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Asada K, Akechi H, Kikuchi Y, Tojo Y, Hakarino K, Saito A, Hasegawa T, Kumagaya S. Longitudinal study of personal space in autism. Child Neuropsychol 2024:1-9. [PMID: 38578305 DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2024.2337753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
The size and regulation of personal space are reportedly atypical in autistic individuals. As personal space regulates social interaction, its developmental change is essential for understanding the nature of social difficulties that autistic individuals face. Adolescence is an important developmental period in which social relationships become complex. We conducted a three-year longitudinal study of interpersonal distances in autistic and typically developing (TD) individuals aged 12-18 years at Time 1 and 15-21 years at Time 2. Their preferred interpersonal distances were measured when an experimenter approached the participants with and without eye contact. The interpersonal distances of autistic individuals were shorter than those of TD individuals at both Time 1 and Time 2. Furthermore, the interpersonal distances of autistic individuals at Time 1 and Time 2 were highly correlated, but no such correlation was found in TD individuals. The results suggest that the interpersonal distances of autistic individuals are stable and that the shorter preferred interpersonal distances in autistic individuals compared to those of TD individuals are maintained during adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kosuke Asada
- Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Sociology, Toyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hironori Akechi
- Division of Cognitive Psychology in Education, Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Yukiko Kikuchi
- Center for Evolutionary Cognitive Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yoshikuni Tojo
- College of Education, Ibaraki University, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Koichiro Hakarino
- Musashino Higashi Center for Education and Research, Musashino Higashi Gakuen, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Atsuko Saito
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Toshikazu Hasegawa
- Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shinichiro Kumagaya
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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2
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Lin Q, Shi Y, Huang H, Jiao B, Kuang C, Chen J, Rao Y, Zhu Y, Liu W, Huang R, Lin J, Ma L. Functional brain network alterations in the co-occurrence of autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2024; 33:369-380. [PMID: 36800038 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-023-02165-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 02/05/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are two highly prevalent and commonly co-occurring neurodevelopmental disorders. The neural mechanisms underpinning the comorbidity of ASD and ADHD (ASD + ADHD) remain unclear. We focused on the topological organization and functional connectivity of brain networks in ASD + ADHD patients versus ASD patients without ADHD (ASD-only). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from 114 ASD and 161 typically developing (TD) individuals were obtained from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange II. The ASD patients comprised 40 ASD + ADHD and 74 ASD-only individuals. We constructed functional brain networks for each group and performed graph-theory and network-based statistic (NBS) analyses. Group differences between ASD + ADHD and ASD-only were analyzed at three levels: nodal, global, and connectivity. At the nodal level, ASD + ADHD exhibited topological disorganization in the temporal and occipital regions, compared with ASD-only. At the global level, ASD + ADHD and ASD-only displayed no significant differences. At the connectivity level, the NBS analysis revealed that ASD + ADHD showed enhanced functional connectivity between the prefrontal and frontoparietal regions, as well as between the orbitofrontal and occipital regions, compared with ASD-only. The hippocampus was the shared region in aberrant functional connectivity patterns in ASD + ADHD and ASD-only compared with TD. These findings suggests that ASD + ADHD displays altered topology and functional connectivity in the brain regions that undertake social cognition, language processing, and sensory processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiwen Lin
- School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University Town, No.232, Huandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Yafei Shi
- School of Fundamental Medical Science, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Huiyuan Huang
- School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University Town, No.232, Huandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Bingqing Jiao
- School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University Town, No.232, Huandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Changyi Kuang
- School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University Town, No.232, Huandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Jiawen Chen
- School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University Town, No.232, Huandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuyang Rao
- School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University Town, No.232, Huandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Yunpeng Zhu
- School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University Town, No.232, Huandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenting Liu
- School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University Town, No.232, Huandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Ruiwang Huang
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, People's Republic of China
| | - Jiabao Lin
- School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University Town, No.232, Huandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.
- Institut Des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR 5229, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
| | - Lijun Ma
- School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, University Town, No.232, Huandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.
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Farkas K, Pesthy O, Janacsek K, Németh D. Interpersonal Distance Theory of Autism and Its Implication for Cognitive Assessment, Therapy, and Daily Life. Perspect Psychol Sci 2024; 19:126-136. [PMID: 37401721 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231180593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
The interpersonal distance (IPD) theory provides a novel approach to studying autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this article, we present recent findings on the neurobiological underpinnings of IPD regulation that are distinct in individuals with ASD. We also discuss the potential influence of environmental factors on IPD. We suggest that different IPD regulation may have implications for cognitive performance in experimental and diagnostic settings, may influence the effectiveness of training and therapy, and may play a role in the typical forms of social communication and leisure activities chosen by autistic individuals. We argue that reconsidering the results of ASD research through the lens of IPD would lead to a different interpretation of previous findings. Finally, we propose a methodological approach to study this phenomenon systematically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kinga Farkas
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University
- BML-NAP Research Group, Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University & Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Orsolya Pesthy
- BML-NAP Research Group, Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University & Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University
| | - Karolina Janacsek
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University
- Centre for Thinking and Learning, Institute for Lifecourse Development, School of Human Sciences, Faculty of Education, Health and Human Sciences, University of Greenwich
| | - Dezső Németh
- BML-NAP Research Group, Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University & Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (CRNL) U1028 UMR5292, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Bron, France
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Omiya T, Deguchi NK, Asakura T. A Sense of Belonging and Help Seeking: Examining Factors Related to the Mental Health of High School Students with High Autistic Traits without Diagnosis. Children (Basel) 2023; 10:1927. [PMID: 38136129 PMCID: PMC10742478 DOI: 10.3390/children10121927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Certain individuals are clinically undiagnosed for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but exhibit strong ASD characteristics. This study examined the differences between a control group and a "high autistic traits" group involving individuals who scored 9 or higher on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient-16 Japanese Version, based on their sense of belonging, help-seeking style, and relationship with mental health. The participants were 608 Japanese public high school students. Of them, 129 (21.2%) and 479 (78.8%) were in the high autistic traits and control groups, respectively. A multiple regression analysis was performed using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) as the dependent variable for the groups. The analysis revealed no differences between the two groups regarding grade, gender, physical illness, insomnia, or mental health status; however, they differed regarding avoidant help-seeking style and teacher acceptance. Moreover, avoidant help-seeking scores in the high autistic traits group and teacher acceptance showed a significantly positive and significantly negative association with GHQ, respectively. The results indicated that children with autistic traits internally suppress them, experiencing distress. Teachers are aware that these students seek support from them, but the students seem reluctant to ask them for help. This can negatively impact the mental health of children with high autistic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomoko Omiya
- Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8575, Japan
| | | | - Takashi Asakura
- Laboratory of Health and Social Behavior, Tokyo Gakugei University, Koganei 184-8501, Japan;
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Abstract
Social interactions are often shaped by the space we prefer to maintain between us and others, that is, interpersonal distance. Being too distant or too close to a stranger can often be perceived as odd, and lead to atypical social interactions. This calibration of appropriate interpersonal distance thus constitutes an important social skill. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, hereafter autism) often experience difficulties with this skill, and anecdotal accounts suggest atypical interpersonal distances in their social interactions. In the current study, we systematically measured interpersonal distance in individuals with autism using immersive virtual reality (IVR) to recreate a naturalistic interaction with a full body avatar of a similar age. Participants observed their own virtual body in first-person perspective, and the other avatar in two tasks: in the first task, they approached the other avatar (active), in the second one they were approached by the other avatar (passive). Two groups of neurotypical and autistic adults, performed both tasks. Autistic adults showed greater interpersonal distance when compared to non-autistic adults. Additionally, the difference between the passive and active conditions was smaller for non-autistic compared to autistic adults. Across the full sample, greater interpersonal distance was associated with higher autism-related traits. This study provides systematic evidence for greater interpersonal distance in autistic adults using a paradigm with high ecological validity and can be useful in informing the design of appropriate environmental adjustments for shared spaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Fusaro
- Social Neuroscience LaboratoryFondazione Santa LuciaRomeItaly
- Department of PsychologySapienza University of RomeRomeItaly
| | - Valentina Fanti
- Centre for Autism, School of Psychology and Clinical Language SciencesUniversity of ReadingReadingUK
| | - Bhismadev Chakrabarti
- Centre for Autism, School of Psychology and Clinical Language SciencesUniversity of ReadingReadingUK
- India Autism CenterKolkataWest BengalIndia
- Department of PsychologyAshoka UniversitySonepatHaryanaIndia
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Cui S, Yang T, Liu N. Generalization of the modulatory effect of social interaction on personal space. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1148395. [PMID: 37397329 PMCID: PMC10310996 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1148395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Personal space (PS) is a safe area around an individual's body that affects spatial distance when socially interacting with others. Previous studies have shown that social interaction may modulate PS. However, these findings are often confounded by the effects of familiarization. Furthermore, whether the potential regulatory effects of social interaction on PS can be generalized from interacting confederates to strangers remains unclear. Methods To answer these questions, we enrolled 115 participants in a carefully designed experiment. Results We found that prosocial interaction in the form of a cooperative task effectively reduced PS, and this regulatory effect could be generalized from interacting confederates to non-interacting confederates. Discussion These findings deepen our understanding of PS regulation and may be aid in the diagnosis and rehabilitation of dysfunctional social behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shulei Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tianshu Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ning Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China
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Tomeny TS, Hudac CM, Malaia EA, Morett LM, Tomeny KR, Watkins L, Kana RK. Serving Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Age of COVID-19: Special Considerations for Rural Families. Rural Spec Educ Q 2023; 42:105-118. [PMID: 38602929 PMCID: PMC10155053 DOI: 10.1177/87568705231167440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
This position paper explores the needs of rural families of children, adolescents, and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to COVID-19, literature portrays elevated stress in families of individuals with ASD and health and socioeconomic disparities for rural and underserved populations. These disparities were exacerbated due to COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns and economic turmoil. Academic and adaptive skills training were particularly impacted due to school closures, with parents tasked with taking some responsibility for training these skills. Our goals for this article focus on special considerations for rural families regarding (a) neurobiological and developmental impacts of stressful experiences like COVID-19, (b) delineation of the impacts on individuals with ASD and other comorbid and related conditions, and (c) education and intervention needs during these times. Finally, we offer suggestions for future care during pandemic events, including recommendations for improving service delivery under such conditions.
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8
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Wang S, Li X. A revisit of the amygdala theory of autism: Twenty years after. Neuropsychologia 2023; 183:108519. [PMID: 36803966 PMCID: PMC10824605 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023]
Abstract
The human amygdala has long been implicated to play a key role in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Yet it remains unclear to what extent the amygdala accounts for the social dysfunctions in ASD. Here, we review studies that investigate the relationship between amygdala function and ASD. We focus on studies that employ the same task and stimuli to directly compare people with ASD and patients with focal amygdala lesions, and we also discuss functional data associated with these studies. We show that the amygdala can only account for a limited number of deficits in ASD (primarily face perception tasks but not social attention tasks), a network view is, therefore, more appropriate. We next discuss atypical brain connectivity in ASD, factors that can explain such atypical brain connectivity, and novel tools to analyze brain connectivity. Lastly, we discuss new opportunities from multimodal neuroimaging with data fusion and human single-neuron recordings that can enable us to better understand the neural underpinnings of social dysfunctions in ASD. Together, the influential amygdala theory of autism should be extended with emerging data-driven scientific discoveries such as machine learning-based surrogate models to a broader framework that considers brain connectivity at the global scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuo Wang
- Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
| | - Xin Li
- Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
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Koul A, Ahmar D, Iannetti GD, Novembre G. Interpersonal synchronization of spontaneously generated body movements. iScience 2023; 26:106104. [PMID: 36852275 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2022] [Revised: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Interpersonal movement synchrony (IMS) is central to social behavior in several species. In humans, IMS is typically studied using structured tasks requiring participants to produce specific body movements. Instead, spontaneously generated (i.e., not instructed) movements have received less attention. To test whether spontaneous movements synchronize interpersonally, we recorded full-body kinematics from dyads of participants who were only asked to sit face-to-face and to look at each other. We manipulated interpersonal (i) visual contact and (ii) spatial proximity. We found that spontaneous movements synchronized across participants only when they could see each other and regardless of interpersonal spatial proximity. This synchronization emerged very rapidly and did not selectively entail homologous body parts (as in mimicry); rather, the synchrony generalized to nearly all possible combinations of body parts. Hence, spontaneous behavior alone can lead to IMS. More generally, our results highlight that IMS can be studied under natural and unconstrained conditions.
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10
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Tootell RBH, Nasiriavanaki Z, Babadi B, Greve DN, Nasr S, Holt DJ. Interdigitated Columnar Representation of Personal Space and Visual Space in Human Parietal Cortex. J Neurosci 2022; 42:9011-29. [PMID: 36198501 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0516-22.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Revised: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Personal space (PS) is the space around the body that people prefer to maintain between themselves and unfamiliar others. Intrusion into personal space evokes discomfort and an urge to move away. Physiologic studies in nonhuman primates suggest that defensive responses to intruding stimuli involve the parietal cortex. We hypothesized that the spatial encoding of interpersonal distance is initially transformed from purely sensory to more egocentric mapping within human parietal cortex. This hypothesis was tested using 7 Tesla (7T) fMRI at high spatial resolution (1.1 mm isotropic), in seven subjects (four females, three males). In response to visual stimuli presented at a range of virtual distances, we found two categories of distance encoding in two corresponding radially-extending columns of activity within parietal cortex. One set of columns (P columns) responded selectively to moving and stationary face images presented at virtual distances that were nearer (but not farther) than each subject's behaviorally-defined personal space boundary. In most P columns, BOLD response amplitudes increased monotonically and nonlinearly with increasing virtual face proximity. In the remaining P columns, BOLD responses decreased with increasing proximity. A second set of parietal columns (D columns) responded selectively to disparity-based distance cues (near or far) in random dot stimuli, similar to disparity-selective columns described previously in occipital cortex. Critically, in parietal cortex, P columns were topographically interdigitated (nonoverlapping) with D columns. These results suggest that visual spatial information is transformed from visual to body-centered (or person-centered) dimensions in multiple local sites within human parietal cortex.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Recent COVID-related social distancing practices highlight the need to better understand brain mechanisms which regulate "personal space" (PS), which is defined by the closest interpersonal distance that is comfortable for an individual. Using high spatial resolution brain imaging, we tested whether a map of external space is transformed from purely visual (3D-based) information to a more egocentric map (related to personal space) in human parietal cortex. We confirmed this transformation and further showed that it was mediated by two mutually segregated sets of columns: one which encoded interpersonal distance and another that encoded visual distance. These results suggest that the cortical transformation of sensory-centered to person-centered encoding of space near the body involves short-range communication across interdigitated columns within parietal cortex.
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Holt DJ, Zapetis SL, Babadi B, Zimmerman J, Tootell RBH. Personal space increases during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to real and virtual humans. Front Psychol 2022; 13:952998. [PMID: 36186356 PMCID: PMC9515568 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.952998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Personal space is the distance that people tend to maintain from others during daily life in a largely unconscious manner. For humans, personal space-related behaviors represent one form of non-verbal social communication, similar to facial expressions and eye contact. Given that the changes in social behavior and experiences that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, including “social distancing” and widespread social isolation, may have altered personal space preferences, we investigated this possibility in two independent samples. First, we compared the size of personal space measured before the onset of the pandemic to its size during the pandemic in separate groups of subjects. Personal space size was significantly larger in those assessed during (compared to those assessed before) the onset of the pandemic (all d > 0.613, all p < 0.007). In an additional cohort, we measured personal space size, and discomfort in response to intrusions into personal space, longitudinally before and during the pandemic, using both conventional and virtual reality-based techniques. Within these subjects, we found that measurements of personal space size with respect to real versus virtual humans were significantly correlated with one another (r = 0.625–0.958) and similar in magnitude. Moreover, the size of personal space, as well as levels of discomfort during personal space intrusions, increased significantly during (compared to before) the COVID-19 pandemic in response to both real and virtual humans (all d > 0.842, all p < 0.01). Lastly, we found that the practice of social distancing and perceived (but not actual) risk of being infected with COVID-19 were linked to this personal space enlargement during the pandemic (all p < 0.038). Taken together, these findings suggest that personal space boundaries expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic independent of actual infection risk level. As the day-to-day effects of the pandemic subside, personal space preferences may provide one index of recovery from the psychological effects of this crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daphne J. Holt
- The Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- The Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States
- *Correspondence: Daphne J. Holt,
| | - Sarah L. Zapetis
- The Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Baktash Babadi
- The Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jordan Zimmerman
- The Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Roger B. H. Tootell
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- The Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States
- The Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
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12
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Maran T, Hoffmann A, Sachse P. Early lifetime experience of urban living predicts social attention in real world crowds. Cognition 2022; 225:105099. [PMID: 35334252 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Revised: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
More than half of the world's population is currently living in cities, with more and more people moving to densely populated areas. The experience of growing up and living in crowded environments might influence the way we explore our social environment, mainly how we attend to others. Yet, we know little about how urbanicity affects this vital function of our social life. In two studies, we use mobile eye-tracking to measure participants' social attention, while walking through a shopping mall. Results show that social density of participants' native place impacts how frequently they look at passing strangers. People who experienced more city living from birth to early adolescence, attend more to strangers' faces than their rural counterparts. Our findings demonstrate that the early experience of urban upbringing configures social attention in adulthood. The urbanicity-related bias towards social gazing might reflect a more efficient processing of social information in urban natives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Maran
- University of Innsbruck, Department of Strategic Management and Leadership, Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; LeadershipWerk, 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
| | - Alexandra Hoffmann
- University of Innsbruck, Department of Psychology, Innrain 52a, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - Pierre Sachse
- University of Innsbruck, Department of Psychology, Innrain 52a, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
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Gargot T, Archambault D, Chetouani M, Cohen D, Johal W, Anzalone SM. Automatic Assessment of Motor Impairments in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review. Cognit Comput. [DOI: 10.1007/s12559-021-09940-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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14
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Tootell RBH, Zapetis SL, Babadi B, Nasiriavanaki Z, Hughes DE, Mueser K, Otto M, Pace-Schott E, Holt DJ. Psychological and physiological evidence for an initial 'Rough Sketch' calculation of personal space. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20960. [PMID: 34697390 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99578-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Personal space has been defined as “the area individuals maintain around themselves into which others cannot intrude without arousing discomfort”. However, the precise relationship between discomfort (or arousal) responses as a function of distance from an observer remains incompletely understood. Also the mechanisms involved in recognizing conspecifics and distinguishing them from other objects within personal space have not been identified. Accordingly, here we measured personal space preferences in response to real humans and human-like avatars (in virtual reality), using well-validated “stop distance” procedures. Based on threshold measurements of personal space, we examined within-subject variations in discomfort-related responses across multiple distances (spanning inside and outside each individual’s personal space boundary), as reflected by psychological (ratings) and physiological (skin conductance) responses to both humans and avatars. We found that the discomfort-by-distance functions for both humans and avatars were closely fit by a power law. These results suggest that the brain computation of visually-defined personal space begins with a ‘rough sketch’ stage, which generates responses to a broad range of human-like stimuli, in addition to humans. Analogous processing mechanisms may underlie other brain functions which respond similarly to both real and simulated human body parts.
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Banker SM, Gu X, Schiller D, Foss-Feig JH. Hippocampal contributions to social and cognitive deficits in autism spectrum disorder. Trends Neurosci 2021; 44:793-807. [PMID: 34521563 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2021.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by hallmark impairments in social functioning. Nevertheless, nonsocial cognition, including hippocampus-dependent spatial reasoning and episodic memory, is also commonly impaired in ASD. ASD symptoms typically emerge between 12 and 24 months of age, a time window associated with critical developmental events in the hippocampus. Despite this temporal overlap and evidence of hippocampal structural abnormalities in ASD individuals, relatively few human studies have focused on hippocampal function in ASD. Herein, we review the existing evidence for the involvement of the hippocampus in ASD and highlight the hippocampus as a promising area of interest for future research in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Banker
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Center for Computational Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; The Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.
| | - Xiaosi Gu
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Center for Computational Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; The Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Daniela Schiller
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Center for Computational Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; The Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Jennifer H Foss-Feig
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; The Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
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16
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Saporta N, Scheele D, Lieberz J, Stuhr-Wulff F, Hurlemann R, Shamay-Tsoory SG. Opposing Association of Situational and Chronic Loneliness with Interpersonal Distance. Brain Sci 2021; 11:1135. [PMID: 34573157 PMCID: PMC8471414 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11091135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Loneliness is a prevalent condition with adverse effects on physical and mental health. Evolutionary theories suggest it evolved to drive people to reconnect. However, chronic loneliness may result in a negative social bias and self-preservation behaviors, paradoxically driving individuals away from social interactions. Lonely people often feel they are not close to anyone; however, little is known about their interpersonal distance preferences. During COVID-19, many experienced situational loneliness related to actual social isolation. Therefore, there was a unique opportunity to examine both chronic and situational (COVID-19-related) loneliness. In the present study, 479 participants completed an online task that experimentally assessed interpersonal distance preferences in four conditions-passively being approached by a friend or a stranger, and actively approaching a friend or a stranger. Results show that high chronic loneliness was related to a greater preferred distance across conditions. Intriguingly, by contrast, high COVID-19-related loneliness was related to a smaller preferred distance across conditions. These findings provide further support for the evolutionary theory of loneliness: situational loneliness indeed seems to drive people towards reconnection, while chronic loneliness seems to drive people away from it. Implications for the amelioration of chronic loneliness are discussed based on these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nira Saporta
- School of Psychological Science, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel; (F.S.-W.); (S.G.S.-T.)
| | - Dirk Scheele
- Division of Medical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany; (D.S.); (J.L.)
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany;
| | - Jana Lieberz
- Division of Medical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany; (D.S.); (J.L.)
| | - Fine Stuhr-Wulff
- School of Psychological Science, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel; (F.S.-W.); (S.G.S.-T.)
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - René Hurlemann
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany;
- Research Center Neurosensory Science, University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory
- School of Psychological Science, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel; (F.S.-W.); (S.G.S.-T.)
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Huang X, Izumi SI. Neural Alterations in Interpersonal Distance (IPD) Cognition and Its Correlation with IPD Behavior: A Systematic Review. Brain Sci 2021; 11:1015. [PMID: 34439634 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11081015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background. Interpersonal distance (IPD) plays a critical role in a human being’s social life, especially during interpersonal interaction, and IPD is non-verbal social information and not only provides silent cues but also provides a secure space for personal relationships. IPD has been a research field of neural studies from the recent decade, researches had provided behavior and neural correlates of IPD. Objectives. This review aims to summarize the experimental paradigms of IPD-neural research, to reveal the neural activity processes associated with it, and to explore the correlation between IPD-neural activity and IPD-behavior. Methods. We conducted a standardized systematic review procedure, including the formal search method be adopted to seek out any type of studies related to IPD and brain, then devised them into categories to make a systematic review. Results. 17 articles met the inclusion criteria of the review, 5 event-related potential (ERP) studies measured the amplitude and latencies of ERPs, and 12 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies provided the neural activation during IPD tasks. In addition, the passive IPD experimental paradigm is the main experimental paradigm for exploring neural activity in IPD cognition, with the parietal lobe, motor areas, prefrontal lobe, and amygdala being the main brain areas involved. Functional connections between the identified brain regions were found and have a moderate correlation with IPD behavior. Conclusions. This review provides the neural activity of the IPD interaction process. However, the insufficient ecological validity of IPD tasks and ignore the initiative of people in IPD interaction. Therefore, there is a large research space on this topic. The work of the current systematic review contributed to linking the external performance and inner neural activities of IPD.
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Bogdanova OV, Bogdanov VB, Dureux A, Farnè A, Hadj-Bouziane F. The Peripersonal Space in a social world. Cortex 2021; 142:28-46. [PMID: 34174722 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Revised: 02/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The PeriPersonal Space (PPS) has been defined as the space surrounding the body, where physical interactions with elements of the environment take place. As our world is social in nature, recent evidence revealed the complex modulation of social factors onto PPS representation. In light of the growing interest in the field, in this review we take a close look at the experimental approaches undertaken to assess the impact of social factors onto PPS representation. Our social world also influences the personal space (PS), a concept stemming from social psychology, defined as the space we keep between us and others to avoid discomfort. Here we analytically compare PPS and PS with the aim of understanding if and how they relate to each other. At the behavioral level, the multiplicity of experimental methodologies, whether well-established or novel, lead to somewhat divergent results and interpretations. Beyond behavior, we review physiological and neural signatures of PPS representation to discuss how interoceptive signals could contribute to PPS representation, as well as how these internal signals could shape the neural responses of PPS representation. In particular, by merging exteroceptive information from the environment and internal signals that come from the body, PPS may promote an integrated representation of the self, as distinct from the environment and the others. We put forward that integrating internal and external signals in the brain for perception of proximal environmental stimuli may also provide us with a better understanding of the processes at play during social interactions. Adopting such an integrative stance may offer novel insights about PPS representation in a social world. Finally, we discuss possible links between PPS research and social cognition, a link that may contribute to the understanding of intentions and feelings of others around us and promote appropriate social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olena V Bogdanova
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team (Impact), INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Lyon, France; University of Lyon 1, France; INCIA, UMR 5287, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, France.
| | - Volodymyr B Bogdanov
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team (Impact), INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Lyon, France; University of Lyon 1, France; Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat, Laboratoire Génie Civil et Bâtiment, Vaulx-en-Velin, France
| | - Audrey Dureux
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team (Impact), INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Lyon, France; University of Lyon 1, France
| | - Alessandro Farnè
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team (Impact), INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Lyon, France; University of Lyon 1, France; Hospices Civils de Lyon, Neuro-Immersion Platform, Lyon, France; Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Italy
| | - Fadila Hadj-Bouziane
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team (Impact), INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Lyon, France; University of Lyon 1, France.
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Tsukamoto M, Tsuji A, Sekine S, Omori T, Suzuki K, Yamamoto J. Using tripartite group area as a measure of social interactions in pre-school children: A pilot study. Curr Psychol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-01671-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThis study aimed to measure tripartite group area using motion capture systems and investigated whether group area could be used as a measure of pre-school children’s social interactions. In Experiment 1, two typically developing girls and an adult staff member engaged in free play. In Experiment 2, two typically developing boys and two adult staff members played balloon volleyball. Both experiments had three types of measures: subjective evaluation of whether participants played together, social behaviours (e.g. eye contact for Experiment 1 and balloon tosses for Experiment 2) and group area. Results showed that group area was significantly and negatively related to subjective evaluation in Experiment 2, whereas we observed no relationship between subjective evaluation and group area in Experiment 1. Overall, however, only a low correlation was observed between subjective evaluation and group area in Experiment 2. Furthermore, there were strong sequential associations between subjective evaluation and social behaviour, rather than between subjective evaluation and group area. Although group area as an index of social interactions is less accurate than behavioural data directly observed by humans, it may be worth using as a low-cost preliminary measure, since it can be automatically calculated using motion capture systems.
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20
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Noel JP, Paredes R, Terrebonne E, Feldman JI, Woynaroski T, Cascio CJ, Seriès P, Wallace MT. Inflexible Updating of the Self-Other Divide During a Social Context in Autism: Psychophysical, Electrophysiological, and Neural Network Modeling Evidence. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging 2021; 7:756-764. [PMID: 33845169 PMCID: PMC8521572 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2020] [Revised: 03/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects many aspects of life, from social interactions to (multi)sensory processing. Similarly, the condition expresses at a variety of levels of description, from genetics to neural circuits and interpersonal behavior. We attempt to bridge between domains and levels of description by detailing the behavioral, electrophysiological, and putative neural network basis of peripersonal space (PPS) updating in ASD during a social context, given that the encoding of this space relies on appropriate multisensory integration, is malleable by social context, and is thought to delineate the boundary between the self and others. METHODS Fifty (20 male/30 female) young adults, either diagnosed with ASD or age- and sex-matched individuals, took part in a visuotactile reaction time task indexing PPS, while high-density electroencephalography was continuously recorded. Neural network modeling was performed in silico. RESULTS Multisensory psychophysics demonstrates that while PPS in neurotypical individuals shrinks in the presence of others-as to "give space"-this does not occur in ASD. Likewise, electroencephalography recordings suggest that multisensory integration is altered by social context in neurotypical individuals but not in individuals with ASD. Finally, a biologically plausible neural network model shows, as a proof of principle, that PPS updating may be inflexible in ASD owing to the altered excitatory/inhibitory balance that characterizes neural circuits in animal models of ASD. CONCLUSIONS Findings are conceptually in line with recent statistical inference accounts, suggesting diminished flexibility in ASD, and further these observations by suggesting within an example relevant for social cognition that such inflexibility may be due to excitatory/inhibitory imbalances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Paul Noel
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York.
| | - Renato Paredes
- Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Emily Terrebonne
- Undergraduate Neuroscience Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Jacob I Feldman
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Tiffany Woynaroski
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Carissa J Cascio
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Peggy Seriès
- Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Mark T Wallace
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee; Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
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21
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Coello Y, Cartaud A. The Interrelation Between Peripersonal Action Space and Interpersonal Social Space: Psychophysiological Evidence and Clinical Implications. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:636124. [PMID: 33732124 PMCID: PMC7959827 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.636124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The peripersonal space is an adaptive and flexible interface between the body and the environment that fulfills a dual-motor function: preparing the body for voluntary object-oriented actions to interact with incentive stimuli and preparing the body for defensive responses when facing potentially harmful stimuli. In this position article, we provide arguments for the sensorimotor rooting of the peripersonal space representation and highlight the variables that contribute to its flexible and adaptive characteristics. We also demonstrate that peripersonal space represents a mediation zone between the body and the environment contributing to not only the control of goal-directed actions but also the organization of social life. The whole of the data presented and discussed led us to the proposal of a new theoretical framework linking the peripersonal action space and the interpersonal social space and we highlight how this theoretical framework can account for social behaviors in populations with socio-emotional deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yann Coello
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Lille, UMR 9193-SCALab-Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Lille, France
| | - Alice Cartaud
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Lille, UMR 9193-SCALab-Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Lille, France
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22
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Nasiriavanaki Z, Barbour T, Farabaugh AH, Fava M, Holmes AJ, Tootell RBH, Holt DJ. Anxious attachment is associated with heightened responsivity of a parietofrontal cortical network that monitors peri-personal space. Neuroimage Clin 2021; 30:102585. [PMID: 33773165 PMCID: PMC8024770 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2020] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 01/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
A parietofrontal cortical network is more active when stimuli are near the body. Responses of this network were positively correlated with “attachment anxiety”. No other types of attachment or symptoms accounted for this association. Connectivity strength within this network was not linked with attachment anxiety.
Background Attachment, or affiliative bonding among conspecifics, is thought to involve neural mechanisms underlying behavioral responses to threat and reward-related social signals. However, attachment-oriented responses may also rely on basic sensorimotor processes. One sensorimotor system that may play a role in attachment is the parietofrontal cortical network that responds to stimuli that are near or approaching the body, the peripersonal space (PPS) monitoring system. We hypothesized that this network may vary in responsivity to such potentially harmful stimuli, particularly those with social salience, based on individual differences in attachment styles. Methods Young adults viewed images of human faces or cars that appeared to move towards or away from them, while functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected. Correlations between each of four adult attachment styles, measured using the Relationship Questionnaire, and responses of the PPS network to approaching (versus withdrawing) stimuli were measured. Results A region-of-interest (ROI) analysis, focused on six cortical regions of the PPS network that showed significant responses to approaching versus withdrawing face stimuli in an independent sample (n = 80), revealed that anxious attachment style (but not the other 3 attachment styles) was significantly positively correlated with responses to faces (but not to cars) in all six ROIs (r = 0.33–0.49, p = 0.01–0.0001, n = 50). Conclusions These findings suggest that anxious attachment is associated with over-responsivity of a sensorimotor network involved in attending to social stimuli near the body.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zahra Nasiriavanaki
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Tracy Barbour
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Amy H Farabaugh
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Maurizio Fava
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Avram J Holmes
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Roger B H Tootell
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Daphne J Holt
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
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23
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Simões M, Mouga S, Pereira AC, de Carvalho P, Oliveira G, Castelo-Branco M. Virtual Reality Immersion Rescales Regulation of Interpersonal Distance in Controls but not in Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2020; 50:4317-28. [PMID: 32266686 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04484-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Interpersonal distance (IPD) is a simple social regulation metric which is altered in autism. We performed a stop-distance paradigm to evaluate IPD regulation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and control groups in a real versus a virtual environment mimicking in detail the real one. We found a bimodal pattern of IPDs only in ASD. Both groups showed high IPD correlations between real and virtual environments, but the significantly larger slope in the control group suggests rescaling, which was absent in ASD. We argue that loss of nuances like non-verbal communication, such as perception of subtle body gestures in the virtual environment, lead to changed regulation of IPD in controls, whilst ASD participants show similar deficits in perceiving such subtle cues in both environments.
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24
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Massaccesi C, Groessing A, Rosenberger LA, Hartmann H, Candini M, di Pellegrino G, Frassinetti F, Silani G. Neural Correlates of Interpersonal Space Permeability and Flexibility in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:2968-2979. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Revised: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Previous research indicates that the size of interpersonal space at which the other is perceived as intrusive (permeability) and the ability to adapt interpersonal distance based on contextual factors (flexibility) are altered in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, the neurophysiological basis of these alterations remains poorly understood. To fill this gap, we used fMRI and assessed interpersonal space preferences of individuals with ASD before and after engaging in cooperative and non-cooperative social interactions. Compared to matched controls, ASDs showed lower comfort in response to an approaching confederate, indicating preference for larger interpersonal space in autism (altered permeability). This preference was accompanied by reduced activity in bilateral dorsal intraparietal sulcus (dIPS) and left fusiform face area (FFA), regions previously shown to be involved in interpersonal space regulation. Furthermore, we observed differences in effective connectivity among dIPS, FFA, and amygdala in ASDs compared to controls, depending on the level of experienced comfort. No differences between groups were observed in interpersonal space regulation after an experienced social interaction (flexibility). Taken together, the present findings suggest that a dysregulation of the activity and connectivity of brain areas involved in interpersonal space processing may contribute to avoidance of physical proximity and social impairments in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Massaccesi
- Faculty of Psychology, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1010, Austria
| | - Alexander Groessing
- Faculty of Psychology, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1010, Austria
| | - Lisa A Rosenberger
- Faculty of Psychology, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1010, Austria
| | - Helena Hartmann
- Faculty of Psychology, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1010, Austria
| | - Michela Candini
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, 40127, Italy
| | | | | | - Giorgia Silani
- Faculty of Psychology, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1010, Austria
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25
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Endo N, Makinodan M, Mannari-Sasagawa T, Horii-Hayashi N, Somayama N, Komori T, Kishimoto T, Nishi M. The effects of maternal separation on behaviours under social-housing environments in adult male C57BL/6 mice. Sci Rep 2021; 11:527. [PMID: 33436833 PMCID: PMC7804413 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-80206-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Adverse experience in early life can affect the formation of neuronal circuits during postnatal development and exert long-lasting influences on neural functions that can lead to the development of a variety of psychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Many studies have demonstrated that daily repeated maternal separation, an animal model of early-life stress, can induce impairments in emotional behaviours and cognitive function during adolescence and adulthood. However, the behavioural phenotypes of maternally separated mice under long-term group-housing conditions are largely unknown. In this study, we applied our newly developed assay system to investigate the effects of maternal separation on behaviours under group-housing conditions during four days of continuous observations. Using our system, we found that repeated maternal separation resulted in inappropriate social distance from cagemates, altered approach preferences to others, and induced a lower rank in the time spent on the running wheel under group-housing conditions in adult male mice. Focussing on these behavioural abnormalities that appear in an environment with a social context will be important insights to understand the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nozomi Endo
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8521, Japan
| | - Manabu Makinodan
- Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8521, Japan
| | - Takayo Mannari-Sasagawa
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8521, Japan
- Faculty of Human Life and Environment, Nara Women's University, Nara, 630-8506, Japan
| | - Noriko Horii-Hayashi
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8521, Japan
| | - Nami Somayama
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8521, Japan
| | - Takashi Komori
- Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8521, Japan
| | - Toshifumi Kishimoto
- Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8521, Japan
| | - Mayumi Nishi
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8521, Japan.
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26
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Odent P, Creemers JW, Bosmans G, D'Hooge R. Spectrum of social alterations in the Neurobeachin haploinsufficiency mouse model of autism. Brain Res Bull 2020; 167:11-21. [PMID: 33197534 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2020.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2020] [Revised: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common and pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder, characterized by sexually divergent social deficits. Its etiology is multifactorial with an important contribution of genetic factors. Neurobeachin (Nbea), a brain-enriched multidomain scaffolding protein, is an ASD candidate gene that was found to be translocated or deleted in ASD patients. Nbea haploinsufficient (+/-) mice have been proposed as an ASD mouse model, but its broad-spectrum social phenotype, sexual divergence and age-related robustness remain unstudied. This study compared one-year-old male and female Nbea+/- mice and their control littermates in an extensive behavioral battery that focused on social behaviors and communication. Nbea haploinsufficiency was associated with selective, sex-dependent, quantitative and qualitative changes, including alterations in social interest and approach, ultrasonic vocalization (USV) between same-sex adult conspecifics, and preferred types of social interaction. Notably, Nbea+/- females (but not males) displayed a significantly higher number of calls, and the mean principal frequency of their calls was higher than those of normal female littermates. Our results demonstrate that Nbea haploinsufficiency alters various aspects of social performance that are also altered in clinical ASD. The phenotype was often different between male and female mice, even though this sexual divergence was sometimes counterintuitive to observations in people with ASD, and probably influenced by differences in social interaction between male and female mice. By and large, however, this study demonstrates the clinical validity and robustness of the ASD-like phenotype of Nbea+/- mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulien Odent
- Research Groups of Biological Psychology, Tiensestraat 102, Leuven, Belgium(1)
| | - John W Creemers
- Research Groups of Biochemical Neuroendocrinology, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium(1)
| | - Guy Bosmans
- Research Groups of Clinical Psychology, Tiensestraat 102, Leuven, Belgium(1)
| | - Rudi D'Hooge
- Research Groups of Biological Psychology, Tiensestraat 102, Leuven, Belgium(1).
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Noel JP, Failla MD, Quinde-Zlibut JM, Williams ZJ, Gerdes M, Tracy JM, Zoltowski AR, Foss-Feig JH, Nichols H, Armstrong K, Heckers SH, Blake RR, Wallace MT, Park S, Cascio CJ. Visual-Tactile Spatial Multisensory Interaction in Adults With Autism and Schizophrenia. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:578401. [PMID: 33192716 PMCID: PMC7644602 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.578401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SZ) exhibit multisensory processing difficulties and social impairments, with growing evidence that the former contributes to the latter. However, this work has largely reported on separate cohorts, introducing method variance as a barrier to drawing broad conclusions across studies. Further, very few studies have addressed touch, resulting in sparse knowledge about how these two clinical groups may integrate somatic information with other senses. Methods: In this study, we compared adults with ASD (n = 29), SZ (n = 24), and typical developmental histories (TD, n = 37) on two tasks requiring visual-tactile spatial multisensory processing. In the first task (crossmodal congruency), participants judged the location of a tactile stimulus in the presence or absence of simultaneous visual input that was either spatially congruent or incongruent, with poorer performance for incongruence an index of spatial multisensory interaction. In the second task, participants reacted to touch in the presence or absence of dynamic visual stimuli that appeared to approach or recede from the body. Within a certain radius around the body, defined as peripersonal space (PPS), an approaching visual or auditory stimulus reliably speeds reaction times (RT) to touch; outside of this radius, in extrapersonal space (EPS), there is no multisensory effect. PPS can be defined both by its size (radius) and slope (sharpness of the PPS-EPS boundary). Clinical measures were administered to explore relations with visual-tactile processing. Results: Neither clinical group differed from controls on the crossmodal congruency task. The ASD group had significantly smaller and more sharply-defined PPSs compared to the other two groups. Small PPS size was related to social symptom severity across groups, but was largely driven by the TD group, without significant effects in either clinical group. Conclusions: These results suggest that: (1) spatially static visual-tactile facilitation is intact in adults with ASD and SZ, (2) spatially dynamic visual-tactile facilitation impacting perception of the body boundary is affected in ASD but not SZ, and (3) body boundary perception is related to social-emotional function, but not in a way that maps on to clinical status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Paul Noel
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Michelle D. Failla
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | | | - Zachary J. Williams
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Madison Gerdes
- School of Criminology and Justice Policty, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Alisa R. Zoltowski
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Jennifer H. Foss-Feig
- Department of Psychiatry and Seaver Center for Autism Research, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, United States
| | - Heathman Nichols
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Kristan Armstrong
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Stephan H. Heckers
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Randolph R. Blake
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Mark T. Wallace
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Sohee Park
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Carissa J. Cascio
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Nashville, TN, United States
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28
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Lahnakoski JM, Forbes PA, McCall C, Schilbach L. Unobtrusive tracking of interpersonal orienting and distance predicts the subjective quality of social interactions. R Soc Open Sci 2020; 7:191815. [PMID: 32968493 PMCID: PMC7481680 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2020] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Interpersonal coordination of behaviour is essential for smooth social interactions. Measures of interpersonal behaviour, however, often rely on subjective evaluations, invasive measurement techniques or gross measures of motion. Here, we constructed an unobtrusive motion tracking system that enables detailed analysis of behaviour at the individual and interpersonal levels, which we validated using wearable sensors. We evaluate dyadic measures of joint orienting and distancing, synchrony and gaze behaviours to summarize data collected during natural conversation and joint action tasks. Our results demonstrate that patterns of proxemic behaviours, rather than more widely used measures of interpersonal synchrony, best predicted the subjective quality of the interactions. Increased distance between participants predicted lower enjoyment, while increased joint orienting towards each other during cooperation correlated with increased effort reported by the participants. Importantly, the interpersonal distance was most informative of the quality of interaction when task demands and experimental control were minimal. These results suggest that interpersonal measures of behaviour gathered during minimally constrained social interactions are particularly sensitive for the subjective quality of social interactions and may be useful for interaction-based phenotyping for further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juha M. Lahnakoski
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804 Munich, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Paul A.G. Forbes
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Cade McCall
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Leonhard Schilbach
- Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804 Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Nussbaumstr. 7, 80336 Munich, Germany
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29
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Honma M, Itoi C, Midorikawa A, Terao Y, Masaoka Y, Kuroda T, Futamura A, Shiromaru A, Ohta H, Kato N, Kawamura M, Ono K. Contraction of distance and duration production in autism spectrum disorder. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8806. [PMID: 31217506 PMCID: PMC6584662 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-45250-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) presents certain hallmark features associated with cognitive and social functions, however, the ability to estimate self-generated distance and duration in individuals with ASD are unclear. We compared the performance of 20 ASD individuals with 20 typical developments (TDs) with respect to two tasks: (1) the drawing of a line of a specified distance (10 or 20 cm) and (2) waiting for a specified time (10 or 20 s). We observed that both the line distances and waiting times were substantially shorter in the ASD group than in the TD group. Furthermore, a trait of "attention to detail," as measured by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, correlated with some distance and duration productions observed in individuals with ASD. We suggest that attentional functions are related to the contraction of distance and duration in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Motoyasu Honma
- Department of Physiology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Chihiro Itoi
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akira Midorikawa
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yasuo Terao
- Department of Physiology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yuri Masaoka
- Department of Physiology, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takeshi Kuroda
- Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akinori Futamura
- Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Azusa Shiromaru
- Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Haruhisa Ohta
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Nobumasa Kato
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Mitsuru Kawamura
- Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kenjiro Ono
- Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
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30
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Abstract
Violations of personal space are associated with discomfort. However, the exact function linking the magnitude of discomfort to interpersonal distance has not yet been specified. In this study, we explore whether interpersonal distance and discomfort are isotropic with respect to uncomfortably far or close distances. We also extend previous findings with regard to intrusions into personal space as well as maintenance of distances outside of personal space. We presented subjects with 15 interpersonal distances ranging from 40 to 250 cm and obtained verbal and joystick-based ratings of discomfort. Whereas discomfort rose immediately when personal space was entered, the gradient was less steep for distances that exceeded the comfort region of personal space. Thus, personal space is anisotropic with regard to experienced discomfort.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Welsch
- Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Heiko Hecht
- Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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31
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Tei S, Fujino J, Itahashi T, Aoki Y, Ohta H, Kubota M, Hashimoto R, Nakamura M, Kato N, Takahashi H. Egocentric biases and atypical generosity in autistic individuals. Autism Res 2019; 12:1598-1608. [DOI: 10.1002/aur.2130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2018] [Revised: 03/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shisei Tei
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities ResearchShowa University Tokyo Japan
- Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of MedicineKyoto University Kyoto Japan
- Institute of Applied Brain SciencesWaseda University Saitama Japan
- School of Human and Social SciencesTokyo International University Saitama Japan
| | - Junya Fujino
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities ResearchShowa University Tokyo Japan
- Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of MedicineKyoto University Kyoto Japan
| | - Takashi Itahashi
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities ResearchShowa University Tokyo Japan
| | - Yuta Aoki
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities ResearchShowa University Tokyo Japan
| | - Haruhisa Ohta
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities ResearchShowa University Tokyo Japan
- Department of Psychiatry, School of MedicineShowa University Tokyo Japan
| | - Manabu Kubota
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities ResearchShowa University Tokyo Japan
- Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of MedicineKyoto University Kyoto Japan
- Department of Functional Brain Imaging, National Institute of Radiological SciencesNational Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology Chiba Japan
| | - Ryu‐ichiro Hashimoto
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities ResearchShowa University Tokyo Japan
- Department of Language Sciences, Graduate School of HumanitiesTokyo Metropolitan University Tokyo Japan
| | - Motoaki Nakamura
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities ResearchShowa University Tokyo Japan
- Kanagawa Psychiatric Center Yokohama Kanagawa Japan
| | - Nobumasa Kato
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities ResearchShowa University Tokyo Japan
| | - Hidehiko Takahashi
- Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities ResearchShowa University Tokyo Japan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesGraduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences Tokyo Medical and Dental University Tokyo Japan
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32
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Mul CL, Cardini F, Stagg SD, Sadeghi Esfahlani S, Kiourtsoglou D, Cardellicchio P, Aspell JE. Altered bodily self-consciousness and peripersonal space in autism. Autism 2019; 23:2055-2067. [DOI: 10.1177/1362361319838950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
There is some evidence that disordered self-processing in autism spectrum disorders is linked to the social impairments characteristic of the condition. To investigate whether bodily self-consciousness is altered in autism spectrum disorders as a result of multisensory processing differences, we tested responses to the full body illusion and measured peripersonal space in 22 adults with autism spectrum disorders and 29 neurotypical adults. In the full body illusion set-up, participants wore a head-mounted display showing a view of their ‘virtual body’ being stroked synchronously or asynchronously with respect to felt stroking on their back. After stroking, we measured the drift in perceived self-location and self-identification with the virtual body. To assess the peripersonal space boundary we employed an audiotactile reaction time task. The results showed that participants with autism spectrum disorders are markedly less susceptible to the full body illusion, not demonstrating the illusory self-identification and self-location drift. Strength of self-identification was negatively correlated with severity of autistic traits and contributed positively to empathy scores. The results also demonstrated a significantly smaller peripersonal space, with a sharper (steeper) boundary, in autism spectrum disorders participants. These results suggest that bodily self-consciousness is altered in participants with autism spectrum disorders due to differences in multisensory integration, and this may be linked to deficits in social functioning.
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33
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Endo N, Ujita W, Fujiwara M, Miyauchi H, Mishima H, Makino Y, Hashimoto L, Oyama H, Makinodan M, Nishi M, Tohyama C, Kakeyama M. Multiple animal positioning system shows that socially-reared mice influence the social proximity of isolation-reared cagemates. Commun Biol 2018; 1:225. [PMID: 30564746 PMCID: PMC6290015 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-018-0213-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 11/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Social relationships are a key determinant of social behaviour, and disruption of social behaviour is a major symptom of several psychiatric disorders. However, few studies have analysed social relationships among multiple individuals in a group or how social relationships within a group influence the behaviour of members with impaired socialisation. Here, we developed a video-analysis-based system, the Multiple-Animal Positioning System (MAPS), to automatically and separately analyse the social behaviour of multiple individuals in group housing. Using MAPS, we show that social isolation of male mice during adolescence leads to impaired social proximity in adulthood. The phenotype of these socially isolated mice was partially rescued by cohabitation with group-housed (socially-reared) mice, indicating that both individual behavioural traits and those of cagemates influence social proximity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that low reactive behaviour of other cagemates also influence individual social proximity in male mice. Nozomi Endo, Waka Ujita et al. present a video-based system for analysing social behaviour of groups of mice. They find that male mice reared in isolation have impaired social proximity in adulthood, but this is partially rescued by cohabitation with socially-reared mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nozomi Endo
- 1Laboratory of Environmental Health Sciences, Center for Disease Biology and Integrative Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo, 113-0033 Japan.,2Laboratory for Systems Neurosciences and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan.,3Research Institute for Environmental Medical Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan.,4Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, 634-8521 Japan
| | - Waka Ujita
- 1Laboratory of Environmental Health Sciences, Center for Disease Biology and Integrative Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo, 113-0033 Japan.,2Laboratory for Systems Neurosciences and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan.,3Research Institute for Environmental Medical Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan.,5Department of Clinical Information Engineering, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033 Japan
| | - Masaya Fujiwara
- 3Research Institute for Environmental Medical Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan
| | - Hideaki Miyauchi
- 3Research Institute for Environmental Medical Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan.,COCOSNET Ltd., 2-4-29 Kiyokawa, Fukuoka, 810-0005 Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Mishima
- 3Research Institute for Environmental Medical Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan.,7Laboratory for Ecological Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan
| | - Yusuke Makino
- 2Laboratory for Systems Neurosciences and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan.,3Research Institute for Environmental Medical Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan
| | - Lisa Hashimoto
- 2Laboratory for Systems Neurosciences and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan.,3Research Institute for Environmental Medical Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan
| | - Hiroshi Oyama
- 5Department of Clinical Information Engineering, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033 Japan
| | - Manabu Makinodan
- 8Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, 634-8521 Japan
| | - Mayumi Nishi
- 4Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, 634-8521 Japan
| | - Chiharu Tohyama
- 1Laboratory of Environmental Health Sciences, Center for Disease Biology and Integrative Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo, 113-0033 Japan.,3Research Institute for Environmental Medical Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan.,9Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, 305-8575 Japan
| | - Masaki Kakeyama
- 1Laboratory of Environmental Health Sciences, Center for Disease Biology and Integrative Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo, 113-0033 Japan.,2Laboratory for Systems Neurosciences and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan.,3Research Institute for Environmental Medical Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, 359-1192 Japan
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34
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolien Hermans
- School for Arts and Economics, University of the Arts Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
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35
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Abstract
Background Experimental and longitudinal evidence suggests that motor proficiency plays an important role in the development of social skills. However, stereopsis, or depth perception, may also play a fundamental role in social skill development either indirectly through its impact on motor skills or through a more direct route. To date, no systematic study has investigated the relationship between social skills and motor ability in the general adult population, and whether poor stereopsis may contribute to this association. This has implications for clinical populations since research has shown associations between motor abnormalities and social skills, as well as reduced depth perception in autism spectrum disorder and developmental coordination disorder. Methods Six hundred fifty adults completed three validated questionnaires, the stereopsis screening inventory, the Adult Developmental Coordination Disorder Checklist, and the Autism Spectrum Quotient. Results An exploratory factor analysis on pooled items across all measures revealed 10 factors that were largely composed of items from a single scale, indicating that any co-occurrence of poor stereopsis, reduced motor proficiency, and difficulties with social interaction cannot be attributed to a single underlying mechanism. Correlations between extracted factor scores found associations between motor skill and social skill. Conclusions Mediation analyses suggested that whilst fine motor skill and coordination explained the relationship between stereopsis and social skill to some extent, stereopsis nonetheless exerted a substantial direct effect upon social skill. This is the first study to demonstrate that the functional significance of stereopsis is not limited to motor ability and may directly impact upon social functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle Smith
- Research and Development Department, Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Carleton Clinic, Carlisle, CA1 3SX UK
| | - Danielle Ropar
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Harriet A Allen
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
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36
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Vagnoni E, Lewis J, Tajadura-Jiménez A, Cardini F. Listening to a conversation with aggressive content expands the interpersonal space. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0192753. [PMID: 29590110 PMCID: PMC5873936 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2017] [Accepted: 01/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The distance individuals maintain between themselves and others can be defined as ‘interpersonal space’. This distance can be modulated both by situational factors and individual characteristics. Here we investigated the influence that the interpretation of other people interaction, in which one is not directly involved, may have on a person’s interpersonal space. In the current study we measured, for the first time, whether the size of interpersonal space changes after listening to other people conversations with neutral or aggressive content. The results showed that the interpersonal space expands after listening to a conversation with aggressive content relative to a conversation with a neutral content. This finding suggests that participants tend to distance themselves from an aggressive confrontation even if they are not involved in it. These results are in line with the view of the interpersonal space as a safety zone surrounding one’s body.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora Vagnoni
- Department of Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Human Technologies, Genoa, Italy
| | - Jessica Lewis
- Department of Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Ana Tajadura-Jiménez
- Interactive Systems DEI-Lab, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- UCL Interaction Centre (UCLIC), University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Flavia Cardini
- Department of Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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37
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Fineberg SK, Leavitt J, Landry CD, Neustadter ES, Lesser RE, Stahl DS, Deutsch-Link S, Corlett PR. Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder show larger preferred social distance in live dyadic interactions. Psychiatry Res 2018; 260:384-390. [PMID: 29248760 PMCID: PMC5972044 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.11.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2017] [Revised: 11/18/2017] [Accepted: 11/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Personal space regulation is a key component of effective social engagement. Personal space varies among individuals and with some mental health conditions. Simulated personal space intrusions in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) reveal larger preferred interpersonal distance in that setting. These findings led us to conduct the first test of live interpersonal distance preferences in symptoms in BPD. With direct observation of subjects' personal space behavior in the stop-distance paradigm, we found a 2-fold larger preferred interpersonal distance in BPD than control (n = 30, n = 23). We discuss this result in context of known biology and etiology of BPD. Future work is needed to identify neural circuits underlying personal space regulation in BPD, individual differences in preferred interpersonal distance in relation to specific symptoms and relationship to recovery status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah K. Fineberg
- Yale University Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, CT, USA,Sarah Fineberg, MD, PhD; Yale University Department of Psychiatry Connecticut Mental Health Center, 34 Park Street, New Haven CT 06519 203-974-7265
| | - Jacob Leavitt
- Yale University Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Eli S. Neustadter
- Department of Psychological Medicine and Rehabilitation, Cedars Sinai Medical Center
| | - Rebecca E. Lesser
- Department of Psychological Medicine and Rehabilitation, Cedars Sinai Medical Center
| | - Dylan S. Stahl
- Yale University Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, CT, USA,Knox College, Galesburg, IL, USA
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38
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Shigeta M, Sawatome A, Ichikawa H, Takemura H. Correlation between Autistic Traits and Gait Characteristics while Two Persons Walk Toward Each Other. ABE 2018. [DOI: 10.14326/abe.7.55] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Masahiro Shigeta
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science
| | - Akira Sawatome
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
| | - Hiroko Ichikawa
- Liberal Arts, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science
| | - Hiroshi Takemura
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science
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Kawasaki M, Kitajo K, Fukao K, Murai T, Yamaguchi Y, Funabiki Y. Frontal theta activation during motor synchronization in autism. Sci Rep 2017; 7:15034. [PMID: 29118348 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14508-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2016] [Accepted: 10/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism is characterized by two primary characteristics: deficits in social interaction and repetitive behavioral patterns. Because interpersonal communication is extremely complicated, its underlying brain mechanisms remain unclear. Here we showed that both characteristics can be explained by a unifying underlying mechanism related to difficulties with irregularities. To address the issues, we measured electroencephalographm during a cooperative tapping task, which required participants to tap a key alternately and synchronously with constant rhythmic a PC program, a variable rhythmic PC program, or a human partner. We found that people with autism had great difficulty synchronizing tapping behavior with others, and exhibited greater than normal theta-wave (6 Hz) activity in the frontal cortex during the task, especially when their partner behaved somewhat irregularly (i.e. a variable rhythmic PC program or a human partner). Importantly, the higher theta-wave activity was related to the severity of autism, not the performance on the task. This indicates that people with autism need to use intense cognition when trying to adapt to irregular behavior and can easily become overtaxed. Difficulty adapting to irregular behavior in others is likely related to their own tendencies for repetitive and regular behaviors. Thus, while the two characteristics of autism have been comprehended separately, our unifying theory makes understanding the condition and developing therapeutic strategies more tractable.
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Asada K, Tojo Y, Hakarino K, Saito A, Hasegawa T, Kumagaya S. Brief Report: Body Image in Autism: Evidence from Body Size Estimation. J Autism Dev Disord 2018; 48:611-8. [PMID: 29038931 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3323-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties with social interaction and communication. First-hand accounts written by individuals with ASD have shown the existence of other atypical characteristics such as difficulties with body awareness. However, few studies have examined whether such atypicalities are found more generally among individuals with ASD. We examined body image (i.e., self-body awareness) by asking individuals with ASD and typically developing (TD) individuals to estimate their own body size (shoulder width). Results show that TD individuals estimated their shoulder width more accurately than individuals with ASD. This study suggests that individuals with ASD often experience misperceptions in their body size.
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Abstract
Interpersonal space (e.g., IPS) refers to the physical distance individuals maintain from others during social interactions, and into which intrusion by others can cause discomfort. Here, we asked whether the size of IPS is affected by manipulation of one’s own body representation. To address this issue, in Experiment 1, IPS was measured through a comfort-distance task, before and after eliciting the illusion of owning an invisible body. To rule out a general, nonspecific change in space perception consequent the illusion, we also assessed peripersonal space, e.g., PPS, the area around the body used to act on nearby objects, through a reaching-distance task. Results showed that the experience of invisibility induces a selective contraction of IPS, without affecting the perceived reaching space around the body. In Experiment 2, a tool-use manipulation produced the opposite dissociation, modifying the boundaries of PPS, but leaving IPS distance unaltered. Collectively, these findings support a close relationship between IPS and the conscious representation of the body external appearance, i.e. the body image, and suggest the existence of two functionally separate representations of the space immediately surrounding the body in humans, which may form the basis of distinct processes engaged for different behavioural contexts.
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Sasson NJ, Faso DJ, Nugent J, Lovell S, Kennedy DP, Grossman RB. Neurotypical Peers are Less Willing to Interact with Those with Autism based on Thin Slice Judgments. Sci Rep 2017; 7:40700. [PMID: 28145411 PMCID: PMC5286449 DOI: 10.1038/srep40700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 193] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2016] [Accepted: 12/07/2016] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including those who otherwise require less support, face severe difficulties in everyday social interactions. Research in this area has primarily focused on identifying the cognitive and neurological differences that contribute to these social impairments, but social interaction by definition involves more than one person and social difficulties may arise not just from people with ASD themselves, but also from the perceptions, judgments, and social decisions made by those around them. Here, across three studies, we find that first impressions of individuals with ASD made from thin slices of real-world social behavior by typically-developing observers are not only far less favorable across a range of trait judgments compared to controls, but also are associated with reduced intentions to pursue social interaction. These patterns are remarkably robust, occur within seconds, do not change with increased exposure, and persist across both child and adult age groups. However, these biases disappear when impressions are based on conversational content lacking audio-visual cues, suggesting that style, not substance, drives negative impressions of ASD. Collectively, these findings advocate for a broader perspective of social difficulties in ASD that considers both the individual’s impairments and the biases of potential social partners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noah J Sasson
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, GR41, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX, 75080-3021, USA
| | - Daniel J Faso
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, GR41, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX, 75080-3021, USA
| | - Jack Nugent
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Sarah Lovell
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116, USA
| | - Daniel P Kennedy
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Ruth B Grossman
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116, USA
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Abstract
Schizophrenia (SZ) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been both described as disorders of the self. However, the manner in which the sense of self is impacted in these disorders is strikingly different. In the current review, we propose that SZ and ASD lay at opposite extremes of a particular component of the representation of self; namely, self-location and the construct of peripersonal space. We evaluate emerging literature suggesting that while SZ individuals possess an extremely weak or variable bodily boundary between self and other, ASD patients possess a sharper self-other boundary. Furthermore, based on recent behavioral and neural network modeling findings, we propose that multisensory training focused on either sharpening (for SZ) or making shallower (for ASD) the self-other boundary may hold promise as an interventional tool in the treatment of these disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Paul Noel
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - Carissa J Cascio
- Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Mark T Wallace
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Hearing and Speech, Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Sohee Park
- Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
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Perry A, Lwi SJ, Verstaen A, Dewar C, Levenson RW, Knight RT. The role of the orbitofrontal cortex in regulation of interpersonal space: evidence from frontal lesion and frontotemporal dementia patients. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2016; 11:1894-1901. [PMID: 27510497 PMCID: PMC5141960 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsw109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2016] [Revised: 06/02/2016] [Accepted: 08/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Interpersonal distance is central to communication and complex social behaviors but the neural correlates of interpersonal distance preferences are not defined. Previous studies suggest that damage to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is associated with impaired interpersonal behavior. To examine whether the OFC is critical for maintaining appropriate interpersonal distance, we tested two groups of patients with OFC damage: Patients with OFC lesions and patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. These two groups were compared to healthy controls and to patients with lesions restricted to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Only patients with OFC damage showed abnormal interpersonal distance preferences, which were significantly different from both controls and patients with dorsolateral prefrontal damage. The comfortable distances these patients chose with strangers were significantly closer than the other groups and resembled distances normally used with close others. These results shed light on the role of the OFC in regulating social behavior and may serve as a simple diagnostic tool for dementia or lesion patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anat Perry
- University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Corbett BA, Muscatello RA, Blain SD. Impact of Sensory Sensitivity on Physiological Stress Response and Novel Peer Interaction in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Neurosci 2016; 10:278. [PMID: 27445653 PMCID: PMC4917546 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2016.00278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: For many children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), social interactions can be stressful. Previous research shows that youth with ASD exhibit greater physiological stress response during peer interaction, compared to typically developing (TD) peers. Heightened sensory sensitivity may contribute to maladaptive patterns of stress and anxiety. The current study investigated between-group differences in stress response to peer interaction, as well as the role of sensory sensitivity. Methods: Participants included 80 children (40 ASD) between 8 and 12 years. Children participated in the peer interaction paradigm (PIP), an ecologically valid protocol that simulates real-world social interaction. Salivary cortisol was collected before and after the 20 min PIP. Parents completed questionnaires pertaining to child stress (Stress Survey Schedule) and sensory sensitivity (Short Sensory Profile). Statistical analyses included t-tests and ANCOVA models to examine between-group differences in cortisol and play; Pearson correlations to determine relations between cortisol, play, and questionnaire scores; and moderation analyses to investigate interactions among variables. Results: Controlling for baseline cortisol values, children with ASD showed significantly higher cortisol levels than TD peers, in response to the PIP [F(1, 77) = 5.77, p = 0.02]. Cortisol during play was negatively correlated with scores on the SSP (r = −0.242, p = 0.03), and positively correlated with SSS (r = 0.273, p = 0.02) indicating that higher cortisol was associated with greater sensory sensitivity (lower SSP reflects more impairment) and enhanced stress in various contexts (higher SSS reflects more stress). Furthermore, diagnosis was a significant moderator of the relation between cortisol and SSP, at multiple time points during the PIP (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The current study extends previous findings by showing that higher physiological arousal during play is associated with heightened sensory sensitivity and a pattern of increased stress in various contexts. Results are discussed in a broader context, emphasizing the need to examine relationships between social, behavioral, and physiological profiles in ASD to enhance understanding and improve treatments aimed at ameliorating stress and sensory dysfunction, while enhancing social skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blythe A Corbett
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, TN, USA
| | - Rachael A Muscatello
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Scott D Blain
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN, USA
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Abstract
The integration of information across different sensory modalities is known to be dependent upon the statistical characteristics of the stimuli to be combined. For example, the spatial and temporal proximity of stimuli are important determinants with stimuli that are close in space and time being more likely to be bound. These multisensory interactions occur not only for singular points in space/time, but over “windows” of space and time that likely relate to the ecological statistics of real-world stimuli. Relatedly, human psychophysical work has demonstrated that individuals are highly prone to judge multisensory stimuli as co-occurring over a wide range of time—a so-called simultaneity window (SW). Similarly, there exists a spatial representation of peripersonal space (PPS) surrounding the body in which stimuli related to the body and to external events occurring near the body are highly likely to be jointly processed. In the current study, we sought to examine the interaction between these temporal and spatial dimensions of multisensory representation by measuring the SW for audiovisual stimuli through proximal–distal space (i.e., PPS and extrapersonal space). Results demonstrate that the audiovisual SWs within PPS are larger than outside PPS. In addition, we suggest that this effect is likely due to an automatic and additional computation of these multisensory events in a body-centered reference frame. We discuss the current findings in terms of the spatiotemporal constraints of multisensory interactions and the implication of distinct reference frames on this process.
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Candini M, Giuberti V, Manattini A, Grittani S, di Pellegrino G, Frassinetti F. Personal space regulation in childhood autism: Effects of social interaction and person's perspective. Autism Res 2016; 10:144-154. [DOI: 10.1002/aur.1637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2015] [Revised: 01/22/2016] [Accepted: 03/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michela Candini
- Department of Psychology; University of Bologna; Bologna Italy
| | | | | | | | - Giuseppe di Pellegrino
- Department of Psychology; University of Bologna; Bologna Italy
- Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience; Cesena Italy
| | - Francesca Frassinetti
- Department of Psychology; University of Bologna; Bologna Italy
- Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri Hospital IRCCS; Castel Goffredo Mantova Italy
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Perry A, Nichiporuk N, Knight RT. Where does one stand: a biological account of preferred interpersonal distance. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2016; 11:317-26. [PMID: 26350617 PMCID: PMC4733343 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsv115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2015] [Revised: 08/11/2015] [Accepted: 09/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
What determines how close you choose to stand to someone? Why do some people prefer farther distances than others? We hypothesized that an important factor is one's sensory sensitivity level, i.e. how sensitive one is to nearby visual stimulation, noise, touch or smell. This study characterizes the behavioral, hormonal and electrophysiological metrics of interpersonal distance (IPD) preferences in relation to levels of sensory sensitivity. Using both an ecologically realistic task and electroencephalogram (EEG), we found that sensory sensitivity levels predicted IPD preferences, such that the more sensitive one is the farther distance they prefer. Furthermore, electrophysiological evidence revealed that individuals with higher sensory sensitivity show more alpha suppression for approaching stimuli, strengthening the notion that early sensory cortical excitability is involved in one's social decision of how close to stand to another. The results provide evidence that a core human metric of social interaction is influenced by individual levels of sensory sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anat Perry
- The Psychology Department and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | - Robert T Knight
- The Psychology Department and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Asada K, Tojo Y, Osanai H, Saito A, Hasegawa T, Kumagaya S. Reduced Personal Space in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0146306. [PMID: 26814479 PMCID: PMC4729526 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2015] [Accepted: 12/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Maintaining an appropriate distance from others is important for establishing effective communication and good interpersonal relations. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder associated with social difficulties, and it is thus worth examining whether individuals with ASD maintain typical or atypical degrees of social distance. Any atypicality of social distancing may impact daily social interactions. We measured the preferred distances when individuals with ASD and typically developing (TD) individuals approached other people (a male experimenter) and objects (a coat rack with clothes) or when other people approached them. Individuals with ASD showed reduced interpersonal distances compared to TD individuals. The same tendency was found when participants judged their preferred distance from objects. In addition, when being approached by other people, both individuals with ASD and TD individuals maintained larger interpersonal distances when there was eye contact, compared to no eye contact. These results suggest that individuals with ASD have a relatively small personal space, and that this atypicality exists not only for persons but also for objects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kosuke Asada
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- * E-mail:
| | - Yoshikuni Tojo
- College of Education, Ibaraki University, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Hiroo Osanai
- Musashino Higashi Center for Education and Research, Musashino Higashi Gakuen, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Atsuko Saito
- Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Toshikazu Hasegawa
- Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shinichiro Kumagaya
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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