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Yang D, Tao H, Ge H, Li Z, Hu Y, Meng J. Altered Processing of Social Emotions in Individuals With Autistic Traits. Front Psychol 2022; 13:746192. [PMID: 35310287 PMCID: PMC8931733 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.746192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Social impairment is a defining phenotypic feature of autism. The present study investigated whether individuals with autistic traits exhibit altered perceptions of social emotions. Two groups of participants (High-AQ and Low-AQ) were recruited based on their scores on the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ). Their behavioral responses and event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by social and non-social stimuli with positive, negative, and neutral emotional valence were compared in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to view social-emotional and non-social emotional pictures. In Experiment 2, participants were instructed to listen to social-emotional and non-social emotional audio recordings. More negative emotional reactions and smaller amplitudes of late ERP components (the late positive potential in Experiment 1 and the late negative component in Experiment 2) were found in the High-AQ group than in the Low-AQ group in response to the social-negative stimuli. In addition, amplitudes of these late ERP components in both experiments elicited in response to social-negative stimuli were correlated with the AQ scores of the High-AQ group. These results suggest that individuals with autistic traits have altered emotional processing of social-negative emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Di Yang
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,School of Education, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,Key Laboratory of Emotion and Mental Health, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
| | - Hengheng Tao
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,School of Education, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Hongxin Ge
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,School of Education, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Zuoshan Li
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,School of Education, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yuanyan Hu
- Key Laboratory of Emotion and Mental Health, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
| | - Jing Meng
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,School of Education, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
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Ramachandra V, Longacre H. Unmasking the psychology of recognizing emotions of people wearing masks: The role of empathizing, systemizing, and autistic traits. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2022; 185:111249. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.111249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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3
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Empathizing-systemizing: From style to intention. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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4
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Bellebaum C, Ghio M, Wollmer M, Weismüller B, Thoma P. The role of trait empathy in the processing of observed actions in a false-belief task. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 15:53-61. [PMID: 31993669 PMCID: PMC7171373 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2018] [Revised: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Empathic brain responses are characterized by overlapping activations between active experience and observation of an emotion in another person, with the pattern for observation being modulated by trait empathy. Also for self-performed and observed errors, similar brain activity has been described, but findings concerning the role of empathy are mixed. We hypothesized that trait empathy modulates the processing of observed responses if expectations concerning the response are based on the beliefs of the observed person. In the present study, we utilized a false-belief task in which observed person’s and observer’s task-related knowledge were dissociated and errors and correct responses could be expected or unexpected. While theta power was generally modulated by the expectancy of the observed response, a negative mediofrontal event-related potential (ERP) component was more pronounced for unexpected observed actions only in participants with higher trait empathy (assessed by the Empathy Quotient), as revealed by linear mixed effects analyses. Cognitive and affective empathy, assessed by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, were not significantly related to the ERP component. The results suggest that trait empathy can facilitate the generation of predictions and thereby modulate specific aspects of the processing of observed actions, while the contributions of specific empathy components remain unclear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Bellebaum
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Marta Ghio
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Marie Wollmer
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Benjamin Weismüller
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Patrizia Thoma
- Faculty of Psychology, Clinical Neuropsychology, Neuropsychological Therapy Centre, Ruhr University Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
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Zhang Y, Sindermann C, Kendrick KM, Becker B, Montag C. Individual Differences in Tendencies Toward Internet Use Disorder, Internet Literacy and Their Link to Autistic Traits in Both China and Germany. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:638655. [PMID: 34646170 PMCID: PMC8502933 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.638655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent evidence demonstrates that Internet Use Disorder tendencies (IUD; formerly known as Internet Addiction) are associated with higher tendencies toward autistic traits. In the present study, we aimed to further explore this association between IUD tendencies and autistic traits in a large cohort of German and Chinese subjects (total N = 1,524; mostly student background) who completed the short Internet-Addiction-Test, the Autism-Spectrum-Quotient, and the Internet-Literacy-Questionnaire. Moreover, the present research also enabled us to study potential differences in the investigated variables between the Chinese and German cultures. First, the results indicated higher occurrence of IUD symptoms in China. Moreover, Chinese subjects scored significantly higher on all ILQ dimensions than German participants, with the exception of self-regulation where the reverse picture appeared. Second, results confirmed a positive association between IUD tendencies and autistic traits both in China and Germany, although effect sizes were low to medium (China: r = 0.19 vs. Germany: r = 0.36). Going beyond the literature, the present study also assessed individual differences in Internet Literacy and shows in how far variables such as technical expertise, production and interaction, reflection and critical analysis as well as self-regulation in the realm of the Internet usage influence the aforementioned association between IUD tendencies and autistic traits. Although the present study is limited by being of correlational nature it is discussed how the association between IUD tendencies and autistic traits might be explained.
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Affiliation(s)
- YingYing Zhang
- Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Cornelia Sindermann
- Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Keith M Kendrick
- Ministry of Education Key Lab for Neuroinformation, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Benjamin Becker
- Ministry of Education Key Lab for Neuroinformation, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Christian Montag
- Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.,Ministry of Education Key Lab for Neuroinformation, The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
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Marchiol F, Lionetti F, Luxardi GL, Cavallero C, Roberts M, Penolazzi B. Cognitive inflexibility and over‐attention to detail: The Italian validation of the
DFlex
Questionnaire in patients with eating disorders. EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW 2020; 28:671-686. [DOI: 10.1002/erv.2781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2020] [Revised: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Francesca Lionetti
- Department of Neurosciences Imaging and Clinical Sciences University "G. D'Annunzio", Chieti‐Pescara, IT; Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London London UK
| | - Gian Luigi Luxardi
- Center for Eating Disorders, AAS n5 'Friuli Occidentale’ – Pordenone Pordenone Italy
| | | | - Marion Roberts
- Department of General Practice & Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences University of Auckland Auckland New Zealand
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