Reward learning modulates the attentional processing of faces in children with and without autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

In our study, we tested whether the face processing of individuals with ASD could be changed when the faces were associated with different social meanings. We found no effect of social meanings on face recognition, but both groups responded faster in the visual search task when one of the distractor faces was associated with positive or negative values than when the neutral face. The findings suggest that children with ASD could efficiently process faces associated with different values like typical children.

A potential mechanistic role for neuroinflammation in reward processing impairments in autism spectrum disorder

“…Individuals with ASD demonstrate altered effort-based decision making for rewards (Damiano, Aloi, Treadway, Bodfish, & Dichter, 2012;Mosner et al, 2017;Watson et al, 2015). Recent findings also show that individuals with ASD experience difficulty in social reward-based learning (Li et al, 2017). Additionally, social communicative abilities may improve in ASD under optimal motivational conditions Lahaie et al, 2006;Wang, Dapretto, Hariri, Sigman, & Bookheimer, 2004).…”

Establishment of animal models and behavioral studies for autism spectrum disorders

“…has a high degree of genetic conservation and its genome is easily manipulated, making it useful for studying the mechanisms of human neuropsychiatric diseases, including ASD. 24 Zebrafish display social preference and repetitive behaviors, while fruit flies exhibit altered social interactions and communication patterns. Although these behaviors are not identical to human ASD symptoms, they share some resemblance and thus provide a degree of face validity.…”

Mechanisms of impairments in visual social attention in autism spectrum disorders

“…而 催产素和多巴胺相互作用, 共同影响社会动机神经网 络的活动 [56] . 有研究表明, 当注意由社交线索引导时, 正常人的额顶注意网络、视觉加工区域和纹状体的激 活程度会增加, 而ASD群体只有顶上小叶的激活程度 增加, 这说明相较于正常人, ASD患者的大脑对社交 线索没有赋予同等的价值 [57] . 此外, 与正常人群相比, ASD群体在加工愤怒和高兴面孔时, 其颞下回、梭状 回、杏仁核、前脑岛的激活水平更高, 而其前扣带回 的激活程度较低 [12] .…”

“…前脑岛的异常活动会造成孤独症 群体无法理解面孔的社会奖赏价值和显著性, 杏仁核 和前扣带回的异常激活表明该群体加工威胁信息的系 统存在缺陷 [12] . 此外, 对ASD群体进行面孔奖赏价值 训练可以改善他们的面孔加工能力 [58] , 提高面孔的熟 悉程度, 增加ASD儿童对面孔的兴趣和注意 [59] , 其梭 状回的激活程度也得到提高 [60] . 以上研究表明, 相较 于正常人群, 孤独症群体无法获取面孔等社会性刺激 的奖赏价值, 他们的奖赏系统存在缺陷.…”