The Cognitive Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorders

National Institute Of Mental Health

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

This past year we have continued to evaluate the neural and behavioral characteristics of high-functioning individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We have been particularly interested in evaluating the role played by aberrant communication between the cerebral hemispheres for understanding social communication difficulties in ASD participants. In one study we re-analyzed fMRI data obtained for relatively large groups of ASD and typically developing (TD) individuals (70 participants in each group). We tested several models that have been offered to explain findings of reduced hemispheric laterality in ASD. By comparing patterns of neural circuitry within and between the left and right cerebral hemispheres while the subjects rested comfortably in the scanner, we were able to show that reduced laterality in social communication brain regions is due to the two hemispheres functioning more independently in ASD than in TD individuals (Persichetti et al., Journal of Neuroscience, 2022). Additional support for this idea was obtained in a more naturalistic brain imaging study that evaluated the neural circuitry in ASD individuals while they were engaged in spontaneous conversation. The results of this study showed that the strength of the interaction between the left and right hemispheres was directly related to the quality of the communications in the ASD individuals. The stronger the interaction, the more their communication skills approach those of the TD control subjects (Jasmin et al., Scientific Reports, 2023). These studies are beginning to reveal the neural bases of difficulties in social communication that are a major hallmark and defining symptom of ASD.