Social Functioning In Individuals Research Articles

The impact of family-genetic risk scores on social functioning in individuals affected with six major psychiatric and substance use disorders in a Swedish National Sample.

To examine whether the level of genetic risk in psychiatric disorders impacts the social functioning of affected individuals, we examine the relationship between genetic risk factors for major depression (MD), anxiety disorders (AD), bipolar disorder (BD), non-affective psychosis (NAP), alcohol use disorder (AUD), and drug use disorder (DUD) in disordered individuals and five adverse social outcomes: unemployment, residence in areas of social deprivation, social welfare, early retirement, and divorce. We examine all cases with registration for these disorders from 1995 to 2015 in individuals born in Sweden. Genetic risk was assessed by the family genetic risk score (FGRS) and statistical estimates by Cox proportional hazard models. High genetic risk was significantly and modestly associated with poorer social outcomes in 23 of 30 analyses. Overall, genetic risk for MD, AD, AUD, and DUD impacted social functioning more strongly in affected individuals than did genetic risk for BD and NAP. Social welfare had the strongest associations with genetic risk, and residence in areas of high deprivation had the weakest. In individuals suffering from psychiatric and substance use disorders, high levels of genetic risk impact not only clinical features but also diverse measures of social functioning.

Emotion recognition and social functioning in individuals with autism spectrum condition and intellectual disability.

Most previous studies have examined emotion recognition in autism spectrum condition (ASC) without intellectual disability (ID). However, ASC and ID co-occur to a high degree. The main aims of the study were to examine emotion recognition in individuals with ASC and co-occurring intellectual disability (ASC-ID) as compared to individuals with ID alone, and to investigate the relationship between emotion recognition and social functioning. The sample consisted of 30 adult participants with ASC-ID and a comparison group of 29 participants with ID. Emotion recognition was assessed by the facial emotions test, while. social functioning was assessed by the social responsiveness scale-second edition (SRS-2). The accuracy of emotion recognition was significantly lower in individuals with ASC-ID compared to the control group with ID, especially when it came to identifying angry and fearful emotions. Participants with ASC-ID exhibited more pronounced difficulties in social functioning compared to those with ID, and there was a significant negative correlation between emotion recognition and social functioning. However, emotion recognition accounted for only 8% of the variability observed in social functioning. Our data indicate severe difficulties in the social-perceptual domain and in everyday social functioning in individuals with ASC-ID.

Improvement of social functioning in patients with first-episode schizophrenia using blonanserin treatment: a prospective, multi-centre, single-arm clinical trial.

This clinical trial primarily aimed to investigate the effects of blonanserin on social functioning in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. In this prospective, multi-centre, single-arm clinical trial study, blonanserin (flexible oral dose ranging from 8mg to 24mg per day) was given 26 weeks. Outcome measures included the Personal and Social Performance (PSP) scale for evaluating social functioning, the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) for measuring neurocognitive performance, and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for assessing symptom severity. The primary endpoint was social function improvement evaluated by PSP scale at the end of blonanserin treatment. And the secondary endpoint was to validate the efficacy and neurocognitive effects of blonanserin. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were also recorded and analysed. A total of 96 patients with first-episode schizophrenia were recruited and proceeded to analysis. Fifty-one participants (53.1%) completed the PSP scale measurements at baseline and week 26. Following 26 weeks of blonanserin treatment, all outcome measurements demonstrated significant improvement during the follow-up period. Notably, PSP scores exhibited a continuous increase up to 68.1% ± 103.7% at the end of the treatment (46.6 ± 14.6 at baseline, 69.4 ± 17.4 at week 26, p<0.001), indicating positive effects on social functioning that were already noticeable by week 8. Blonanserin treatment exhibited favourable effects on social functioning in individuals with first-episode schizophrenia. The results suggest that blonanserin was effective treatment options for patients with schizophrenia encountering functional impairments.

Association of verbal and non-verbal theory of mind abilities with non-coding variants of OXTR in youth with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing individuals: a case-control study

BackgroundThe ability to attribute mental states to others is called theory of mind (ToM) and is a substantial component of social cognition. This ability is abnormally developed in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Several studies over the past decade have identified the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and its variants as promising components for explaining the molecular mechanisms underlying Theory of Mind (ToM). The main aim of this study is to examine the association between rs2268498 and rs53576, two functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and verbal and non-verbal ToM in children and adolescents with ASD and a group of typically developing youth.MethodsThe study involved 44 children and adolescents with high-functioning ASD aged 8 to 18 years old and 44 TD individuals who were matched on age and sex. In all participants, blood samples were collected and rs2268498 and rs53576 were genotyped. Happe’s Strange Stories test and the moving shapes paradigm were used to measure verbal and non-verbal ToM in all participants.ResultsThe results of permutation tests and logistic regression suggested that in TD group, rs2268498 AA carriers showed significant higher scores in variables representing verbal ToM (ToM stories and appropriateness score) whereas, in ASD group, rs53576 AA carriers exhibited significant better performance in parameters related to non-verbal ToM (ToM general rule and intentionality score). The results of hierarchical clustering in both groups support the findings by distinguishing between language-related and language-independent aspects of ToM.ConclusionsIn the present study, we examined the association between rs2268498 and rs53576 and social functioning in individuals with ASD and TD group. We found preliminary evidence that rs2268498 and rs53576 are associated with ToM related abilities in healthy individuals as well as in autistic individuals. Accordingly, rs2268498 and rs53576 may play an important role in predicting ToM capabilities. It will be necessary to conduct further research to address the association of genetic variants with a deficit in ToM in individuals with ASD.

The social infertility cycle model

Infertility poses an immense challenge to contemporary society. Around one in six people worldwide trying to conceive a child are facing infertility. This situation exists in an age of great technological developments where advances in medicine have made infertility treatment widely available and increasingly effective. In this article, a model will be presented that aims to explain the individual and social functioning of individuals and couples undergoing infertility treatment using assist-ed reproductive methods. The model was developed on the basis of a series of studies carried out by the author and col-leagues during 2015-2021. The social infertility cycle model was proposed as the outcome of further research steps that were taken. The model takes into consideration the factors and behaviours of couples with infertility that determine the quality of their everyday functioning as well as the effectiveness of infertility treatment. The successive steps of the research process will be outlined in the article along with a presentation of the developed model.

Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Social Attention Patterns and Emotion Recognition Ability in Male Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social cognition including emotion recognition (ER) abilities. Common symptoms include unusual patterns of visual social attention, which are investigated as early developmental biomarkers for ASD. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) has shown promising results in influencing social functioning in individuals with ASD. However, the effects of tDCS on social attention patterns and ER ability in adolescents with ASD remain unclear. This double-blind, sham-controlled, randomized clinical trial examined the effects of repeated sessions of tDCS on gaze behavior and ER ability in 22 male adolescents diagnosed with ASD. Participants received either 20 min of 2 mA active tDCS or sham stimulation for 10 days and an intra-stimulation training. Social allocation patterns were assessed using eye-tracking paradigms, including ER tasks. Our results indicated no tDCS-specific effects. Both groups showed improvements in ER and more frequent, faster, and longer fixations on the eyes than the mouth, and on social than nonsocial areas. In tasks with low social content, fixating the mouth seemed to increase ER accuracy. Understanding the effects of tDCS on social functioning in adolescents with ASD holds promise for the development of targeted interventions to improve their social cognition abilities.

Developmental Trajectories of Autism.

The goal of this study was to describe the typical, longitudinal, developmental trajectories of communication and social functioning in individuals with autism spectrum disorder from childhood through adulthood and to determine the correlates of these trajectories. Children with autism spectrum disorder who were born in California from 1992 through 2016 and enrolled with the California Department of Developmental Services were identified. Subjects with <4 evaluations in the database were excluded, resulting in a sample of 71 285 individuals. Score sequences were constructed based on evaluative items for communication and social functioning. Typical trajectories were identified using group-based latent trajectory modeling, and logistic regression was used to determine the odds of classification into a social adolescent decline trajectory by individual-, family-, and zip code-level factors. Six typical patterns of communication functioning and 7 typical patterns of social functioning were identified. Whereas the majority of autistic individuals exhibit improved communication functioning as they age, the majority of individuals exhibit steady social functioning. A small group of individuals (5.0%) exhibits high social functioning in childhood that declines in adolescence. Membership in this adolescent decline group is associated with maternal non-Hispanic white race and ethnicity, female sex, moderate levels of maternal education, lower zip code-level median home values and population density, and higher zip code-level inequality. Most autistic individuals show improved communication and social functioning as they age, but not all do. Trajectory group membership is correlated with socioeconomic status. Future research should investigate what drives these correlations.

Association between childhood maltreatment and social functioning in individuals with affective disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Childhood maltreatment has been linked to impairments in social functioning and social cognition in adults with affective disorders. However, conclusions have been limited by inconsistent findings across different maltreatment subtypes and social domains. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify associations between childhood maltreatment (overall and subtypes - physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse, and/or physical and/or emotional neglect) and different domains of social functioning and social cognition in adults with affective disorders (bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder). We also examined effect moderators and mediators of these associations. A systematic search was performed on 12.12.2022 which identified 29 studies included in qualitative synthesis (n = 3022 individuals with affective disorders), of which 27 (n = 2957) were pooled in meta-analyses. Across studies, five social functioning and five social cognition domains were examined, of which four domains of social functioning and two domains of social cognition had sufficient data for meta-analysis (PROSPERO CRD42022288976). Social functioning: childhood maltreatment was associated with lower global social functioning (r = -0.11 to -0.20), poorer interpersonal relations (r = -0.18 to -0.33), and with aggressive behaviour (r = 0.20-0.29) but was unrelated to vocational functioning. Emotional abuse and emotional neglect showed the largest magnitudes of effect. Social cognition: there was no meta-analytic evidence of associations between maltreatment and social cognition domains. Exploratory moderation analyses did not identify any consistent moderators. Narrative synthesis identified attachment style as possible moderator, and sensory patterns, anxiety, and depressive symptoms as possible mediators between childhood maltreatment and social outcomes. Overall, the available evidence was limited, particularly in relation to social cognition. Adults with affective disorders are at risk of social functioning difficulties after childhood maltreatment exposure, an effect observed across multiple maltreatment subtypes, social functioning domains, and diagnoses. Addressing social functioning problems may benefit maltreated adults with both bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.

Correlation and predictive ability of sensory characteristics and social interaction in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have different social characteristics and particular sensory processing patterns, and these sensory behaviors may affect their social functioning. The objective of our study is to investigate the sensory profiles of children with ASD and their association with social behavior. Specifically, we aim to identify the predictive role of sensory processing in social functioning. The Short Sensory Profile (SSP) was utilized to analyze sensory differences between ASD children and their peers. The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and other clinical scales were employed to assess the social functioning of children with ASD. Additionally, the predictive ability of sensory perception on social performance was discussed using random forest and support vector machine (SVM) models. The SSP scores of ASD children were lower than those of the control group, and there was a significant negative correlation between SSP scores and clinical scale scores (P < 0.05). The random forest and SVM models, using all the features, showed higher sensitivity, while the random forest model with 7-feature factors had the highest specificity. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for all the models was higher than 0.8. Autistic children in our study have different patterns of sensory processing than their peers, which are significantly related to their patterns of social functioning. Sensory features can serve as a good predictor of social functioning in individuals with ASD.

Irritability: A concept analysis.

Irritability is a term used to describe feelings of anger, annoyance and impatience, and is commonly experienced by individuals in daily life. However, there are diverse conceptualizations of irritability in public and clinical research, which often result in confusing irritability with anger and other overlapping concepts. This, in turn, leads to a lack of conceptual clarity. Accordingly, the purpose of this concept analysis was to explore the irritability concept, including its definitions, defining characteristics, antecedents, consequences and empirical referents. The findings showed that irritability is predominantly conceptualized as a psychophysiological concept in the literature. We demonstrated that irritability can be differentiated from overlapping concepts like anger by qualities, such as 'unpredictability and lowered emotion control', 'lowered threshold for negative emotional stimuli', 'being manifested in response to frustrative situations or physiological needs' and 'experience of disproportionate and unjustified emotional irritation'. Importantly, severe irritability prospectively predicts psychiatric disorders and greater impairments in health, financial, educational and social functioning in individuals. Taken together, our analysis showed that one should take into account the context, duration, intensity and importantly outcomes, when assessing irritability in an individual. Considering these findings and the presence of irritability in nursing practice, it is crucial for nurses to recognize and successfully identify this concept in the nursing care they provide within the diverse settings and patient populations.

Modern assistive and augmentative technologies supporting communication, education and social functioning of individuals with hearing impairment

Hearing disability and its consequences are approached taking into consideration two viewpoints: medical-rehabilitative that exposes a hearing deficit and limitations of access to the world of sounds, including speech and communication in phonic language; and sociocultural that does not perceive deafness as disability but as a positive value in the Community of the Deaf – people who qualify as a linguistic and cultural minority that communicate using sign language. Currently, at the time of intense development of new technologies, new prospects and opportunities are created that change the face of hearing disability and the Deaf Community. This article attempts to show selected modern assistive technologies and how they might affect improvement of the quality of life of hearing impaired and deaf/Deaf individuals. The focus of the article is on demonstrating the importance of the functional assistive devices and other technologies as strategies of mitigating, preventing or compensating the difficulties related to interpersonal and social communication, increasing access to education and public space for people with hearing impairment and also enhancing their ability to participate in social life independently and unassisted. Key words: hard-of-hearing individuals, deaf/Deaf individuals, assistive technologies, quality of life

Social cognition training improves recognition of distinct facial emotions and decreases misattribution errors in healthy individuals.

Facial emotion recognition is a key component of social cognition. Impaired facial emotion recognition is tied to poor psychological wellbeing and deficient social functioning. While previous research has demonstrated the potential for social cognition training to improve overall facial emotion recognition, questions remain regarding what aspects of emotion recognition improve. We report results from a randomized controlled trial that evaluates whether computerized social cognition training can improve recognition of distinct facial emotions in healthy participants. This investigation was designed to better understand the therapeutic potential of social cognition training for individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders. Fifty-five healthy adult participants were randomly assigned to an internet-based intervention during which they either completed social cognition training (SCT) or played control computer games (CON) for 10.5 h over 2-3 weeks. Facial emotion recognition was measured with the Penn ER-40, which was conducted before and after training. The following variables were collected and analyzed: facial emotion recognition accuracy for each emotion (i.e., anger, fear, happy, neutral (no emotional expression), and sad), reaction times for each emotion, and response error types (i.e., frequency of an emotion being chosen incorrectly, frequency of an emotion being missed, and frequency of an emotion being confused for another particular emotion). ANOVAs and t-tests were used to elucidate intervention effects both within and between groups. Results showed that the SCT group improved their accuracy for angry and neutral faces. They also improved their reaction times for neutral, fearful, and sad faces. Compared to the CON group, the SCT group had significantly faster reaction times to neutral faces after training. Lastly, the SCT group decreased their tendency to confuse angry faces for no emotional expression and to confuse no emotional expression for sad faces. In contrast, the CON group did not significantly improve their accuracy or reaction times on any emotional expression, and they did not improve their response error types. We conclude that social cognition training can improve recognition of distinct emotions in healthy participants and decrease response error patterns, suggesting it has the potential to improve impaired emotion recognition and social functioning in individuals with facial emotion recognition deficits.

Effects of a Metacognitive Smartphone Intervention With Weekly Mentoring Sessions for Individuals With Schizophrenia: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Application (app)-based interventions using smartphones could provide effective alternatives to traditional treatment programs during and beyond the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The current quasi-experimental study with a non-equivalent comparison group tested the effects of a smartphone app-based metacognitive intervention program with weekly mentoring sessions on the meta-cognitive beliefs, psychotic symptoms, and social functioning of individuals with schizophrenia from community psychosocial rehabilitation centers. The study was conducted with 20 participants with severe psychotic symptoms and low social functioning and 24 participants with relatively light psychotic symptoms and good social functioning as a comparison group. For the experimental group, the app-based intervention was combined with weekly contact mentoring sessions over 10 weeks. The comparison group received only the app-based intervention over 10 weekly sessions. No differences were observed between groups' total scores; however, the experimental group showed a tendency toward improved psychotic symptoms and social functioning over time, unlike the comparison group. These findings provide an empirical basis for managing schizophrenia symptoms with smartphone apps. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 61(2), 27-37.].

Don’t get too close to me: depressed and non-depressed survivors of child maltreatment prefer larger comfortable interpersonal distances towards strangers

ABSTRACT Background Childhood maltreatment (CM) is frequently linked to interpersonal problems such as difficulties in social relationships, loneliness, and isolation. These difficulties might partly stem from troubles regulating comfortable interpersonal distance (CIPD). Objective We experimentally investigated whether CM manifests in larger CIPD and whether all subtypes of CM (i.e., physical, emotional, or sexual abuse and physical or emotional neglect) affect CIPD. Methods Using the stop-distance method (i.e. a team member approached participants until the latter indicated discomfort), we assessed CIPD in 84 adults with a self-reported history of CM (24 with depressive symptoms) and 57 adult controls without a history of CM (without depressive symptoms). Results Adults with CM showed a larger CIPD (Mdn = 86 cm) than controls (Mdn = 68 cm), and CIPD was largest for those with CM combined with current depressive symptoms (Mdn = 145 cm) (p’s < .047). In the latter group, all subtypes of CM were associated with a larger CIPD compared to controls (p’s < .045). In the CM group without depressive symptoms, only those with emotional abuse (p = .040) showed a larger CIPD than controls. Conclusions These results add to findings of differential socio-emotional long-term consequences of CM, depending upon the subtype of CM. Future research should explore whether a larger CIPD has a negative impact on social functioning in individuals exposed to CM, particularly in those with depressive symptoms. HIGHLIGHTS Adults with child maltreatment (CM) prefer larger physical distances. • This effect is more pronounced in those with CM and depressive symptoms. • Troubled regulation of physical distance might contribute to interpersonal problems.

Cerebellar Atypicalities in Autism?

BackgroundThe cerebellum contains more than 50% of the brain's neurons and is involved in social cognition. Cerebellar anatomical atypicalities have repeatedly been reported in individuals with autism. However, studies have yielded inconsistent findings, likely because of a lack of statistical power, and did not capture the clinical and neuroanatomical diversity of autism. Our aim was to better understand cerebellar anatomy and its diversity in autism. MethodsWe studied cerebellar gray matter morphology in 274 individuals with autism and 219 control subjects of a multicenter European cohort, EU-AIMS LEAP (European Autism Interventions–A Multicentre Study for Developing New Medications; Longitudinal European Autism Project). To ensure the robustness of our results, we conducted lobular parcellation of the cerebellum with 2 different pipelines in addition to voxel-based morphometry. We performed statistical analyses with linear, multivariate (including normative modeling), and meta-analytic approaches to capture the diversity of cerebellar anatomy in individuals with autism and control subjects. Finally, we performed a dimensional analysis of cerebellar anatomy in an independent cohort of 352 individuals with autism-related symptoms. ResultsWe did not find any significant difference in the cerebellum when comparing individuals with autism and control subjects using linear models. In addition, there were no significant deviations in our normative models in the cerebellum in individuals with autism. Finally, we found no evidence of cerebellar atypicalities related to age, IQ, sex, or social functioning in individuals with autism. ConclusionsDespite positive results published in the last decade from relatively small samples, our results suggest that there is no striking difference in cerebellar anatomy of individuals with autism.

Psychometric Evaluation of the German Version of the Social Functioning in Dementia Scale (SF-DEM).

Dementia is one of the most common and most severe disorder in old age. In addition to cognitive decline and functional impairment, changes in social functioning occur in the course of dementia. Currently, there is no valid instrument in German language to assess social functioning in individuals with dementia. We aim to adapt and psychometrically evaluate a German version of the Social Functioning in Dementia Scale (SF-DEM). First, a multi-step and team-based translation process based on the TRAPD model was performed. Second, we interviewed dyads of individuals with mild dementia and caregivers to test the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, interrater reliability, construct validity, and acceptance of the German version of the SF-DEM. The internal consistency of the patient-rated (α= 0.72) and the caregiver-rated (α= 0.76) SF-DEM is at an acceptable level. The interrater reliability was excellent for both versions (patients: ICC = 0.98, CI [0.95-0.99]; caregiver: ICC = 0.95, CI [0.89-0.98]) and the test-retest reliability was moderate (patients: ICC = 0.57, CI [0.26-0.77]; caregiver: ICC = 0.58, CI [0.27-0.78]). Caregiver-rated SF-DEM correlated strong with LSNS-6 (rs = 0.60, p < 0.01), QoL-AD (marriage: rs = 0.61, p < 0.01; friends: rs = 0.51, p = 0.01). In addition, the SF-DEM was accepted by the participants. The German SF-DEM is a valid, reliable, and acceptable instrument to assess social functioning in individuals with dementia. Further research should address the psychometric properties in individuals with more severe dementia.

Effects of a multimodal approach to food art therapy on people with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia.

Food art therapy (FAT) has multiple modalities in which cognition, emotion, and social changes are stimulated. The purpose of this study was to design a multimodal approach to a food art therapy (MM-FAT) program and identify its effects on cognitive ability, daily living functioning, depression, self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-expression, and social functioning in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia by employing a mixed methods research design. The participants included 39 patients from a public dementia care centre in Seoul, Korea. The intervention group, which comprised 20 participants, received 12 MM-FAT sessions 3 times a week for 4 weeks, and the control group, which included 19 participants, received usual care. The MM-FAT program was evaluated based on its effectiveness on cognitive, daily living, emotional, and social functioning outcome measures at three time points using repeated measures analysis of variance. Semi-structured interviews (n=9) were conducted to evaluate the overall experience of the MM-FAT program and its outcomes. The findings reveal that MM-FAT has a positive effect on the cognitive, emotional, and social functioning of individuals with MCI and mild dementia. However, there were no enhancements in individuals' daily living functioning, and the lasting effects of the intervention could not be assessed. Cognition and depression increased significantly at the end of the MM-FAT program. Self-expression and self-efficacy were significantly higher in the MM-FAT group than in the control group. The semi-structured interviews revealed improvements in participants' behaviour, communication, and interaction. This mixed methods study focused on individuals with MCI or mild dementia contributes to an understanding of the effectiveness of a FAT program employing a multimodal approach. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the study was able to enrich the effects of MM-FAT on cognitive, emotional, and social functioning through qualitative findings.

Equine-Assisted Therapy with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Serbia and the United States: A Pilot Intervention

Adolescent and young adults with a diagnosed autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the severe to moderate functioning range were recruited for this study in Serbia and the United States (U.S.). A total of ten participants, five from each respective country, participated in a 15- week equine-assisted therapy (EAT) intervention that utilized ground-based learning through a manualized program approach. The purpose of the study was to test the effects of a manualized 15-week EAT intervention on the social functioning of individuals with severe to moderate ASD across two cultures using a single subject research design. Nine out of 10 participants displayed improved social functioning over the course of the 15- week EAT intervention in both cultures.

Neurophysiological and behavioral effects of multisession prefrontal tDCS and concurrent cognitive remediation training in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A double-blind, randomized controlled fNIRS study

BackgroundThe clinical effects and neurophysiological mechanisms of prefrontal tDCS and concurrent cognitive remediation training in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain unclear. ObjectiveThis two-armed, double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial aimed to investigate the beneficial effects of tDCS combined with concurrent cognitive remediation training on adolescents and young adults with ASD. MethodsParticipants were randomly assigned to either active or sham tDCS groups and received 1.5 mA prefrontal tDCS with left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) cathode placement and right supraorbital region anode placement for 20 minutes over two consecutive weeks. tDCS was delivered concurrently with a computerized cognitive remediation training program. Social functioning and its underlying cognitive processes, as well as prefrontal resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC), were measured. ResultsThe results from 41 participants indicated that multisession prefrontal tDCS, compared to sham tDCS, significantly enhanced the social functioning of ASD individuals [F(1,39) = 4.75, p = .035, ηp2 = 0.11]. This improvement was associated with enhanced emotion recognition [F(1,39) = 8.34, p = .006, ηp2 = 0.18] and cognitive flexibility [F(1,39) = 4.91, p = .033, ηp2 = 0.11]. Specifically, this tDCS protocol optimized information processing efficiency [F(1,39) = 4.43, p = .042, ηp2 = 0.10], and the optimization showed a trend to be associated with enhanced rsFC in the right medial prefrontal cortex (ρ = 0.339, pFDR = .083). ConclusionMultisession tDCS with left dlPFC cathode placement and right supraorbital region anode placement paired with concurrent cognitive remediation training promoted social functioning in individuals with ASD. This appeared to be associated with the enhancement of the functional connectivity of the right medial PFC, a major hub for flexible social information processing, allowing these individuals to process information more efficiently in response to different social situations. Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT03814083)

Greater Social Competence Is Associated With Higher Interpersonal Neural Synchrony in Adolescents With Autism.

Difficulty engaging in reciprocal social interactions is a core characteristic of autism spectrum disorder. The mechanisms supporting effective dynamic real-time social exchanges are not yet well understood. This proof-of-concept hyperscanning electroencephalography study examined neural synchrony as the mechanism supporting interpersonal social interaction in 34 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (50% female), age 10–16 years, paired with neurotypical confederates of similar age. The degree of brain-to-brain neural synchrony was quantified at temporo-parietal scalp locations as the circular correlation of oscillatory amplitudes in theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands while the participants engaged in a friendly conversation. In line with the hypotheses, interpersonal neural synchrony was significantly greater during the social interaction compared to the baseline. Lower levels of synchrony were associated with increased behavioral symptoms of social difficulties. With regard to sex differences, we found evidence for stronger interpersonal neural synchrony during conversation than baseline in females with autism, but not in male participants, for whom such condition differences did not reach statistical significance. This study established the feasibility of hyperscanning during real-time social interactions as an informative approach to examine social competence in autism, demonstrated that neural coordination of activity between the interacting brains may contribute to social behavior, and offered new insights into sex-related variability in social functioning in individuals with autism spectrum disorders.