Quantitative Analysis of Motor Behavior in Adults with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an umbrella term for a range of conditions that share core symptoms such as restricted interests, repetitive behaviors and deficits in social interaction and communication. Motor impairments in ASD have been investigated mainly in children and adolescents. Although the results are equivocal, some researchers proposed motor impairments to be a core symptom of ASD. Research in adults with ASD remains scarce, but existing evidence suggests that an age-related decrease in motor symptoms is likely. In addition, the level of functioning may have an influence on motor skills. In the current project, motion capture technology was used to quantify motor behavior of adults with and without high functioning ASD. Participants were recorded (1) while performing neutral walking movements, and (2) while performing mood-influenced everyday activities. The results show no significant differences in walking movements between participants with or without ASD. In contrast, the results of the mood-influenced movements show significant group differences. Together, these results suggest that general motor skills in adults with high functioning ASD are not impaired, while the production of nonverbal bodily cues is significantly different. These bodily cues carry information (e.g. about mood) that are relevant for nonverbal communication. It has been shown that the recognition of perceived movements increases when movements are more similar to the movements of the perceiver. The current results thus show that the difficulties in nonverbal communication between persons with and without ASD may stem from differences in movement profiles.