Impaired theory of mind but intact decision-making in Asperger syndrome: Implications for the relationship between these cognitive domains

Torralva, Teresa; Gleichgerrcht, Ezequiel; Roca, María; Ibáñez, Agustín; Marenco, Victoria; Rattazzi, Alexia; Manes, Facundo

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2012.08.023

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The majority of studies that have investigated attentional shifting ability in ASD are grounded in the Executive Dysfunction Theory (Hill, 2004;Ozonoff & Jensen, 1999;Ozonoff, Pennington, & Rogers, 1991;Russell, 1997). The performance of cognitive and attentional shifting, as measured by the TMT B, seems to be compromised in individuals with AS (Torralva et al, 2013).…”

Section: Attentional Functions and Perceptual Abilitiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Attentional abilities and shifting. Only few studies have evaluated attention abilities in Asperger Syndrome (Hill & Bird, 2006;Towgood, Meuwese, Gilbert, Turner & Burgess 2009;Kleinhans et al, 2005;Torralva et al, 2013). AS attentional and visual scanning abilities seem to be better than the High-Functioning autism individuals (Kleinhans et al, 2005): both on Processing Speed factor scale (WAIS-III) and Processing Speed Index score (WAIS IV) patients with AS show to be faster than HF (Spek, Scholte, & van Berckelaer-Onnes, 2011;Holdnack et al, 2011).…”

Section: Attentional Functions and Perceptual Abilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Neuropsychological aspects of Asperger Syndrome in adults: a review

Brighenti¹,

Schintu²,

Liloia³

et al. 2018

Neuropsychological Trends

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite distinctive clinical characteristics, Asperger Syndrome (AS) is actually included in the broad spectrum of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Usually, to evaluate AS in adulthood, diagnostic tools are referred to autistic traits; furthermore, AS' neuropsychological profile features are still unclear. The aim of the present review is to shed light on the cognitive characteristics of adults with AS. Limited number of studies have investigated the neuropsychological profile of adults with AS: individuals with AS have intellectual abilities in the normal range and show strengths in verbal memory, inhibitory control and decision making. Disagreement exists about the presence of deficits in attentional functions, visual-spatial memory, cognitive flexibility, planning and verbal fluency. The present work underlines the need for a neuropsychological assessment in order to delineate the cognitive profile of adults with AS, which could help in the diagnosis of AS in adulthood and to design rehabilitative protocols.

show abstract

Section: Attentional Functions and Perceptual Abilitiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Attentional Functions and Perceptual Abilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuropsychological aspects of Asperger Syndrome in adults: a review

Brighenti¹,

Schintu²,

Liloia³

et al. 2018

Neuropsychological Trends

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…ASD adults show substantial variability in performance on neuropsychological batteries, with performance ranging from normative levels to marked impairments on par with deficits observed in schizophrenia (Mesholam-Gately et al ., 2009). Numerous investigations indicate that, compared to normal controls, ASD adults demonstrate poorer performance in processing speed (David et al ., 2008; Holdnack et al ., 2011; Fried et al ., 2016), attention/vigilance (Ambery et al ., 2006; Fried et al ., 2016), verbal fluency (Ambery et al ., 2006; Bramham et al ., 2009), working memory (Holdnack et al ., 2011; Fried et al ., 2016), verbal learning/memory (Sumiyoshi et al ., 2011), visual learning/memory (Ambery et al ., 2006), and reasoning/problem solving (Ambery et al ., 2006; Bramham et al ., 2009; Altgassen et al ., 2012; Torralva et al ., 2013; Wilson et al ., 2014; Fried et al ., 2016; Otsuka et al ., 2017), consistent with leading theories of ASD as a disorder of complex information processing (Minshew and Goldstein, 1998). On the other hand, the development and widespread implementation of a cognitive battery, the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB; Nuechterlein et al ., 2008) has enabled standardized treatment evaluation of cognitive outcomes in schizophrenia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transdiagnostic validity of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery across the autism-schizophrenia spectrum

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia are neurodevelopmental disorders which share substantial overlap in cognitive deficits during adulthood. However, treatment evaluation in ASD and treatment comparisons across ASD and schizophrenia are limited by a dearth of empirical work establishing the validity of a standard cognitive battery across ASD and schizophrenia. Promisingly, the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) has been validated in schizophrenia and encompasses cognitive domains that are impacted in ASD. Thus, this study aimed to establish MCCB's generalizability from schizophrenia to ASD.MethodsCommunity-residing adults with schizophrenia (N = 100) and ASD (N = 113) underwent MCCB assessment. Using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, MCCB's transdiagnostic validity was evaluated by examining whether schizophrenia and ASD demonstrate the same configuration, magnitude, and directionality of relationships within and among measures and their underlying cognitive domains.ResultsAcross schizophrenia and ASD, the same subsets of MCCB measures inform three cognitive domains: processing speed, attention/working memory, and learning. Except for group means in category fluency, continuous performance, and spatial span, both groups show vastly comparable factor structures and characteristics.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this study is the first to establish the validity of a standard cognitive battery in adults with ASD and furthermore the first to establish a cognitive battery's comparability across ASD and schizophrenia. Cognitive domain scores can be compared across new samples using weighted sums of MCCB scores resulting from this study. These findings highlight MCCB's applicability to ASD and support its utility for standardizing treatment evaluation of cognitive outcomes across the autism-schizophrenia spectrum.

show abstract

“…Nonetheless, faced with a complex emotionally charged social situation those with AS show reduced expressed or intuitive empathy (Grove et al 2014) and have difficulties identifying complex social emotions (Wright et al 2008). They may go through continual cognitive reappraisal (Hadjikhani et al 2014;Torralva et al 2013) and depend on logic (Hill, Sally, and Frith 2004) to search for appropriate ways to respond, which can lead to an apparent lack of caring (Hadjikhani et al 2014). Though not lacking in pro-social motivation the strategy of pro-social engagement associated with AS becomes distinctive, and in turn leads to suitability for certain roles.…”

Section: Autism Without Intellectual Impairment Is Associated With Vamentioning

confidence: 99%

Are there alternative adaptive strategies to human pro-sociality? The role of collaborative morality in the emergence of personality variation and autistic traits

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Selection pressures to better understand others' thoughts and feelings are seen as a primary driving force in human cognitive evolution. Yet might the evolution of social cognition be more complex than we assume, with more than one strategy towards social understanding and developing a positive pro-social reputation? Here we argue that social buffering of vulnerabilities through the emergence of collaborative morality will have opened new niches for adaptive cognitive strategies and widened personality variation. Such strategies include those that that do not depend on astute social perception or abilities to think recursively about others' thoughts and feelings. We particularly consider how a perceptual style based on logic and detail, bringing certain enhanced technical and social abilities which compensate for deficits in complex social understanding could be advantageous at low levels in certain ecological and cultural contexts. 'Traits of autism' may have promoted innovation in archaeological material culture during the late Palaeolithic in the context of the mutual interdependence of different social strategies, which in turn contributed to the rise of innovation and large scale social networks. ARTICLE HISTORY

show abstract

Impaired theory of mind but intact decision-making in Asperger syndrome: Implications for the relationship between these cognitive domains

Cited by 20 publications

References 20 publications

Neuropsychological aspects of Asperger Syndrome in adults: a review

Neuropsychological aspects of Asperger Syndrome in adults: a review

Transdiagnostic validity of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery across the autism-schizophrenia spectrum

Are there alternative adaptive strategies to human pro-sociality? The role of collaborative morality in the emergence of personality variation and autistic traits

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About