ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to investigate abnormal findings of social brain network in Korean children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with typically developing children (TDC).MethodsFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed to examine brain activations during the processing of emotional faces (happy, fearful, and neutral) in 17 children with ASD, 24 TDC.ResultsWhen emotional face stimuli were given to children with ASD, various areas of the social brain relevant to social cognition showed reduced activation. Specifically, ASD children exhibited less activation in the right amygdala (AMY), right superior temporal sulcus (STS) and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) than TDC group when fearful faces were shown. Activation of left insular cortex and right IFG in response to happy faces was less in the ASD group. Similar findings were also found in left superior insular gyrus and right insula in case of neutral stimulation.ConclusionThese findings suggest that children with ASD have different processing of social and emotional experience at the neural level. In other words, the deficit of social cognition in ASD could be explained by the deterioration of the capacity for visual analysis of emotional faces, the subsequent inner imitation through mirror neuron system (MNS), and the ability to transmit it to the limbic system and to process the transmitted emotion.

LAY ABSTRACT The Social Responsiveness Scale(SRS) is an autism rating scales in widespread use, with over 20 official foreign language translations. It has proven highly feasible for quantitative ascertainment of autistic social impairment in public health settings, however, little is known about the validity of the reinforcement in Asia populations or in references to DSM5. The current study aims to evaluate psychometric properties and cross-cultural aspects of the SRS-Korean version (K-SRS). Our results indicate that the K-SRS exhibits adequate reliability and validity for measuring Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms in Korean children with DSM IV PDD and DSM5 ASD. Our findings further suggest that it is difficult to distinguish Social Communication Disorder (SCD) from other child psychiatric conditions using the K-SRS. This is the first study to examine the relationship between the SRS subscales and DSM5 based clinical diagnosis. This study provides cross-cultural confirmation of the factor structure of ASD symptoms and traits measured by the SRS. SCIENTIFIC ABSTRACT The Social Responsiveness Scale(SRS) is an autism rating scales in widespread use, with over 20 official foreign language translations. It has proven highly feasible for quantitative ascertainment of autistic social impairment in public health settings, however, little is known about the validity of the reinforcement in Asia populations or in references to DSM5. The current study aims to evaluate psychometric properties and cross-cultural aspects of the SRS-Korean version(K-SRS). The study subjects were ascertained from three samples: a general sample from 3 regular education elementary schools(n=790), a clinical sample(n=154) of 6–12-year-olds from four psychiatric clinics, and an epidemiological sample of children with ASD, diagnosed using both DSM IV PDD, DSM5 ASD and SCD criteria(n=151). Their parents completed the K-SRS and the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire(ASSQ). Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses and principal components analysis (PCA) were performed on the total population. Mean total scores on the K-SRS differed significantly between the three samples. ASSQ scores were significantly correlated with the K-SRS T-scores. PCA suggested a one-factor solution for the total population. Our results indicate that the K-SRS exhibits adequate reliability and validity for measuring ASD symptoms in Korean children with DSM IV PDD and DSM5 ASD. Our findings further suggest that it is difficult to distinguish SCD from other child psychiatric conditions using the K-SRS. This is the first study to examine the relationship between the SRS subscales and DSM5-based clinical diagnoses. This study provides cross-cultural confirmation of the factor structure for ASD symptoms and traits measured by the SRS.

PurposeWe aimed to determine whether Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) would show neural abnormality of the social reward system using functional MRI (fMRI).Materials and Methods27 ASDs and 12 typically developing controls (TDCs) participated in this study. The social reward task was developed, and all participants performed the task during fMRI scanning.ResultsASDs and TDCs with a social reward learning effect were selected on the basis of behavior data. We found significant differences in brain activation between the ASDs and TDCs showing a social reward learning effect. Compared with the TDCs, the ASDs showed reduced activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right orbitofrontal cortex, right parietal lobe, and occipital lobe; however, they showed increased activity in the right parahippocampal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus.ConclusionThese findings suggest that there might be neural abnormality of the social reward learning system of ASDs. Although this study has several potential limitations, it presents novel findings in the different neural mechanisms of social reward learning in children with ASD and a possible useful biomarker of high-functioning ASDs.