Identifying Autism from Neural Representations of Social Interactions: Neurocognitive Markers of Autism

Abstract

Autism is a psychiatric/neurological condition in which alterations in social interaction (among other symptoms) are diagnosed by behavioral psychiatric methods. The main goal of this study was to determine how the neural representations and meanings of social concepts (such as to insult) are altered in autism. A second goal was to determine whether these alterations can serve as neurocognitive markers of autism. The approach is based on previous advances in fMRI analysis methods that permit (a) the identification of a concept, such as the thought of a physical object, from its fMRI pattern, and (b) the ability to assess the semantic content of a concept from its fMRI pattern. These factor analysis and machine learning methods were applied to the fMRI activation patterns of 17 adults with high-functioning autism and matched controls, scanned while thinking about 16 social interactions. One prominent neural representation factor that emerged (manifested mainly in posterior midline regions) was related to self-representation, but this factor was present only for the control participants, and was near-absent in the autism group. Moreover, machine learning algorithms classified individuals as autistic or control with 97% accuracy from their fMRI neurocognitive markers. The findings suggest that psychiatric alterations of thought can begin to be biologically understood by assessing the form and content of the altered thought’s underlying brain activation patterns.

Reduced cortical thickness and its association with social reactivity in children with autism spectrum disorder

“…The finding of varying relationships between subjects with ASD and HC with regard to social processing is in line with the findings of Just et al (2014) who noted differences in neural activation patterns associated with social interaction between adult subjects with HFA and HC. They demonstrated a lack of neural activity in posterior cingulate regions and the precuneus during the presentation of social interaction tasks in subjects with ASD, a pattern highly evident in HC (Just et al, 2014).…”

“…They demonstrated a lack of neural activity in posterior cingulate regions and the precuneus during the presentation of social interaction tasks in subjects with ASD, a pattern highly evident in HC (Just et al, 2014).…”

Commonality of neural representations of sentences across languages: Predicting brain activation during Portuguese sentence comprehension using an English-based model of brain function

“…Martin, Wiggs, Ungerleider, & Haxby, 1996), concrete objects (Just et al, 2010), social interactions (e.g. Just, Cherkassky, Buchweitz, Keller, & Mitchell, 2014;Rilling, Sanfey, Aronson, Nystrom, & Cohen, 2004;Schilbach, 2015;Schilbach et al, 2006;Van der Cruyssen, Heleven, Ma, Vandekerckhove, & Van Overwalle, 2014), shelter (e.g. Huth, Nishimoto, Vu, & Gallant, 2012;Just, Cherkassky, Aryal, & Mitchell, 2010;Rustandi, Just, & Mitchell, 2009), tools (e.g.…”

Clinical Roundup: Selected Treatment Options for Autism

“…Treatment with melatonin has a clear physiologic rationale; use of melatonin is sensible, easy, inexpensive, and safe. 10 It is extremely crucial to do an assessment of what therapies a child is receiving and what that child's struggles are, and to ensure that the therapy and the therapist are the best fit for that child's individual struggle. On the biologic side, my job as a physician is to remove physical obstacles to effective treatment, whether these are gastroenterologic, neurologic, or nutritional.…”

“…A recent small study validated this patient's feelings. 10 By using functional MRI to measure brain-activation patterns of adults with high-functioning autism and matched controls in various social situations, researchers found that the adults with autism lacked a "self factor" (i.e., they viewed themselves as spectators in the experience of social interactions). 10 Although this study clearly has limitations because of the small population studied, this research can help us understand and reach people further in this population who need our assistance.…”