Social synchronization during joint attention in children with autism spectrum disorder

Interpersonal synchronization: An overlooked factor in development, social cognition, and psychopathology

Intact social functioning relies on a combination of explicit and implicit behavioral, attentional, and interpersonal processes referred to as "social cognition". Characterizing these interpersonal processes forms a critical underpinning to understanding and treating psychopathology, particularly in disorders where deficits in social functioning do not emerge as a secondary symptom but rather as an essential feature of the disorder. Two of such disorders are autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ). However, despite the substantial overlap in the features of social dysfunction between ASD and SZ, including social cognitive deficits in theory of mind, perspective-taking, and empathy, there is a limited understanding of the mechanisms underlying those shared deficits, and how to treat them. We suggest that disruptions of interpersonal functioning emerge over the course of development, and that interpersonal synchronization, a phenomenon in which behavioral and physiological cues align between interacting partners, forms a critical component of social cognition that underlies the disruption in social functioning in ASD and SZ. We present a conceptual review of typical and atypical development of social processes and highlight the role of interpersonal synchronization across the course of development. Then, we review the existing evidence suggesting impairments in both the intentional and spontaneous synchronization of interpersonal processes in ASD and SZ, as well as studies suggesting that interpersonal synchronization and clinical symptoms may be improved through body-oriented interventions within these disorders. Finally, we suggest potential mechanisms that may underpin typical and atypical development of interpersonal synchronization.

Effects of Using Prompts During Parent-Child Shared Reading on the Language Development of Mildly Autistic Children

The use of literal prompts (LPs) and inferential prompts (IPs) in shared book reading (SBR) facilitates children's use of language and promotes their thinking and understanding about the stories discussed and beyond. Furthermore, SBR provides a platform for mildly autistic children to have multiple rounds of communication with educators. This study investigated the contribution of LPs and IPs on the language development and affective factors of language learning in mildly autistic children. This study included 187 mildly autistic Chinese children who were stratified by random sampling and assigned into three groups (LP, IP and control). The mildly autistic children's language skills were tested immediately before and after the 12-week SBR intervention. Their parents were also included in this study. The results indicated that using prompts had positive effects on the mildly autistic children's language skills and on the affective factors central to language development. Moreover, LPs were beneficial in fostering mildly autistic children's affective factor development, whilst IPs fostered their Chinese word reading and listening comprehension skills. These findings indicated the benefits of using prompts during parent-child SBR, along with the extent to which prompts contribute to different language skills and affective factors central to language development in mildly autistic children.

Disrupted Human-Dog Interbrain Neural Coupling in Autism-Associated Shank3 Mutant Dogs

Dogs interact with humans effectively and intimately. However, the neural underpinnings for such interspecies social communication are not understood. It is known that interbrain activity coupling, i.e., the synchronization of neural activity between individuals, represents the neural basis of social interactions. Here, previously unknown cross-species interbrain activity coupling in interacting human-dog dyads is reported. By analyzing electroencephalography signals from both dogs and humans, it is found that mutual gaze and petting induce interbrain synchronization in the frontal and parietal regions of the human-dog dyads, respectively. The strength of the synchronization increases with growing familiarity of the human-dog dyad over five days, and the information flow analysis suggests that the human is the leader while the dog is the follower during human-dog interactions. Furthermore, dogs with Shank3 mutations, which represent a promising complementary animal model of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), show a loss of interbrain coupling and reduced attention during human-dog interactions. Such abnormalities are rescued by the psychedelic lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). The results reveal previously unknown interbrain synchronizations within an interacting human-dog dyad which may underlie the interspecies communication, and suggest a potential of LSD for the amelioration of social impairment in patients with ASD.

Sharing Our World: Impact of Group Motor Skill Learning on Joint Attention in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Impaired joint attention is a common feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), affecting social interaction and communication. We explored if group basketball learning could enhance joint attention in autistic children, and how this relates to brain changes, particularly white matter development integrity. Forty-nine autistic children, aged 4-12 years, were recruited from special education centers. The experimental group underwent a 12-week basketball motor skill learning, while the control group received standard care. Eye-tracking and brain scans were conducted. The 12-week basketball motor skill learning improved joint attention in the experimental group, evidenced by better eye tracking metrics and enhanced white matter integrity. Moreover, reduced time to first fixation correlated positively with decreased mean diffusivity of the left superior corona radiata and left superior fronto-occipital fasciculus in the experimental group. Basketball-based motor skill intervention effectively improved joint attention in autistic children. Improved white matter fiber integrity related to sensory perception, spatial and early attention function may underlie this effect. These findings highlight the potential of group motor skill learning within clinical rehabilitation for treating ASD.

Interpersonal motor synchrony in autism: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

Interpersonal motor synchrony (IMS) is the spontaneous, voluntary, or instructed coordination of movements between interacting partners. Throughout the life cycle, it shapes social exchanges and interplays with intra- and inter-individual characteristics that may diverge in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Here we perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the extant literature and quantify the evidence about reduced IMS in dyads including at least one participant with a diagnosis of ASD.

Methods

Empirical evidence from sixteen experimental studies was systematically reviewed, encompassing spontaneous and instructed paradigms as well as a paucity of measures used to assess IMS. Of these, thirteen studies (n = 512 dyads) contributed measures of IMS with an in situ neurotypical partner (TD) for ASD and control groups, which could be used for meta-analyses.

Results

Reduced synchronization in ASD-TD dyads emerged from both the systematic review and meta-analyses, although both small and large effect sizes (i.e., Hedge's g) in favor of the control group are consistent with the data (Hedge's g = .85, p < 0.001, 95% CI[.35, 1.35], 95% PI[-.89, 2.60]).

Discussion

Uncertainty is discussed relative to the type of task, measures, and age range considered in each study. We further discuss that sharing similar experiences of the world might help to synchronize with one another. Future studies should not only assess whether reduced IMS is consistently observed in ASD-TD dyads and how this shapes social exchanges, but also explore whether and how ASD-ASD dyads synchronize during interpersonal exchanges.

Synchronization of a higher-order network of Rulkov maps

In neuronal network analysis on, for example, synchronization, it has been observed that the influence of interactions between pairwise nodes is essential. This paper further reveals that there exist higher-order interactions among multi-node simplicial complexes. Using a neuronal network of Rulkov maps, the impact of such higher-order interactions on network synchronization is simulated and analyzed. The results show that multi-node interactions can considerably enhance the Rulkov network synchronization, better than pairwise interactions, for involving more and more neurons in the network.

The Components of Interpersonal Synchrony in the Typical Population and in Autism: A Conceptual Analysis

Interpersonal synchrony - the tendency for social partners to temporally co-ordinate their behaviour when interacting - is a ubiquitous feature of social interactions. Synchronous interactions play a key role in development, and promote social bonding and a range of pro-social behavioural outcomes across the lifespan. The process of achieving and maintaining interpersonal synchrony is highly complex, with inputs required from across perceptual, temporal, motor, and socio-cognitive domains. In this conceptual analysis, we synthesise evidence from across these domains to establish the key components underpinning successful non-verbal interpersonal synchrony, how such processes interact, and factors that may moderate their operation. We also consider emerging evidence that interpersonal synchrony is reduced in autistic populations. We use our account of the components contributing to interpersonal synchrony in the typical population to identify potential points of divergence in interpersonal synchrony in autism. The relationship between interpersonal synchrony and broader aspects of social communication in autism are also considered, together with implications for future research.

Synchronization in Hindmarsh-Rose neurons subject to higher-order interactions

Higher-order interactions might play a significant role in the collective dynamics of the brain. With this motivation, we here consider a simplicial complex of neurons, in particular, studying the effects of pairwise and three-body interactions on the emergence of synchronization. We assume pairwise interactions to be mediated through electrical synapses, while for second-order interactions, we separately study diffusive coupling and nonlinear chemical coupling. For all the considered cases, we derive the necessary conditions for synchronization by means of linear stability analysis, and we compute the synchronization errors numerically. Our research shows that the second-order interactions, even if of weak strength, can lead to synchronization under significantly lower first-order coupling strengths. Moreover, the overall synchronization cost is reduced due to the introduction of three-body interactions if compared to pairwise interactions.