses of cortical thickness and FC maps on SRS scores were performed using a general linear model. The results indicated that higher autistic trait ratings of total SRS scores were associated with a thinner cortex in the left insula, right insula, and right superior temporal gyrus. Furthermore, we observed that only higher scores of social awareness were correlated with increased FC between the dACC and right superior temporal gyrus and decreased FC between the dACC and right putamen and thalamus. These results indicated that a quantitative trait in social cognition is associated with structural and connectivity variations linked to ASD patients. Autism Res 2016, 9: 570-578. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Motivational approach and avoidance in autism spectrum disorder: A comparison between real photographs and cartoons

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show a lack of motivation to engage in spontaneous social encounters with other human beings. However, the basis for these diminished approach-related social behaviours is still unclear. This study investigated social motivation in ASD using an approach-avoidance task. In particular, we presented a group of ASD and a group of neurotypical adolescents with a series of emotionally positive, negative, and neutral visual stimuli, comprised of real photographs and cartoons – a stimulus with incentive salience for individuals with ASD. Participants were asked to either push or pull a joystick in response to an emotionally independent feature of the stimuli (colour frame). Following the main task, participants also rated the stimuli for affective valence and arousal. Results showed a dissociation in motivational responses towards positive stimuli for the ASD group only: faster avoidance from positive real photographs, but greater approach to positive cartoons, while no differences were found between emotionally negative or neutral stimuli. By contrast, no differences between the groups were found for the self-reported affective ratings. In light of the social motivation hypothesis, these atypical motivational responses suggest a deficit in assigning reward to socio-emotional stimuli in adolescents with ASD.

Intrinsic functional network organization in high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Converging theories and data suggest that atypical patterns of functional and structural connectivity are a hallmark neurobiological feature of autism. However, empirical studies of functional connectivity, or, the correlation of MRI signal between brain regions, have largely been conducted during task performance and/or focused on group differences within one network [e.g., the default mode network (DMN)]. This narrow focus on task-based connectivity and single network analyses precludes investigation of whole-brain intrinsic network organization in autism. To assess whole-brain network properties in adolescents with autism, we collected resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) data from neurotypical (NT) adolescents and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We used graph theory metrics on rs-fcMRI data with 34 regions of interest (i.e., nodes) that encompass four different functionally defined networks: cingulo-opercular, cerebellar, fronto-parietal, and DMN (Fair etal., 2009). Contrary to our hypotheses, network analyses revealed minimal differences between groups with one exception. Betweenness centrality, which indicates the degree to which a seed (or node) functions as a hub within and between networks, was greater for participants with autism for the right lateral parietal (RLatP) region of the DMN. Follow-up seed-based analyses demonstrated greater functional connectivity in ASD than NT groups between the RLatP seed and another region of the DMN, the anterior medial prefrontal cortex. Greater connectivity between these regions was related to lower ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) scores (i.e., lower impairment) in autism. These findings do not support current theories of underconnectivity in autism, but, rather, underscore the need for future studies to systematically examine factors that can influence patterns of intrinsic connectivity such as autism severity, age, and head motion.

The loss of asymmetry and reduced interhemispheric connectivity in adolescents with autism: A study using diffusion spectrum imaging tractography

Evidence from neuroimaging and neurobiological studies suggests that abnormalities in cortical–cortical connectivity involving both local and long-distance scales may be related to autism. The present study analyzed the microstructural integrity of the long-range connectivity related to social cognition and language processing with diffusion tractography among adolescents with autism compared with neurotypical adolescents. Tract-specific analyses were used to study the long-range connectivity responsible for integrating social cognition and language processing. Specifically, three pairs of association fibers and three portions of callosal fiber tracts were analyzed. Generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA) values were measured along individual targeted fiber tracts to investigate alterations in microstructure integrity. The asymmetry patterns were also assessed in three pairs of association fibers. In neurotypical participants, we found a consistent leftward asymmetry in three pairs of association fibers. However, adolescents with autism did not demonstrate such asymmetry. Moreover, adolescents with autism had significantly lower mean GFA in three callosal fiber tracts than neurotypical participants. The loss of leftward asymmetry and reduction of interhemispheric connection in adolescents with autism suggest alterations of the long-range connectivity involved in social cognition and language processing. Our results warrant further investigation by combining developmental and neurocognitive data.