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Reduced nonverbal interpersonal synchrony in autism spectrum disorder independent of partner diagnosis: a motion energy study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:One of the main diagnostic features of individuals with autism spectrum disorders is nonverbal behaviour difficulties during naturalistic social interactions. The 'Interactional Heterogeneity Hypothesis' of ASD proposes that the degree to which individuals share a common ground substantially influences their ability to achieve smooth social interactions. METHODS:To test this hypothesis, we filmed 29 autistic and 29 matched typically developed adults engaged in several conversational tasks. Windowed cross-lagged correlations were computed using the time series of motion energy of both individuals in a dyad. These coefficients were then compared across the three dyad types that were homo- or heterogenous with respect to diagnosis: pairs of two autistic individuals, two typically developed individuals or pairs of one autistic and one typically developed person. RESULTS:We found that all dyad types achieved above-chance interpersonal synchrony, but that synchrony was more expressed in typical dyads compared to both autistic and mixed dyads. LIMITATIONS:The method presented here provides only one, albeit objective and robust, approach to explore synchrony. The methodological choices as well as the lack of consideration for other communication modalities may limit our interpretation of the findings. Moreover, the sample size is small with respect to exploring associations between synchrony and various outcome and social skill measures. CONCLUSIONS:The present results do not provide support for the Interactional Heterogeneity Hypothesis given that autistic individuals do not coordinate better when interacting with another autistic individual, compared to when interacting with a typical individual.

SUBMITTER: Georgescu AL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6998161 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Reduced nonverbal interpersonal synchrony in autism spectrum disorder independent of partner diagnosis: a motion energy study.

Georgescu A L AL Koeroglu S S Hamilton A F de C AFC Vogeley K K Falter-Wagner C M CM Tschacher W W

Molecular autism 20200203 1

<h4>Background</h4>One of the main diagnostic features of individuals with autism spectrum disorders is nonverbal behaviour difficulties during naturalistic social interactions. The 'Interactional Heterogeneity Hypothesis' of ASD proposes that the degree to which individuals share a common ground substantially influences their ability to achieve smooth social interactions.<h4>Methods</h4>To test this hypothesis, we filmed 29 autistic and 29 matched typically developed adults engaged in several c ...[more]

PMID: 32014017

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Project description:Engaging in socially embedded actions such as imitation and interpersonal synchrony facilitates relationships with peers and caregivers. Imitation and interpersonal synchrony impairments of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) might contribute to their difficulties in connecting and learning from others. Previous fMRI studies investigated cortical activation in children with ASD during finger/hand movement imitation; however, we do not know whether these findings generalize to naturalistic face-to-face imitation/interpersonal synchrony tasks. Using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), the current study assessed the cortical activation of children with and without ASD during a face-to-face interpersonal synchrony task. Fourteen children with ASD and 17 typically developing (TD) children completed three conditions: a) Watch-observed an adult clean up blocks; b) Do-cleaned up the blocks on their own; and c) Together-synchronized their block clean up actions to that of an adult. Children with ASD showed lower spatial and temporal synchrony accuracies but intact motor accuracy during the Together/interpersonal synchrony condition. In terms of cortical activation, children with ASD had hypoactivation in the middle and inferior frontal gyri (MIFG) as well as middle and superior temporal gyri (MSTG) while showing hyperactivation in the inferior parietal cortices/lobule (IPL) compared to the TD children. During the Together condition, the TD children showed bilaterally symmetrical activation whereas children with ASD showed more left-lateralized activation over MIFG and right-lateralized activation over MSTG. Additionally, using ADOS scores, in children with ASD greater social affect impairment was associated with lower activation in the left MIFG and more repetitive behavior impairment was associated with greater activation over bilateral MSTG. In children with ASD better communication performance on the VABS was associated with greater MIFG and/or MSTG activation. We identified objective neural biomarkers that could be utilized as outcome predictors or treatment response indicators in future intervention studies.

Dataset Information

Reduced nonverbal interpersonal synchrony in autism spectrum disorder independent of partner diagnosis: a motion energy study.

Publications

Reduced nonverbal interpersonal synchrony in autism spectrum disorder independent of partner diagnosis: a motion energy study.

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