Atypical brain activation patterns during a face-to-face joint attention game in adults with autism spectrum disorder
Open Access
- 16 April 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Human Brain Mapping
- Vol. 34 (10), 2511-2523
- https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.22086
Abstract
Joint attention behaviors include initiating one's own and responding to another's bid for joint attention to an object, person, or topic. Joint attention abilities in autism are pervasively atypical, correlate with development of language and social abilities, and discriminate children with autism from other developmental disorders. Despite the importance of these behaviors, the neural correlates of joint attention in individuals with autism remain unclear. This paucity of data is likely due to the inherent challenge of acquiring data during a real‐time social interaction. We used a novel experimental set‐up in which participants engaged with an experimenter in an interactive face‐to‐face joint attention game during fMRI data acquisition. Both initiating and responding to joint attention behaviors were examined as well as a solo attention (SA) control condition. Participants included adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (n = 13), a mean age‐ and sex‐matched neurotypical group (n = 14), and a separate group of neurotypical adults (n = 22). Significant differences were found between groups within social‐cognitive brain regions, including dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) and right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), during the RJA as compared to SA conditions. Region‐of‐interest analyses revealed a lack of signal differentiation between joint attention and control conditions within left pSTS and dMPFC in individuals with ASD. Within the pSTS, this lack of differentiation was characterized by reduced activation during joint attention and relative hyper‐activation during SA. These findings suggest a possible failure of developmental neural specialization within the STS and dMPFC to joint attention in ASD. Hum Brain Mapp 34:2511–2523, 2013.Keywords
This publication has 62 references indexed in Scilit:
- Recruitment of Both the Mirror and the Mentalizing Networks When Observing Social Interactions Depicted by Point-Lights: A Neuroimaging StudyPLOS ONE, 2011
- Patterns of growth in verbal abilities among children with autism spectrum disorder.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2007
- School-aged children exhibit domain-specific responses to biological motionSocial Neuroscience, 2006
- Joint attention and children with autism: A review of the literatureMental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 2004
- Why is joint attention a pivotal skill in autism?Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 2003
- The importance of eyes: How infants interpret adult looking behavior.Developmental Psychology, 2002
- Links between Social Understanding and Early Word Learning: Challenges to Current AccountsSocial Development, 2001
- The Psychophysics ToolboxSpatial Vision, 1997
- AFNI: Software for Analysis and Visualization of Functional Magnetic Resonance NeuroimagesComputers and Biomedical Research, 1996
- Perceptual role taking and protodeclarative pointing in autismBritish Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1989