1
|
Olson HA, Johnson KT, Nishith S, Frosch IR, Gabrieli JD, D’Mello AM. When the Brain Cares: Personal interests amplify engagement of language, self-reference, and reward regions in the brains of children with and without autism. bioRxiv 2023:2023.03.21.533695. [PMID: 36993522 PMCID: PMC10055317 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.21.533695] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Human language is shaped by individual experiences and interests. However, to study language in the brain, researchers use generic stimuli, avoiding the variable personal interests that typically animate language. Thus, it is unknown how personal interests affect language function in the brain. We conducted personalized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 20 typically-developing children as they listened to personalized narratives about their specific interest and non-personalized, generic narratives. Personally-interesting narratives amplified engagement of language regions, producing more consistent activation patterns across individuals - even though each narrative was unique - than the generic narratives. The personalized narratives also engaged self-reference and reward areas of the brain associated with motivation. Amplification of brain responses to personally-interesting narratives was also observed in 15 autistic children, a condition characterized by both intense specific interests and difficulties with communication. Here we show that personal interests significantly affect language processing in the human brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Halie A. Olson
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Kristina T. Johnson
- Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Northeastern University
- Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Northeastern University
| | - Shruti Nishith
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | | | - John D.E. Gabrieli
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Anila M. D’Mello
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas Dallas
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
D'Mello AM, Frosch IR, Meisler SL, Grotzinger H, Perrachione TK, Gabrieli JDE. Diminished Repetition Suppression Reveals Selective and Systems-Level Face Processing Differences in ASD. J Neurosci 2023; 43:1952-1962. [PMID: 36759192 PMCID: PMC10027049 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0608-22.2023] [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: 03/21/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Repeated exposure to a stimulus results in reduced neural response, or repetition suppression, in brain regions responsible for processing that stimulus. This rapid accommodation to repetition is thought to underlie learning, stimulus selectivity, and strengthening of perceptual expectations. Importantly, reduced sensitivity to repetition has been identified in several neurodevelopmental, learning, and psychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by challenges in social communication and repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Reduced ability to exploit or learn from repetition in ASD is hypothesized to contribute to sensory hypersensitivities, and parallels several theoretical frameworks claiming that ASD individuals show difficulty using regularities in the environment to facilitate behavior. Using fMRI in autistic and neurotypical human adults (females and males), we assessed the status of repetition suppression across two modalities (vision, audition) and with four stimulus categories (faces, objects, printed words, and spoken words). ASD individuals showed domain-specific reductions in repetition suppression for face stimuli only, but not for objects, printed words, or spoken words. Reduced repetition suppression for faces was associated with greater challenges in social communication in ASD. We also found altered functional connectivity between atypically adapting cortical regions and higher-order face recognition regions, and microstructural differences in related white matter tracts in ASD. These results suggest that fundamental neural mechanisms and system-wide circuits are selectively altered for face processing in ASD and enhance our understanding of how disruptions in the formation of stable face representations may relate to higher-order social communication processes.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A common finding in neuroscience is that repetition results in plasticity in stimulus-specific processing regions, reflecting selectivity and adaptation (repetition suppression [RS]). RS is reduced in several neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Theoretical frameworks of ASD posit that reduced adaptation may contribute to associated challenges in social communication and sensory processing. However, the scope of RS differences in ASD is unknown. We examined RS for multiple categories across visual and auditory domains (faces, objects, printed words, spoken words) in autistic and neurotypical individuals. We found reduced RS in ASD for face stimuli only and altered functional connectivity and white matter microstructure between cortical face-recognition areas. RS magnitude correlated with social communication challenges among autistic individuals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anila M D'Mello
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
| | - Isabelle R Frosch
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
| | - Steven L Meisler
- Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02115
| | - Hannah Grotzinger
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
| | - Tyler K Perrachione
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215
| | - John D E Gabrieli
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Frosch IR, Damme KSF, Bernard JA, Mittal VA. Cerebellar correlates of social dysfunction among individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:1027470. [PMID: 36532176 PMCID: PMC9752902 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1027470] [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] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Social deficits are a significant feature among both individuals with psychosis and those at clinical high-risk (CHR) for developing psychosis. Critically, the psychosis risk syndrome emerges in adolescence and young adulthood, when social skill development is being fine-tuned. Yet, the underlying pathophysiology of social deficits in individuals at CHR for psychosis remains unclear. Literature suggests the cerebellum plays a critical role in social functioning. Cerebellar dysfunction in psychosis and CHR individuals is well-established, yet limited research has examined links between the cerebellum and social functioning deficits in this critical population. Method In the current study, 68 individuals at CHR for developing psychosis and 66 healthy controls (HCs) completed social processing measures (examining social interaction, social cognition, and global social functioning) and resting-state MRI scans. Seed-to-voxel resting-state connectivity analyses were employed to examine the relationship between social deficits and lobular cerebellar network connectivity. Results Analyses indicated that within the CHR group, each social domain variable was linked to reduced connectivity between social cerebellar subregions (e.g., Crus II, lobules VIIIa and VIIIb) and cortical regions (e.g., frontal pole and frontal gyrus), but a control cerebellar subregion (e.g., lobule X) and was unrelated to these social variables. Discussion These results indicate an association between several cerebellar lobules and specific deficits in social processing. The cerebellum, therefore, may be particularly salient to the social domain and future research is need to examine the role of the cerebellum in psychosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle R. Frosch
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Katherine S. F. Damme
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Jessica A. Bernard
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
- Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Vijay A. Mittal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
D'Mello AM, Frosch IR, Li CE, Cardinaux AL, Gabrieli JD. Exclusion of females in autism research: Empirical evidence for a "leaky" recruitment-to-research pipeline. Autism Res 2022; 15:1929-1940. [PMID: 36054081 PMCID: PMC9804357 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [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: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by challenges in social communication and the presence of repetitive behaviors or restricted interests. Notably, males are four times as likely as females to be diagnosed with autism. Despite efforts to increase representation and characterization of autistic females, research studies consistently enroll small samples of females, or exclude females altogether. Importantly, researchers often rely on standardized measures to confirm diagnosis prior to enrollment in research studies. We retrospectively analyzed the effects of one such measure (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, ADOS) on research inclusion/exclusion rates by sex in autistic adults, all of whom had a preexisting community diagnosis of autism (n = 145, 95 male, 50 female). Using the ADOS as a confirmatory diagnostic measure resulted in the exclusion of autistic females at a rate over 2.5 times higher than that of autistic males. We compared sex ratios in our sample to those in other large, publically available datasets that rely either on community diagnosis (6 datasets, total n = 42,209) or standardized assessments (2 datasets, total n = 214) to determine eligibility of participants for research. Reliance on community diagnosis rather than confirmatory diagnostic assessments resulted in significantly more equal sex ratios. These results provide evidence for a "leaky" recruitment-to-research pipeline for females in autism research. LAY SUMMARY: Despite efforts to increase the representation of autistic females in research, studies consistently enroll small samples of females or exclude females altogether. We find that despite making up almost 50% of the initially recruited sample based upon self-report of community diagnosis, autistic females are disproportonately excluded from research participation as a result of commonly used autism diagnostic measures. In our sample, and several other publically available datasets, reliance on community diagnosis resulted in significantly more equal sex ratios.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anila M. D'Mello
- McGovern Institute for Brain ResearchMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusettsUSA,Present address:
Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX; Peter J. O'Donnell Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX; Department of Psychology, University of Texas at DallasCambridgeRichardsonUSA
| | | | - Cindy E. Li
- Hock E. Tan and K. Lisa Yang Center for Autism Research at Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusettsUSA
| | - Annie L. Cardinaux
- McGovern Institute for Brain ResearchMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusettsUSA,Department of Brain and Cognitive SciencesMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusettsUSA
| | - John D.E. Gabrieli
- McGovern Institute for Brain ResearchMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusettsUSA,Department of Brain and Cognitive SciencesMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusettsUSA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Frosch IR, Mittal VA, D’Mello AM. Cerebellar Contributions to Social Cognition in ASD: A Predictive Processing Framework. Front Integr Neurosci 2022; 16:810425. [PMID: 35153691 PMCID: PMC8832100 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2022.810425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [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: 11/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Functional, structural, and cytoarchitectural differences in the cerebellum are consistently reported in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Despite this, the mechanisms governing cerebellar contributions to ASD, particularly within the sociocognitive domain, are not well understood. Recently, it has been suggested that several core features of ASD may be associated with challenges creating and using prior expectations or predictions to rapidly adapt to changing stimuli or situations, also known as adaptive prediction. Importantly, neuroimaging, clinical, and animal work find that the cerebellum supports adaptive prediction in both motor and non-motor domains. Perturbations to the cerebellum via injury or neuromodulation have been associated with impairments in predictive skills. Here, we review evidence for a cerebellar role in social cognition and adaptive prediction across individuals with and without ASD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle R. Frosch
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Vijay A. Mittal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston and Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Anila M. D’Mello
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- *Correspondence: Anila M. D’Mello
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Lee YJ, Guell X, Hubbard NA, Siless V, Frosch IR, Goncalves M, Lo N, Nair A, Ghosh SS, Hofmann SG, Auerbach RP, Pizzagalli DA, Yendiki A, Gabrieli JDE, Whitfield-Gabrieli S, Anteraper SA. Functional Alterations in Cerebellar Functional Connectivity in Anxiety Disorders. Cerebellum 2020; 20:392-401. [PMID: 33210245 PMCID: PMC8213597 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-020-01213-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Adolescents with anxiety disorders exhibit excessive emotional and somatic arousal. Neuroimaging studies have shown abnormal cerebral cortical activation and connectivity in this patient population. The specific role of cerebellar output circuitry, specifically the dentate nuclei (DN), in adolescent anxiety disorders remains largely unexplored. Resting-state functional connectivity analyses have parcellated the DN, the major output nuclei of the cerebellum, into three functional territories (FTs) that include default-mode, salience-motor, and visual networks. The objective of this study was to understand whether FTs of the DN are implicated in adolescent anxiety disorders. Forty-one adolescents (mean age 15.19 ± 0.82, 26 females) with one or more anxiety disorders and 55 age- and gender-matched healthy controls completed resting-state fMRI scans and a self-report survey on anxiety symptoms. Seed-to-voxel functional connectivity analyses were performed using the FTs from DN parcellation. Brain connectivity metrics were then correlated with State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) measures within each group. Adolescents with an anxiety disorder showed significant hyperconnectivity between salience-motor DN FT and cerebral cortical salience-motor regions compared to controls. Salience-motor FT connectivity with cerebral cortical sensorimotor regions was significantly correlated with STAI-trait scores in HC (R2 = 0.41). Here, we report DN functional connectivity differences in adolescents diagnosed with anxiety, as well as in HC with variable degrees of anxiety traits. These observations highlight the relevance of DN as a potential clinical and sub-clinical marker of anxiety.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yoon Ji Lee
- Department of Psychology, ISEC 672D, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | | | - Nicholas A Hubbard
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.,Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Viviana Siless
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | | | - Nicole Lo
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Atira Nair
- Department of Psychology, ISEC 672D, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Satrajit S Ghosh
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Anastasia Yendiki
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli
- Department of Psychology, ISEC 672D, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Hubbard NA, Siless V, Frosch IR, Goncalves M, Lo N, Wang J, Bauer CCC, Conroy K, Cosby E, Hay A, Jones R, Pinaire M, Vaz De Souza F, Vergara G, Ghosh S, Henin A, Hirshfeld-Becker DR, Hofmann SG, Rosso IM, Auerbach RP, Pizzagalli DA, Yendiki A, Gabrieli JDE, Whitfield-Gabrieli S. Brain function and clinical characterization in the Boston adolescent neuroimaging of depression and anxiety study. Neuroimage Clin 2020; 27:102240. [PMID: 32361633 PMCID: PMC7199015 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Revised: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
We present a Human Connectome Project study tailored toward adolescent anxiety and depression. This study is one of the first studies of the Connectomes Related to Human Diseases initiative and is collecting structural, functional, and diffusion-weighted brain imaging data from up to 225 adolescents (ages 14-17 years), 150 of whom are expected to have a current diagnosis of an anxiety and/or depressive disorder. Comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological evaluations and longitudinal clinical data are also being collected. This article provides an overview of task functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) protocols and preliminary findings (N = 140), as well as clinical and neuropsychological characterization of adolescents. Data collection is ongoing for an additional 85 adolescents, most of whom are expected to have a diagnosis of an anxiety and/or depressive disorder. Data from the first 140 adolescents are projected for public release through the National Institutes of Health Data Archive (NDA) with the timing of this manuscript. All other data will be made publicly-available through the NDA at regularly scheduled intervals. This article is intended to serve as an introduction to this project as well as a reference for those seeking to clinical, neurocognitive, and task fMRI data from this public resource.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- N A Hubbard
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - V Siless
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - I R Frosch
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - M Goncalves
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - N Lo
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - J Wang
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - C C C Bauer
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - K Conroy
- Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - E Cosby
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - A Hay
- Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - R Jones
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - M Pinaire
- Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - F Vaz De Souza
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - G Vergara
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - S Ghosh
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - A Henin
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - D R Hirshfeld-Becker
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - S G Hofmann
- Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - I M Rosso
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - R P Auerbach
- Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - D A Pizzagalli
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - A Yendiki
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - J D E Gabrieli
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - S Whitfield-Gabrieli
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States.
| |
Collapse
|