Abnormal Activation of the Social Brain Network in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An fMRI Study

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to investigate abnormal findings of social brain network in Korean children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with typically developing children (TDC).MethodsFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed to examine brain activations during the processing of emotional faces (happy, fearful, and neutral) in 17 children with ASD, 24 TDC.ResultsWhen emotional face stimuli were given to children with ASD, various areas of the social brain relevant to social cognition showed reduced activation. Specifically, ASD children exhibited less activation in the right amygdala (AMY), right superior temporal sulcus (STS) and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) than TDC group when fearful faces were shown. Activation of left insular cortex and right IFG in response to happy faces was less in the ASD group. Similar findings were also found in left superior insular gyrus and right insula in case of neutral stimulation.ConclusionThese findings suggest that children with ASD have different processing of social and emotional experience at the neural level. In other words, the deficit of social cognition in ASD could be explained by the deterioration of the capacity for visual analysis of emotional faces, the subsequent inner imitation through mirror neuron system (MNS), and the ability to transmit it to the limbic system and to process the transmitted emotion.

Hypersensitivity to low intensity fearful faces in autism when fixation is constrained to the eyes

“…Similarly, in this study, no group differences in STS/TPJ activation were observed. In contrast to our results, most previous studies that did not constrain fixation on the eye region [Ashwin et al, 2006;Baron-Cohen et al, 1999;Critchley et al, 2000b;Pelphrey et al, 2002] but see [Kim et al, 2015] found an over-activation of the STS/TPJ in people with ASD. The STS/TPJ is involved in perspective taking [Ruby and Decety, 2003], empathy [Jackson et al, 2006;Lamm et al, 2007], and theory of mind [Lawrence et al, 2006;Saxe and Wexler, 2005], and the abnormal activation of this region in people with ASD when eyes are not fixated may be linked to their deficits in those domains.…”

“…and (4) ASD participants do not differ from controls in the FFA activation when constrained to look in the eye region. The deficits in social skills of people with ASD have been linked to their impairment in reading others' emotions [Harms et al, 2010] and to their abnormal social brain network activation in response to facial emotion [Ashwin et al, 2007;Critchley et al, 2000b;Dalton et al, 2005;Dapretto et al, 2006;Kim et al, 2015;Monk et al, 2010;Pelphrey et al, 2002]. Many past studies have found that those with ASD hypoactivated critical regions of the social brain such as the amygdala and the FFA when watching emotional faces [Ashwin et al, 2007;Critchley et al, 2000a;Dapretto et al, 2006;Kim et al, 2015;Pelphrey et al, 2002].…”

Role of the oxytocin system in amygdala subregions in the regulation of social interest in male and female rats

“…Importantly, the idea that the amygdala may be a site for sex-specific action of OT could be of relevance for the treatment of sex-biased psychiatric disorders of social dysfunction. Indeed, altered amygdala functioning is a main characteristic of autism spectrum, social anxiety, and borderline personality disorders (Baron-Cohen et al, 2000; Kleinhans et al, 2016; Kim et al, 2015; Evans et al, 2008; Goldin et al, 2009; Bruhl et al, 2014; Donegan et al, 2003; Herpertz et al, 2001) and has been found to be normalized in response to intranasal OT (Domes et al, 2013; Bertsch et al, 2013; Labuschagne et al, 2010). Therefore, it is imperative to further understand the sex-specific role of the OT system in the amygdala and its subregions in the regulation of social behavior in both rodents and humans.…”

Autism Spectrum Disorders: Translating human deficits into mouse behavior

“…Recently, reduced activation of the brain area relevant for social recognition has been observed in children with ASDs, suggesting impairment in the capacity for visual analysis of human faces (Kim et al, 2015). At a therapeutic level, several strategies to improve social skills have been used, including video modeling, self-management, social stories and pivotal response training with highly satisfactory improvements (Camargo et al, 2014).…”