Aberrant Neural Activation Underlying Idiom Comprehension in Korean Children with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

PurposeAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social communication impairments and repetitive behaviors or restricted interests. Impaired pragmatic language comprehension is a universal feature in individuals with ASD. However, the underlying neural basis of pragmatic language is poorly understood. In the present study, we examined neural activation patterns associated with impaired pragmatic language comprehension in ASD, compared to typically developing children (TDC).Materials and MethodsFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was applied to 15 children with ASD and 18 TDC using the Korean pragmatic language task.ResultsChildren with ASD were less accurate than TDC at comprehending idioms, particularly when they were required to interpret idioms with mismatched images (mismatched condition). Children with ASD also showed different patterns of neural activity than TDC in all three conditions (neutral, matched, and mismatched). Specifically, children with ASD showed decreased activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) (Brodmann area 47) in the mismatched condition, compared with TDC (IFG; t(31)=3.17, p<0.001).ConclusionThese results suggest that children with ASD face difficulties in comprehending pragmatic expressions and apply different pragmatic language processes at the neural level.

Extending the Field of Extended Language: A Literature Review on Figurative Language Processing in Neurodevelopmental Disorders

“…In addition, and as expected, in the mismatched condition, the individuals with ASD showed significantly decreased right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) activity and less accuracy in their responses to the idiomatic task. Other research studies have presented strong evidence supporting the premise of the implication of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in pragmatic skills and have considered it a major component of the "mirror neuron" functioning (Kim et al, 2018;Carr et al, 2003;Shamay-Tsoory et al, 2009). The justification behind this is that as human beings, we learn pragmatic skills and we develop them through social communicative situations and imitations, and if the brain area responsible for imitation works differently on a physiological level for the individuals in the ASD group, then it is no surprise that they would perform worse in idiomatic tasks than their typically developing peers.…”

“…Another MRI study supporting an atypical brain cortical activation in individuals with ASD while processing idioms is the one by Kim et al (2018). They conducted a comparative study between ASD and TD individuals.…”

“…In the matched condition, no significant difference in accuracy was observed. However, the ASD group showed less cortical activity, concretely in the bilateral ventral stream area (VSA), which is responsible for visual reading (Kim et al, 2018;McCandliss et al, 2003;Dehaene et al, 2010;Cohen and Dehaene, 2004;. The authors explained that this might be due to the atypical and unique neural network in idiomatic processing that ASD individuals have.…”

The Elephant in the Room: A Systematic Review of Stimulus Control in Neuro-Measurement Studies on Figurative Language Processing

“…The majority of papers report on research conducted with psychologically healthy adults (n = 104). The remaining studies examined patients with autism spectrum disorder (Chouinard et al, 2017;Kim et al, 2018), with schizophrenia (Iakimova et al, 2005;Kircher et al, 2007;Mashal et al, 2013Mashal et al, , 2014Straube et al, 2013Straube et al, , 2014Zeev-Wolf et al, 2015;Adamczyk et al, 2021), with traumatic brain injury (Yang et al, 2010), and children with developmental language disorders and non-verbal learning disabilities (Lorusso et al, 2015).…”

“Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test”: Translated and Korean Versions

“…Possessing high levels of ToM is advantageous for achieving one’s goal by grasping the other person’s intentions and adequately responding in social interactions [ 4 ]. Conversely, ToM deficit was strongly associated with social dysfunction in the clinical population [ 5 - 8 ].…”