Interpersonal Synchrony in Autism

Processing of visual social-communication cues during a social-perception of action task in autistic and non-autistic observers

Social perception and communication differ between those with and without autism, even when verbal fluency and intellectual ability are equated. Previous work found that observers responded more quickly to an actor's points if the actor had chosen by themselves where to point instead of being directed where to point. Notably, this 'choice-advantage' effect decreased across non-autistic participants as the number of autistic-like traits and tendencies increased (Pesquita et al., 2016). Here, we build on that work using the same task to study individuals over a broader range of the spectrum, from autistic to non-autistic, measuring both response initiation and mouse movement times, and considering the response to each actor separately. Autistic and non-autistic observers viewed videos of three different actors pointing to one of two locations, without knowing that the actors were sometimes freely choosing to point to one target and other times being directed where to point. All observers exhibited a choice-advantage overall, meaning they responded more rapidly when actors were freely choosing versus when they were directed, indicating a sensitivity to the actors' postural cues and movements. Our fine-grained analyses found a more robust choice-advantage to some actors than others, with autistic observers showing a choice-advantage only in response to one of the actors, suggesting that both actor and observer characteristics influence the overall effect. We briefly explore existing actor characteristics that may have contributed to this effect, finding that both duration of exposure to pre-movement cues and kinematic cues of the actors likely influence the choice advantage to different degrees across the groups. Altogether, the evidence suggested that both autistic and non-autistic individuals could detect the choice-advantage signal, but that for autistic observers the choice-advantage was actor specific. Notably, we found that the influence of the signal, when present, was detected early for all actors by the non-autistic observers, but detected later and only for one actor by the autistic observers. Altogether, we have more accurately characterized the ability of social-perception in autistic individuals as intact, but highlighted that detection of signal is likely delayed/distributed compared to non-autistic observers and that it is important to investigate actor characteristics that may influence detection and use of their social-perception signals.

How and Why People Synchronize: An Integrated Perspective

Academic AbstractInterpersonal synchrony, the alignment of behavior and/or physiology during interactions, is a pervasive phenomenon observed in diverse social contexts. Here we synthesize across contexts and behaviors to classify the different forms and functions of synchrony. We provide a concise framework for classifying the manifold forms of synchrony along six dimensions: periodicity, discreteness, spatial similarity, directionality, leader-follower dynamics, and observability. We also distill the various proposed functions of interpersonal synchrony into four interconnected functions: reducing complexity and improving understanding, accomplishing joint tasks, strengthening social connection, and influencing partners' behavior. These functions derive from first principles, emerge from each other, and are accomplished by some forms of synchrony more than others. Effective synchrony flexibly adapts to social goals and more synchrony is not always better. Our synthesis offers a shared framework and language for the field, allowing for better cross-context and cross-behavior comparisons, generating new hypotheses, and highlighting future research directions.

Auditory feedback decreases timing variability for discontinuous and continuous motor tasks in autistic adults

Introduction

Autistic individuals demonstrate greater variability and timing error in their motor performance than neurotypical individuals, likely due at least in part to atypical cerebellar characteristics and connectivity. These motor difficulties may differentially affect discrete as opposed to continuous movements in autistic individuals. Augmented auditory feedback has the potential to aid motor timing and variability due to intact auditory-motor pathways in autism and high sensitivity in autistic individuals to auditory stimuli.

Methods

This experiment investigated whether there were differences in timing accuracy and variability in autistic adults as a function of task (discontinuous vs. continuous movements) and condition (augmented auditory feedback vs. no auditory feedback) in a synchronization-continuation paradigm. Ten autistic young adults aged 17-27 years of age completed the within-subjects study that involved drawing circles at 800 milliseconds intervals on a touch screen. In the discontinuous task, participants traced a series of discrete circles and paused at the top of each circle for at least 60 milliseconds. In the continuous task, participants traced the circles without pausing. Participants traced circles in either a non-auditory condition, or an auditory condition in which they heard a tone each time that they completed a circle drawing.

Results

Participants had significantly better timing accuracy on the continuous timing task as opposed to the discontinuous task. Timing consistency was significantly higher for tasks performed with auditory feedback.

Discussion

This research reveals that motor difficulties in autistic individuals affect discrete timing tasks more than continuous tasks, and provides evidence that augmented auditory feedback may be able to mitigate some of the timing variability present in autistic persons' movements. These results provide support for future investigation on the use of music-based therapies involving auditory feedback to address motor dysfunction in autistic individuals.

Smiling synchronization predicts interaction enjoyment in peer dyads of autistic and neurotypical youth

LAY ABSTRACT

For autistic and neurotypical youth, having positive social interactions with other youth is an important part of well-being. Other researchers have found that one factor that can make people feel like social interactions have gone well is synchronization. Synchronization happens when peoples' body movements and facial expressions align while they're interacting. We focus on smiling synchronization here because other studies have found that when neurotypical individuals synchronize their smiles more in a social interaction, they say they enjoy that social interaction more. However, no studies have directly tested whether smiling synchrony influences social interaction enjoyment in autistic and neurotypical youth. We measured smiling synchrony in pairs of interacting autistic and neurotypical youth who were meeting each other for the first time. Some pairs were autistic youth interacting with other autistic youth (autistic with autistic participant pairs), some pairs were autistic youth interacting with neurotypical youth (autistic with neurotypical participant pairs), and other pairs were neurotypical youth interacting with neurotypical youth (neurotypical with neurotypical participant pairs). We found that autistic with neurotypical participant pairs had lower smiling synchrony than neurotypical with neurotypical participant pairs. Youth who were in dyads that had more smiling synchrony said they enjoyed interacting with their partner more and that they wanted to interact with their partner again. Our research shows that smiling synchrony is one part of interactions between autistic and neurotypical youth that influences how well youth say the interaction went. Identifying natural opportunities for autistic and neurotypical youth to share positive feelings could be one way to promote positive social interactions between autistic and neurotypical youth.

Interpersonal neural synchrony and mental disorders: unlocking potential pathways for clinical interventions

Introduction

Interpersonal synchronization involves the alignment of behavioral, affective, physiological, and brain states during social interactions. It facilitates empathy, emotion regulation, and prosocial commitment. Mental disorders characterized by social interaction dysfunction, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), often exhibit atypical synchronization with others across multiple levels. With the introduction of the "second-person" neuroscience perspective, our understanding of interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) has improved, however, so far, it has hardly impacted the development of novel therapeutic interventions.

Methods

To evaluate the potential of INS-based treatments for mental disorders, we performed two systematic literature searches identifying studies that directly target INS through neurofeedback (12 publications; 9 independent studies) or brain stimulation techniques (7 studies), following PRISMA guidelines. In addition, we narratively review indirect INS manipulations through behavioral, biofeedback, or hormonal interventions. We discuss the potential of such treatments for ASD, RAD, and SAD and using a systematic database search assess the acceptability of neurofeedback (4 studies) and neurostimulation (4 studies) in patients with social dysfunction.

Results

Although behavioral approaches, such as engaging in eye contact or cooperative actions, have been shown to be associated with increased INS, little is known about potential long-term consequences of such interventions. Few proof-of-concept studies have utilized brain stimulation techniques, like transcranial direct current stimulation or INS-based neurofeedback, showing feasibility and preliminary evidence that such interventions can boost behavioral synchrony and social connectedness. Yet, optimal brain stimulation protocols and neurofeedback parameters are still undefined. For ASD, RAD, or SAD, so far no randomized controlled trial has proven the efficacy of direct INS-based intervention techniques, although in general brain stimulation and neurofeedback methods seem to be well accepted in these patient groups.

Discussion

Significant work remains to translate INS-based manipulations into effective treatments for social interaction disorders. Future research should focus on mechanistic insights into INS, technological advancements, and rigorous design standards. Furthermore, it will be key to compare interventions directly targeting INS to those targeting other modalities of synchrony as well as to define optimal target dyads and target synchrony states in clinical interventions.

Classifying autism in a clinical population based on motion synchrony: a proof-of-concept study using real-life diagnostic interviews

Predictive modeling strategies are increasingly studied as a means to overcome clinical bottlenecks in the diagnostic classification of autism spectrum disorder. However, while some findings are promising in the light of diagnostic marker research, many of these approaches lack the scalability for adequate and effective translation to everyday clinical practice. In this study, our aim was to explore the use of objective computer vision video analysis of real-world autism diagnostic interviews in a clinical sample of children and young individuals in the transition to adulthood to predict diagnosis. Specifically, we trained a support vector machine learning model on interpersonal synchrony data recorded in Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) interviews of patient-clinician dyads. Our model was able to classify dyads involving an autistic patient (n = 56) with a balanced accuracy of 63.4% against dyads including a patient with other psychiatric diagnoses (n = 38). Further analyses revealed no significant associations between our classification metrics with clinical ratings. We argue that, given the above-chance performance of our classifier in a highly heterogeneous sample both in age and diagnosis, with few adjustments this highly scalable approach presents a viable route for future diagnostic marker research in autism.

Social-Motor Coordination Between Peers: Joint Action Developmental Trajectories in ASD and TD

Coordinating a physical movement in time and space with social and nonsocial partners to achieve a shared goal - "joint action" (JA) - characterizes many peer-engagement situations that pose challenges for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This cross-sectional study examined development of JA capabilities comparing ASD versus typically developing (TD) groups in early childhood, preadolescence, and adolescence while performing mirroring and complementing JA tasks with social (peer) and nonsocial (computer) partners. Results indicated better motor coordination abilities on computerized tasks than in peer dyads, with larger peer-dyad deficits shown by the ASD group. Developmental growth in JA abilities emerged, but the ASD group lagged behind same-age peers with TD. Socio-motor interventions may offer new channels to facilitate peer engagement in 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.

Machine learning classification of autism spectrum disorder based on reciprocity in naturalistic social interactions

Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by impaired social communication and interaction. As a neurodevelopmental disorder typically diagnosed during childhood, diagnosis in adulthood is preceded by a resource-heavy clinical assessment period. The ongoing developments in digital phenotyping give rise to novel opportunities within the screening and diagnostic process. Our aim was to quantify multiple non-verbal social interaction characteristics in autism and build diagnostic classification models independent of clinical ratings. We analyzed videos of naturalistic social interactions in a sample including 28 autistic and 60 non-autistic adults paired in dyads and engaging in two conversational tasks. We used existing open-source computer vision algorithms for objective annotation to extract information based on the synchrony of movement and facial expression. These were subsequently used as features in a support vector machine learning model to predict whether an individual was part of an autistic or non-autistic interaction dyad. The two prediction models based on reciprocal adaptation in facial movements, as well as individual amounts of head and body motion and facial expressiveness showed the highest precision (balanced accuracies: 79.5% and 68.8%, respectively), followed by models based on reciprocal coordination of head (balanced accuracy: 62.1%) and body (balanced accuracy: 56.7%) motion, as well as intrapersonal coordination processes (balanced accuracy: 44.2%). Combinations of these models did not increase overall predictive performance. Our work highlights the distinctive nature of non-verbal behavior in autism and its utility for digital phenotyping-based classification. Future research needs to both explore the performance of different prediction algorithms to reveal underlying mechanisms and interactions, as well as investigate the prospective generalizability and robustness of these algorithms in routine clinical care.

Inter-brain synchrony during mother-infant interactive parenting in 3-4-month-old infants with and without an elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder

Maternal bonding for mammalian infants is critical for their survival. Additionally, it is important for human infants' development into social creatures. However, despite the ample neurobiological evidence of attachment for the mother's brain, the interplay of this system in infants is poorly understood. We aimed to identify the neural substrates of synchrony in mothers and infants under three interactive conditions and compare the differences between groups with (n = 16) and without (n = 71) an elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder by examining the inter-brain synchrony between mothers and their 3-4-month-old infants. Mother-infant hyperscanning with functional near-infrared spectroscopy was performed during breastfeeding and while each of the mother and experimenter was holding the infants. The results showed almost no group differences, with both groups demonstrating the strongest inter-brain coupling for breastfeeding. The cerebral foci underlying these couplings differed between mothers and infants: the ventral prefrontal cortex, focusing on the right orbitofrontal cortex, in the mother and the left temporoparietal junction in the infant were chiefly involved in connecting the two brains. Furthermore, these synchronizations revealed many significant correlations with behavioral measures, including subsequent language development. The maternal reward-motivational system and the infant's elementary mentalization system seem to underlie mother-infant coupling during breastfeeding.

Social motor synchrony in autism spectrum conditions: A systematic review

LAY ABSTRACT

When two people interact, they often fall into sync with one another by moving their bodies at the same time. Some say autistic people are not as good as non-autistic people at moving at the same time as a partner. This has led some researchers to ask whether measuring synchrony might help diagnose autism. We reviewed the research so far to look at differences in Social Motor Synchrony (SMS) (the way we move together) between autistic people and people they interact with. The research suggests that interactions involving an autistic partner (either two autistic partners, or an autistic and non-autistic partner) show lower synchrony than a non-autistic pair. However, we recognised elements in the research so far that may have affected SMS in interactions involving an autistic person. One way SMS may have been affected in research so far might be the way interactions have been set up in the research studies. Few papers studied interactions between two autistic people or looked at synchrony in comfortable environments with autistic-preferred tasks. The studies also do not explain why synchrony might be different, or weaker, in pairs involving autistic partners. We use these limitations to suggest improvements for future research.

Automated extraction of speech and turn-taking parameters in autism allows for diagnostic classification using a multivariable prediction model

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed on the basis of speech and communication differences, amongst other symptoms. Since conversations are essential for building connections with others, it is important to understand the exact nature of differences between autistic and non-autistic verbal behaviour and evaluate the potential of these differences for diagnostics. In this study, we recorded dyadic conversations and used automated extraction of speech and interactional turn-taking features of 54 non-autistic and 26 autistic participants. The extracted speech and turn-taking parameters showed high potential as a diagnostic marker. A linear support vector machine was able to predict the dyad type with 76.2% balanced accuracy (sensitivity: 73.8%, specificity: 78.6%), suggesting that digitally assisted diagnostics could significantly enhance the current clinical diagnostic process due to their objectivity and scalability. In group comparisons on the individual and dyadic level, we found that autistic interaction partners talked slower and in a more monotonous manner than non-autistic interaction partners and that mixed dyads consisting of an autistic and a non-autistic participant had increased periods of silence, and the intensity, i.e. loudness, of their speech was more synchronous.

The role of interpersonal synchrony in forming impressions of autistic and non-autistic adults

When people meet, they almost instantaneously form an impression of each other. First impressions of character traits and rapport are less favourable when people with autism spectrum condition (ASC) are judged compared to non-autistic people. Little is known about the behavioural differences that drive these altered impressions. In the present study, we investigated the influence of interpersonal synchrony on impression formation of autistic and non-autistic people. Specifically, we used lagged cross-correlations to assess how much each interactant's motion energy, a measure which can be determined from video recordings, influenced the other interactant's motion energy. In short, silent clips of dyadic conversations, we asked non-autistic participants to rate their impression of one of the two interactants, which was solely based on the outlines of both interactants. We expected that the amount of leading of the target interactant, their diagnostic status as well as the interaction of these factors would influence impression formation. We found that while the amount of leading had a positive effect on the impressions of non-autistic interactants, this was not true for interactants with ASC. This suggests that interpersonal synchrony of motion energy is one driver of less favourable impressions of autistic compared to non-autistic people.

Pathways to peer interaction in ASD and TD through individual and dyadic joint-action motor abilities

Purpose

Any social engagement, especially with peers, requires children's effective activation of social and motor mechanisms. Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often display dysfunctions both in individual motor functioning (e.g., fine/gross) and in dyadic joint action (JA), where two partners coordinate movement toward a shared goal. Yet, these mechanisms' contribution to peer interaction has been underexplored.

Method

This study examined the contribution of individual motor functioning and JA performance to peer interaction (cooperation, attentiveness, social engagement, and dyadic quality), while comparing children and adolescents' (youngsters) with ASD versus those with typical development (TD).

Results

Results indicated more competent peer interaction in TD than in ASD. Interestingly, only the ASD group showed significant maturation with age for social engagement and dyadic interaction quality, calls for further examination of developmental trajectories. However, even the oldest participants with ASD continued to lag behind the youngest TD group. Also, findings indicated that better individual motor functioning and JA performance explained better peer interactive competence; yet, the contribution of individual motor functioning to social cooperation and dyadic quality was moderated by JA performance. Thus, youngsters' individual motor system was found to be an important contributor to peer interaction in those with low to moderate JA coordination capabilities, but not for those with high JA.

Conclusion

Results emphasize possible distinct contributions of each motor mechanism and their interaction for facilitating social interaction, hence, encouraging incorporation of individual and dyadic motor skills explicitly into social interaction interventions for youngsters ASD.

Moving Together: Social Motor Synchrony in Autistic Peer Partners Depends on Partner and Activity Type

Some suggest autistic people display impaired Interpersonal Synchrony. However, partners of different neurotypes can struggle to connect and empathise with one another. We used Motion Energy Analysis to examine Social Motor Synchrony (SMS) in familiar partners of the same neurotype: pairs of autistic and of neurotypical children. Partners played two shared tablet activities, one to support collaboration by facilitating engagement and other-awareness (Connect), and one with no additional design features to facilitate collaboration (Colours). The neurotypical group showed similar SMS to the autistic group in Colours but lower SMS in Connect. The autistic group displayed similar levels of SMS in each activity. Autistic children can synchronise to a similar, or greater, degree than neurotypical children when the social context and type of task are considered.

Prefrontal Functional Connectivities in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Connectopathic Disorder Affecting Movement, Interoception, and Cognition

The prefrontal cortex is included in a neuronal system that includes the basal ganglia, the thalamus, and the cerebellum. Most of the higher and more complex motor, cognitive, and emotional behavioral functions are thought to be found primarily in the frontal lobes. Insufficient connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and other regions of the brain that are distant from each other involved in top-down information processing rely on the global integration of data from multiple input sources and enhance low level perception processes (bottom-up information processing). The reduced deactivation in mPFC and in the rest of the Default Network during global task processing is consistent with the integrative modulatory role served by the mPFC. We stress the importance of understanding the degree to which sensory and movement anomalies in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can contribute to social impairment. Further investigation on the neurobiological basis of sensory symptoms and its relationship to other clinical features found in ASD is required Treatment perhaps should not be first behaviorally based but rather based on facilitating sensory motor development.

Social Synchronization of Conditioned Fear in Mice Requires Ventral Hippocampus Input to the Amygdala

BACKGROUND

Social organisms synchronize behaviors as an evolutionary-conserved means of thriving. Synchronization under threat, in particular, benefits survival and occurs across species, including humans, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown because of the scarcity of relevant animal models. Here, we developed a rodent paradigm in which mice synchronized a classically conditioned fear response and identified an underlying neuronal circuit.

METHODS

Male and female mice were trained individually using auditory fear conditioning and then tested 24 hours later as dyads while allowing unrestricted social interaction during exposure to the conditioned stimulus under visible or infrared illumination to eliminate visual cues. The synchronization of the immobility or freezing bouts was quantified by calculating the effect size Cohen's d for the difference between the actual freezing time overlap and the overlap by chance. The inactivation of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal hippocampus, or ventral hippocampus was achieved by local infusions of muscimol. The chemogenetic disconnection of the hippocampus-amygdala pathway was performed by expressing hM4D(Gi) in the ventral hippocampal neurons and infusing clozapine N-oxide in the amygdala.

RESULTS

Mice synchronized cued but not contextual fear. It was higher in males than in females and attenuated in the absence of visible light. Inactivation of the ventral but not dorsal hippocampus or dorsomedial prefrontal cortex abolished fear synchronization. Finally, the disconnection of the hippocampus-amygdala pathway diminished fear synchronization.

CONCLUSIONS

Mice synchronize expression of conditioned fear relying on the ventral hippocampus-amygdala pathway, suggesting that the hippocampus transmits social information to the amygdala to synchronize threat response.

Dancing out for a voice; a narrative review of the literature exploring autism, physical activity, and dance

Autism Spectrum Disorder is characterised by profound challenges with social communication and social interaction. Currently, there are few therapeutic interventions that successfully target some of the functionally impairing traits associated with autism. Furthermore, many of these interventions comprise a variety of limitations; including, limited accessibility, extensive durations, or the requirement of a trained professional to deliver the intervention. New research suggests that instead of targeting all traits associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder with a single solution, scientific research should focus on providing therapeutic tools that alleviate functionally impairing facets specific to the individual. Owing to the nature of physical activity, sports, and dance (coordinated movement) these activities could provide opportunities to enhance communication skills and social development in autistic children. Therefore, this paper gives a narrative overview of the literature surrounding communication and coordinated movement; outlining what is meant by communication challenges, exploring the benefits of coordinated movement for traits associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and delineating how coordinated movement elicits positive outcomes for autistic children.

Intrapersonal synchrony analysis reveals a weaker temporal coherence between gaze and gestures in adults with autism spectrum disorder

The temporal encoding of nonverbal signals within individuals, referred to as intrapersonal synchrony (IaPS), is an implicit process and essential feature of human communication. Based on existing evidence, IaPS is thought to be a marker of nonverbal behavior characteristics in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but there is a lack of empirical evidence. The aim of this study was to quantify IaPS in adults during an experimentally controlled real-life interaction task. A sample of adults with a confirmed ASD diagnosis and a matched sample of typically-developed adults were tested (N = 48). Participants were required to indicate the appearance of a target invisible to their interaction partner nonverbally through gaze and pointing gestures. Special eye-tracking software allowed automated extraction of temporal delays between nonverbal signals and their intrapersonal variability with millisecond temporal resolution as indices for IaPS. Likelihood ratio tests of multilevel models showed enlarged delays between nonverbal signals in ASD. Larger delays were associated with greater intrapersonal variability in delays. The results provide a quantitative constraint on nonverbal temporality in typically-developed adults and suggest weaker temporal coherence between nonverbal signals in adults with ASD. The results provide a potential diagnostic marker and inspire predictive coding theories about the role of IaPS in interpersonal synchronization processes.

Parent-Child Nonverbal Engagement During Read Versus Sung Book-Sharing in Preschoolers with and without ASD

Providing natural opportunities that scaffold interpersonal engagement is important for supporting social interactions for young children with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Musical activities are often motivating, familiar, and predictable, and may support both children and their interaction partners by providing opportunities for shared social engagement. We assessed multiple facets of nonverbal social engagement - child and caregiver visual attention and interpersonal movement coordination - during musical (song) and non-musical (picture) book-sharing contexts in caregiver-child dyads of preschoolers with (n = 13) and without (n = 16) ASD. Overall, children with ASD demonstrated reduced visual attention during the book sharing activity, as well as reduced movement coordination with their caregivers, compared to children with typical development. Children in both diagnostic groups, as well as caregivers, demonstrated greater visual attention (gaze toward the activity and/or social partner) during song books compared to picture books. Visual attention behavior was correlated between children and caregivers in the ASD group but only in the song book condition. Findings highlight the importance of considering how musical contexts impact the behavior of both partners in the interaction. Musical activities may support social engagement by modulating the behavior of both children and caregivers.

Inter-brain plasticity as a biological mechanism of change in psychotherapy: A review and integrative model

Recent models of psychopathology and psychotherapy highlight the importance of interpersonal factors. The current review offers a biological perspective on these interpersonal processes by examining inter-brain synchrony—the coupling of brain activity between people interacting with one another. High inter-brain synchrony is associated with better relationships in therapy and in daily life, while deficits in the ability to achieve inter-brain synchrony are associated with a variety of psychological and developmental disorders. The review suggests that therapy improves patients’ ability to achieve such synchrony through inter-brain plasticity—a process by which recurring exposure to high inter-brain synchrony leads to lasting change in a person’s overall ability to synchronize. Therapeutic sessions provide repeated situations with high inter-brain synchrony. This can lead to a long-term increase in the ability to synchronize, first with the therapist, then generalized to other interpersonal relationships, ultimately leading to symptom reduction. The proposed inter-brain plasticity model offers a novel biological framework for understanding relational change in psychotherapy and its links to various forms of psychopathology and provides testable hypotheses for future research. Understanding this mechanism may help improve existing psychotherapy methods and develop new ones.

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.

A Case for Playful Engagement: Synchrony and Interaction Quality During Mirroring in ASD. Conceptual Framework and Case Study

The social challenges in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can present as qualitative differences in interactions that make individuals on the autism spectrum appear less engaged with others. Limited interactional synchrony and other nonverbal movement patterns may contribute to these qualitative differences. This article uses the case of Hans, an adult on the autism spectrum, to describe patterns of synchrony and interaction quality during mirroring activities in dance/movement therapy. Raters scored videos of Hans and his partners on affective engagement, flow of the interaction, and interpersonal synchrony. They also qualitatively described his movements and interactions. Hans consistently participated in mirroring, but showed different patterns of attention and engagement when leading, following, interacting, or dancing in an open-ended dance. Hans was able to move in synchrony with partners, showed positive affect, and increased his movement repertoire by returning to others’ movements in later sessions. He was the most engaged when following a playful movement theme with a dance/movement therapy student partner. His affective engagement increased, but only in the less structured open-ended dance and only across the five sessions with this same dance/movement therapy student partner, and not when the sessions with his other partners, including others on the autism spectrum, were included. This points to a potential need to have dance/movement therapists model developing a movement relationship using flexible and playful contexts to emotionally engage the individual and reflect the complexity of everyday social situations. We present clinical recommendations and suggestions for future studies.

The “Primitive Brain Dysfunction” Theory of Autism: The Superior Colliculus Role

A better understanding of the pathogenesis of autism will help clarify our conception of the complexity of normal brain development. The crucial deficit may lie in the postnatal changes that vision produces in the brainstem nuclei during early life. The superior colliculus is the primary brainstem visual center. Although difficult to examine in humans with present techniques, it is known to support behaviors essential for every vertebrate to survive, such as the ability to pay attention to relevant stimuli and to produce automatic motor responses based on sensory input. From birth to death, it acts as a brain sentinel that influences basic aspects of our behavior. It is the main brainstem hub that lies between the environment and the rest of the higher neural system, making continuous, implicit decisions about where to direct our attention. The conserved cortex-like organization of the superior colliculus in all vertebrates allows the early appearance of primitive emotionally-related behaviors essential for survival. It contains first-line specialized neurons enabling the detection and tracking of faces and movements from birth. During development, it also sends the appropriate impulses to help shape brain areas necessary for social-communicative abilities. These abilities require the analysis of numerous variables, such as the simultaneous evaluation of incoming information sustained by separate brain networks (visual, auditory and sensory-motor, social, emotional, etc.), and predictive capabilities which compare present events to previous experiences and possible responses. These critical aspects of decision-making allow us to evaluate the impact that our response or behavior may provoke in others. The purpose of this review is to show that several enigmas about the complexity of autism might be explained by disruptions of collicular and brainstem functions. The results of two separate lines of investigation: 1. the cognitive, etiologic, and pathogenic aspects of autism on one hand, and two. the functional anatomy of the colliculus on the other, are considered in order to bridge the gap between basic brain science and clinical studies and to promote future research in this unexplored area.

Rhythmic Relating: Bidirectional Support for Social Timing in Autism Therapies

We propose Rhythmic Relating for autism: a system of supports for friends, therapists, parents, and educators; a system which aims to augment bidirectional communication and complement existing therapeutic approaches. We begin by summarizing the developmental significance of social timing and the social-motor-synchrony challenges observed in early autism. Meta-analyses conclude the early primacy of such challenges, yet cite the lack of focused therapies. We identify core relational parameters in support of social-motor-synchrony and systematize these using the communicative musicality constructs: pulse; quality; and narrative. Rhythmic Relating aims to augment the clarity, contiguity, and pulse-beat of spontaneous behavior by recruiting rhythmic supports (cues, accents, turbulence) and relatable vitality; facilitating the predictive flow and just-ahead-in-time planning needed for good-enough social timing. From here, we describe possibilities for playful therapeutic interaction, small-step co-regulation, and layered sensorimotor integration. Lastly, we include several clinical case examples demonstrating the use of Rhythmic Relating within four different therapeutic approaches (Dance Movement Therapy, Improvisational Music Therapy, Play Therapy, and Musical Interaction Therapy). These clinical case examples are introduced here and several more are included in the Supplementary Material (Examples of Rhythmic Relating in Practice). A suite of pilot intervention studies is proposed to assess the efficacy of combining Rhythmic Relating with different therapeutic approaches in playful work with individuals with autism. Further experimental hypotheses are outlined, designed to clarify the significance of certain key features of the Rhythmic Relating approach.

From Micro to Macro: The Combination of Consciousness

Crick and Koch’s 1990 “neurobiological theory of consciousness” sparked the race for the physical correlates of subjective experience. 30 years later, cognitive sciences trend toward consideration of the brain’s electromagnetic field as the primary seat of consciousness, the “to be” of the individual. Recent advancements in laboratory tools have preceded an influx of studies reporting a synchronization between the neuronally generated EM fields of interacting individuals. An embodied and enactive neuroscientific approach has gained traction in the wake of these findings wherein consciousness and cognition are theorized to be regulated and distributed beyond the individual. We approach this frontier to extend the implications of person-to-person synchrony to propose a process of combination whereby coupled individual agents merge into a hierarchical cognitive system to which they are subsidiary. Such is to say, the complex mammalian consciousness humans possess may not be the tip of the iceberg, but another step in a succeeding staircase. To this end, the axioms and conjectures of General Resonance Theory are utilized to describe this phenomenon of interpersonal resonant combination. Our proposal describes a coupled system of spatially distributed EM fields that are synchronized through recurrent, entraining behavioral interactions. The system, having achieved sufficient synchronization, enjoys an optimization of information flow that alters the conscious states of its merging agents and enhances group performance capabilities. In the race for the neurobiological correlates of subjective experience, we attempt the first steps in the journey toward defining the physical basis of “group consciousness.” The establishment of a concrete account of the combination of consciousness at a scale superseding individual human consciousness remains speculation, but our suggested approach provides a framework for empirical testing of these possibilities.

Social EEG: A novel neurodevelopmental approach to studying brain-behavior links and brain-to-brain synchrony during naturalistic toddler-parent interactions

Despite increasing emphasis on emergent brain-behavior patterns supporting language, cognitive, and socioemotional development in toddlerhood, methodologic challenges impede their characterization. Toddlers are notoriously difficult to engage in brain research, leaving a developmental window in which neural processes are understudied. Further, electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potential paradigms at this age typically employ structured, experimental tasks that rarely reflect formative naturalistic interactions with caregivers. Here, we introduce and provide proof of concept for a new "Social EEG" paradigm, in which parent-toddler dyads interact naturally during EEG recording. Parents and toddlers sit at a table together and engage in different activities, such as book sharing or watching a movie. EEG is time locked to the video recording of their interaction. Offline, behavioral data are microcoded with mutually exclusive engagement state codes. From 216 sessions to date with 2- and 3-year-old toddlers and their parents, 72% of dyads successfully completed the full Social EEG paradigm, suggesting that it is possible to collect dual EEG from parents and toddlers during naturalistic interactions. In addition to providing naturalistic information about child neural development within the caregiving context, this paradigm holds promise for examination of emerging constructs such as brain-to-brain synchrony in parents and children.

Intra-topic latency as an automated behavioral marker of treatment response in autism spectrum disorder

Data science advances in behavioral signal processing and machine learning hold the promise to automatically quantify clinically meaningful behaviors that can be applied to a large amount of data. The objective of this study was to identify an automated behavioral marker of treatment response in social communication in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). First, using an automated computational method, we successfully derived the amount of time it took for a child with ASD and an adult social partner (N pairs = 210) to respond to each other while they were engaged in conversation bits (“latency”) using recordings of brief, natural social interactions. Then, we measured changes in latency at pre- and post-interventions. Children with ASD who were receiving interventions showed significantly larger reduction in latency compared to those who were not receiving interventions. There was also a significant group difference in the changes in latency for adult social partners. Results suggest that the automated measure of latency derived from natural social interactions is a scalable and objective method to quantify treatment response in children with ASD.

Conversational adaptation in children and teens with autism: Differences in talkativeness across contexts

Successful social communication is complex; it relies on effectively deploying and continuously revising one's behavior to fit the needs of a given conversation, partner, and context. For example, a skilled conversationalist may instinctively become less talkative with a quiet partner and more talkative with a chattier one. Prior research suggests that behavioral flexibility across social contexts can be a particular challenge for individuals with autism spectrum condition (ASC), and that difficulty adapting to the changing needs of a conversation contributes to communicative breakdowns and poor social outcomes. In this study, we examine whether reduced conversational adaptation, as measured by talkativeness, differentiates 48 verbally fluent children and teens with ASC from 50 neurotypical (NT) peers matched on age, intelligence quotient, and sex ratio. Participants completed the Contextual Assessment of Social Skills with two novel conversation partners. The first acted interested in the conversation and talked more (Interested condition), while the second acted bored and talked less (Bored condition). Results revealed that NT participants emulated their conversation partner's behavior by being more talkative in the Interested condition as compared to the Bored condition (z = 9.92, p < 0.001). In contrast, the ASC group did not differentially adapt their behavior to the Bored versus Interested context, instead remaining consistently talkative in both (p = 0.88). The results of this study have implications for understanding social communication and behavioral adaptation in ASC, and may be valuable for clinicians interested in improving conversational competence in verbally fluent individuals with autism. LAY SUMMARY: Social communication-including everyday conversations-can be challenging for individuals on the autism spectrum. In successful conversations, people tend to adjust aspects of their language to be more similar to their partners'. In this study, we found that children and teens with autism did not change their own talkativeness in response to a social partner who was more or less talkative, whereas neurotypical peers did. These findings have clinical implications for improving conversational competence in verbally fluent individuals with autism.

Greater Social Competence Is Associated With Higher Interpersonal Neural Synchrony in Adolescents With Autism

Difficulty engaging in reciprocal social interactions is a core characteristic of autism spectrum disorder. The mechanisms supporting effective dynamic real-time social exchanges are not yet well understood. This proof-of-concept hyperscanning electroencephalography study examined neural synchrony as the mechanism supporting interpersonal social interaction in 34 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (50% female), age 10-16 years, paired with neurotypical confederates of similar age. The degree of brain-to-brain neural synchrony was quantified at temporo-parietal scalp locations as the circular correlation of oscillatory amplitudes in theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands while the participants engaged in a friendly conversation. In line with the hypotheses, interpersonal neural synchrony was significantly greater during the social interaction compared to the baseline. Lower levels of synchrony were associated with increased behavioral symptoms of social difficulties. With regard to sex differences, we found evidence for stronger interpersonal neural synchrony during conversation than baseline in females with autism, but not in male participants, for whom such condition differences did not reach statistical significance. This study established the feasibility of hyperscanning during real-time social interactions as an informative approach to examine social competence in autism, demonstrated that neural coordination of activity between the interacting brains may contribute to social behavior, and offered new insights into sex-related variability in social functioning in individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

The role of caregiver gestures and gesture-related responses of toddlers with autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by social communicative abnormalities. Deficits and delays in gestural communication are among the early deficits of ASD and also a major social modality in early caregiver-toddler interaction. Caregiver gestures have an important role in the cognitive and social development of children with ASD. Thus, it is urgent to further explore the role of caregiver gestures in early caregiver-toddler interaction. In this cross-sectional study, we observed the caregivers' gestures and responses of toddlers aged between 18 and 24 months during play (ASD = 44, TD = 29) and dining activities (ASD = 34, TD = 27). By observing the different frequencies and patterns of gestures by the caregiver-child interaction and the different proportions of children's responses to the caregiver's gestures, we found that, compared to caregivers of typically developing toddlers, caregivers of toddlers with ASD had fewer synchronized gestures and more unsynchronized gestures in the play activity and more supplementary gestures in dining activity. Toddlers with ASD produced more social responses to caregivers' synchronized gestures, whereas the use of synchronized gestures by the caregivers in caregiver-toddler interaction had a positive influence on social responses to toddlers with ASD. The findings suggest that effective use of gestures by caregivers during caregiver-toddler activities can improve children's social responses.

Interpersonal synchrony: Interaction variables and gender differences in preschoolers with ASD

BACKGROUND

Females with ASD tend to be under-recognized as they might present a different symptom manifestation, better social abilities, and masking behaviors. Since the main limitation of current literature on gender differences is represented by focusing on broad constructs, research needs to prioritize narrower constructs related to the subdomains of social abilities. Hence, the aim of this work was to explore gender differences in Interpersonal Synchrony of children with ASD.

METHOD

N = 51 psychologist-child dyads, 25 females and 26 males participated in the study. An Observational Coding Scheme to study interaction features was applied to video-recorded sessions of the ADOS-2 administration.

RESULTS

Females presented more synchronous behaviors with shorter latencies. Their interplays were longer, more complex, more engaging and most frequently adequately concluded with respect to males. The complexity of interchanges, their total duration and the proportion of exchanges adequately terminated correlated with the Social Affect score, Personal-Social, and Language Quotients in females, but not in males. The success rate of psychologist proposals correlated with Language Quotient in both males and females. The number of exchanges positively correlated with the Performance Quotient in males. Despite females being significantly older than males, age-related differences did not emerge.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest the importance of studying gender differences with respect to interaction variables. Females may present better IS abilities which, in turn, may promote social and language development. Further, our results suggested that successful interactions seem to rely more on social abilities in females, while males appeared to rely more on performance skills.

The Mirroring Dance: Synchrony and Interaction Quality of Five Adolescents and Adults on the Autism Spectrum in Dance/Movement Therapy

Background: Individuals on the autism spectrum are often described as having atypical social interactions. Ideally, interactional synchrony helps any interaction flow smoothly with each individual responding verbally, non-verbally, and/or emotionally within a short timeframe. Differences in interactional synchrony may impact how individuals on the autism spectrum experience social encounters. Method: This mixed methods pilot study examined interactional synchrony in five cases of adolescents and adults on the autism spectrum through secondary analysis of video of the participants in movement-based mirroring tasks during dance/movement therapy. Raters described the movement and interactions of the participants while they were leading and following mirroring and engaged in open-ended free dances with a partner. Videos were also scored on measures of affective engagement, flow of the interaction, and synchrony. Results: One of the most striking findings of this study was the difference between engagement in the instructions of the task and engagement with the partner: participants often followed the instructions for the mirroring tasks with little further social engagement with their partner. When participants did engage in moments of social initiation, attunement to the partner, and interactive behaviors, these did not develop into longer interactions. A paired t-test of the correlation coefficients for each participant showed that scores on synchrony and affective engagement were more strongly positively correlated in the less structured open-ended dance and in video clips of interactive behaviors, than in the videos of simply leading or following mirroring. Synchrony was also significantly more strongly positively correlated with the observed flow of the interaction than with observed affective engagement. With the small sample size, however, most of the correlation coefficients were not significant and should be tested on a larger sample. Discussion: Interpersonal synchrony may not be sufficient to effectively support social engagement when individuals on the autism spectrum simply follow instructions to synchronize their movements. Synchrony-based interventions may therefore need to include more complex open-ended social scenarios as interactional synchrony may then be more correlated with perceived interaction quality. Therapists may also need to partner with participants to model using non-verbal social behaviors to develop interactions within mirroring tasks.

Shifts in Behavioral Synchrony in Response to an Interaction Partner's Distress in Adolescents With and Without ASD

Individuals with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show altered behavioral synchrony and empathic behavior. Yet, an ecologically valid examination of these in adolescents is still required. We employed a social interaction sequence comprising a friendly conversation with a confederate, an expression of distress by her, and a return to friendly conversation. 44 male adolescents (22 with ASD) participated. Socio-emotional behaviors, coded by blind raters and through automated analyses of motion, were analyzed. Results indicated reduced synchrony in the ASD group. Moreover, whereas controls displayed a decrease in synchrony when facing another's distress, adolescents with ASD showed no such change. No group differences were found on empathic behavior. Findings imply gaps between verbal and non-verbal responses of adolescents with ASD to a distressed interaction partner.

Computational Measurement of Motor Imitation and Imitative Learning Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Computational Motor Imitation Measurement in ASD

Motor imitation is a critical developmental skill area that has been strongly and specifically linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, methodological variability across studies has precluded a clear understanding of the extent and impact of imitation differences in ASD, underscoring a need for more automated, granular measurement approaches that offer greater precision and consistency. In this paper, we investigate the utility of a novel motor imitation measurement approach for accurately differentiating between youth with ASD and typically developing (TD) youth. Findings indicate that youth with ASD imitate body movements significantly differently from TD youth upon repeated administration of a brief, simple task, and that a classifier based on body coordination features derived from this task can differentiate between autistic and TD youth with 82% accuracy. Our method illustrates that group differences are driven not only by interpersonal coordination with the imitated video stimulus, but also by intrapersonal coordination. Comparison of 2D and 3D tracking shows that both approaches achieve the same classification accuracy of 82%, which is highly promising with regard to scalability for larger samples and a range of non-laboratory settings. This work adds to a rapidly growing literature highlighting the promise of computational behavior analysis for detecting and characterizing motor differences in ASD and identifying potential motor biomarkers.

Slow update of internal representations impedes synchronization in autism

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social skills, motor and perceptual atypicalities. These difficulties were explained within the Bayesian framework as either reflecting oversensitivity to prediction errors or - just the opposite - slow updating of such errors. To test these opposing theories, we administer paced finger-tapping, a synchronization task that requires use of recent sensory information for fast error-correction. We use computational modelling to disentangle the contributions of error-correction from that of noise in keeping temporal intervals, and in executing motor responses. To assess the specificity of tapping characteristics to autism, we compare performance to both neurotypical individuals and individuals with dyslexia. Only the autism group shows poor sensorimotor synchronization. Trial-by-trial modelling reveals typical noise levels in interval representations and motor responses. However, rate of error correction is reduced in autism, impeding synchronization ability. These results provide evidence for slow updating of internal representations in autism.

Motor Skill Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Clinically Focused Review

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review synthesizes recent, clinically relevant findings on the scope, significance, and centrality of motor skill differences in autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

RECENT FINDINGS

Motor challenges in ASD are pervasive, clinically meaningful, and highly underrecognized, with up to 87% of the autistic population affected but only a small percentage receiving motor-focused clinical care. Across development, motor differences are associated with both core autism symptoms and broader functioning, though the precise nature of those associations and the specificity of motor profiles to ASD remain unestablished. Findings suggest that motor difficulties in ASD are quantifiable and treatable, and that detection and intervention efforts targeting motor function may also positively influence social communication. Recent evidence supports a need for explicit recognition of motor impairment within the diagnostic framework of ASD as a clinical specifier. Motor differences in ASD warrant greater clinical attention and routine incorporation into screening, evaluation, and treatment planning.

Influence of stress on physiological synchrony in a stressful versus non-stressful group setting

Physiological synchrony (PS) is defined as the co-occurrence and interdependence of physiological activity between interaction partners. Previous research has uncovered numerous influences on the extent of PS, such as relationship type or individual characteristics. Here, we investigate the influence of acute stress on PS. We do so in a setting in which PS was not promoted, but contact between group members was explicitly minimized. We reanalyzed cortisol, alpha-amylase, and subjective stress data from 138 participants (mean age = \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$23.48 \pm 3.99$$\end{document}23.48±3.99, 47.1% female) who previously underwent the Trier Social Stress Test for groups (TSST-G) or a non-stressful control task together, collected as part of a larger project by Popovic et al. (Sci Rep 10: 7845, 2020). Using a stability and influence model, an established method to test for synchrony, we tested whether individuals’ cortisol and alpha-amylase concentrations could be predicted by group members’ levels. We found cortisol PS in participants who were in the same group, the extent of which was stronger in the non-stressful control condition. For alpha-amylase, participants were synchronized as well; furthermore, there was an interaction between previous stress levels and PS. This suggests that while synchrony of both stress markers can occur in group settings even with spurious interaction, stressor exposure might attenuate its extent. We argue that if PS occurs in a sample where interaction was minimal, the phenomenon might be more widespread than previously thought. Furthermore, stressor exposure might influence whether a situation allows for PS. We conclude that PS should be investigated within group settings with various degrees of social interaction to further expose mechanisms of and influence on PS.

Brief Report: Specificity of Interpersonal Synchrony Deficits to Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Potential for Digitally Assisted Diagnostics

Reliably diagnosing autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in adulthood poses a challenge to clinicians due to the absence of specific diagnostic markers. This study investigated the potential of interpersonal synchrony (IPS), which has been found to be reduced in ASD, to augment the diagnostic process. IPS was objectively assessed in videos of diagnostic interviews in a representative referral population from two specialized autism outpatient clinics. In contrast to the current screening tools that could not reliably differentiate, we found a significant reduction of IPS in interactions with individuals later diagnosed with ASD (n = 16) as opposed to those not receiving a diagnosis (n = 23). While these findings need to be validated in larger samples, they nevertheless underline the potential of digitally-enhanced diagnostic processes for ASD.

Temporal Synchrony in Autism: a Systematic Review

Temporal synchrony is the alignment of processes in time within or across individuals in social interaction and is observed and studied in various domains using wide-ranging paradigms. Evidence suggesting reduced temporal synchrony in autism (e.g. compared to neurotypicals) has hitherto not been reviewed. To systematically review the magnitude and generalisability of the difference across different tasks and contexts, EBSCO, OVID, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched. Thirty-two studies were identified that met our inclusion criteria in audio-visual, audio-motor, visuo-tactile, visuo-motor, social motor, and conversational synchrony domains. Additionally, two intervention studies were included. The findings suggest that autistic participants showed reduced synchrony tendencies in every category of temporal synchrony reviewed. Implications, methodological weaknesses, and evidence gaps are discussed.

Survey of the Home Music Environment of Children with Various Developmental Profiles

Families with young children with and without developmental disabilities often create a musically rich home environment. Parent-child music engagement, like singing play songs, is associated with positive outcomes for children, parents, and their relationship. However, little is known about if the home music environment differs across diagnostic groups and if parent-child music engagement relates to parent-child affective attachment across families of diagnostically diverse children. Using an online questionnaire, the current study examined the home music environment of 340 families with young children with typical and atypical development. A variety of musical activities were common in all diagnostic groups. Diagnostic groups differed in active musical engagement, potentially relating to the differing phenotypes of various developmental disabilities. Parent-child music engagement was associated with parent-child affective attachment, even when controlling for relevant variables. Promoting musical engagement at home and through parent-child therapy may be an accessible way to support parent-child relationships.

Interpersonal Coordination in Schizophrenia: A Scoping Review of the Literature

Interpersonal coordination forms the natural bridge between the self and others. It arises from the dynamic and complex set of embodied processes that involve nonverbal behaviors, perceptions, movement, and emotions that support adaptive interactions. Disembodiment has been implicated in a myriad of core clinical phenomena that manifest in a "praecox feeling" in persons with schizophrenia during interpersonal interactions. To further understand mechanisms underlying aberrant interpersonal interactions in schizophrenia, recent research has focused on mimicry, imitation, and interactional synchrony. In this study, we conducted a Pubmed, Web of Science, and PsycInfo database review of the literature on interpersonal coordination in schizophrenia to evaluate the body of work in mimicry, imitation, and interactional synchrony in relation to schizophrenia-spectrum conditions. The results of the review suggest that the sensory-motor processes underlying interpersonal coordination may result in impaired abilities to mimic and synchronize nonverbal behavior during interactions. Opportunities for future progress lie in studies of interpersonal coordination at different developmental stages of psychosis, potential use of interpersonal coordination to improve treatment adherence and reduce stigma, as well as interventions to improve social functioning in people with a serious mental illness.

Grasping Social Apathy: The Role of Reach-To-Grasp Action Kinematics for the Assessment of Social Apathy in Mild Neurocognitive Disorders

BACKGROUND

Social apathy, a reduction in initiative in proposing or engaging in social activities or interactions, is common in mild neurocognitive disorders (MND). Current apathy assessment relies on self-reports or clinical scales, but growing attention is devoted to defining more objective, measurable and non-invasive apathy proxies.

OBJECTIVE

In the present study we investigated the interest of recording action kinematics in a social reach-to-grasp task for the assessment of social apathy.

METHODS

Thirty participants took part in the study: 11 healthy controls (HC; 6 females, mean age = 68.3±10.5 years) and 19 subjects with MND (13 females, mean age = 75.7±6.3 years). Based on the Diagnostic Criteria for Apathy, MND subjects were classified as socially apathetic (A-MND, N = 9) versus non-apathetic (NA-MND, N = 10). SensRing, a ring-shaped wearable sensor, was placed on their index finger, and subjects were asked to reach and grasp a can to place it into a cup (individual condition) and pass it to a partner (social condition).

RESULTS

In the reach-to-grasp phase of the action, HC and NA-MND showed different acceleration and velocity profiles in the social versus individual condition. No differences were found for A-MND.

CONCLUSION

Previous studies showed the interest of recording patients' level of weekly motor activity for apathy assessment. Here we showed that a 10-min reach-to-grasp task may provide information to differentiate socially apathetic and non-apathetic subjects with MND, thus providing a tool easily usable in the clinical practice. Future studies with a bigger sample are needed to better characterize these findings.

Quantifying the Child-Therapist Interaction in ASD Intervention: An Observational Coding System

BACKGROUND

Observational research plays an important part in developmental research due to its noninvasiveness. However, it has been hardly applied to investigate efficacy of the child-therapist interaction in the context of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI). In particular, the characteristics of child-therapist interplay are thought to have a significant impact in NDBIs in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Quantitative approaches may help to identify the key features of interaction during therapy and could be translated as instruments to monitor early interventions.

METHODS

n = 24 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were monitored from the time of the diagnosis (T0) and after about one year of early intervention (T1). A novel observational coding system was applied to video recorded sessions of intervention to extract quantitative behavioral descriptors. We explored the coding scheme reliability together with its convergent and predictive validity. Further, we applied computational techniques to investigate changes and associations between interaction profiles and developmental outcomes.

RESULTS

Significant changes in interaction variables emerged with time, suggesting that a favorable outcome is associated with interactions characterized by increased synchrony, better therapist's strategies to successfully engage the child and scaffold longer, more complex and engaging interchanges. Interestingly, data models linked interaction profiles, outcome measures and response trajectories.

CONCLUSION

Current research stresses the need for process measures to understand the hows and the whys of ASD early intervention. Combining observational techniques with computational approaches may help in explaining interindividual variability. Further, it could disclose successful features of interaction associated with better response trajectories or to different ASD behavioral phenotypes that could require specific dyadic modalities.

Interpersonal similarity of autistic traits predicts friendship quality

Autistic traits are known to be associated with social interaction difficulties. Yet, somewhat paradoxically, relevant research has been typically restricted to studying individuals. In line with the 'dialectical misattunement hypothesis' and clinical insights of intact social interactions among autistic individuals, we hypothesized that friendship quality varies as a function of interpersonal similarity and more concretely the difference value of autistic traits in a dyad, above and beyond autistic traits per se. Therefore, in this study, we used self-report questionnaires to investigate these measures in a sample of 67 neurotypical dyads across a broad range of autistic traits. Our results demonstrate that the more similar two persons are in autistic traits, the higher is the perceived quality of their friendship, irrespective of friendship duration, age, sex and, importantly, the (average of) autistic traits in a given dyad. More specifically, higher interpersonal similarity of autistic traits was associated with higher measures of closeness, acceptance and help. These results, therefore, lend support to the idea of an interactive turn in the study of social abilities across the autism spectrum and pave the way for future studies on the multiscale dynamics of social interactions.

Interactive Psychometrics for Autism With the Human Dynamic Clamp: Interpersonal Synchrony From Sensorimotor to Sociocognitive Domains

The human dynamic clamp (HDC) is a human-machine interface designed on the basis of coordination dynamics for studying realistic social interaction under controlled and reproducible conditions. Here, we propose to probe the validity of the HDC as a psychometric instrument for quantifying social abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and neurotypical development. To study interpersonal synchrony with the HDC, we derived five standardized scores following a gradient from sensorimotor and motor to higher sociocognitive skills in a sample of 155 individuals (113 participants with ASD, 42 typically developing participants; aged 5 to 25 years; IQ > 70). Regression analyses were performed using normative modeling on global scores according to four subconditions (HDC behavior "cooperative/competitive," human task "in-phase/anti-phase," diagnosis, and age at inclusion). Children with ASD had lower scores than controls for motor skills. HDC motor coordination scores were the best candidates for stratification and diagnostic biomarkers according to exploratory analyses of hierarchical clustering and multivariate classification. Independently of phenotype, sociocognitive skills increased with developmental age while being affected by the ongoing task and HDC behavior. Weaker performance in ASD for motor skills suggests the convergent validity of the HDC for evaluating social interaction. Results provided additional evidence of a relationship between sensorimotor and sociocognitive skills. HDC may also be used as a marker of maturation of sociocognitive skills during real-time social interaction. Through its standardized and objective evaluation, the HDC not only represents a valid paradigm for the study of interpersonal synchrony but also offers a promising, clinically relevant psychometric instrument for the evaluation and stratification of sociomotor dysfunctions.