Emotional ego- and altercentric biases in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: Behavioral and neurophysiological evidence

Abstract

Self-other distinction is a crucial aspect of social cognition, as it allows us to differentiate our own mental and emotional states from those of others. Research suggests that this ability might be impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but convincing evidence of self-other distinction deficits in the emotional domain is lacking. Here we aimed at evaluating emotional self-other distinction abilities in adults with and without ASD, in two behavioral pilot studies and one fMRI study. By using a newly developed virtual ball-tossing game that induced simultaneous positive and negative emotional states in each participant and another person, we were able to measure emotional egocentric and altercentric biases (namely the tendency to ascribe self-/other-related emotions to others/ourselves, respectively). Despite no behavioral differences, individuals with ASD showed decreased activation 1) in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) during active overcoming of the emotional egocentric bias vs. passive game viewing, and 2) in the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) during ego-vs. altercentric biases, compared to neurotypical participants. These results suggest a different recruitment of these two regions in ASD when dealing with conflicting emotional states of oneself and another person. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of considering different control conditions when interpreting the involvement of rTPJ and rSMG during self-other distinction processes.

Self/other distinction in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessed with a double mirror paradigm

“…In the cognitive domain, ASD patients are assumed to have difficulty taking the perspective of others, and there are notable impairments in theory of mind (TOM) abilities with egocentric bias [13,14]. In the affective domain, individuals with ASD have been found to experience higher emotional contagion, in that they tend to conflate others' feelings with their own [15][16][17]. At the behavioural level, many examples of egocentricity can be found, e.g., the use of another's hand, echolalia (involuntary repetition of another person's vocalizations), echopraxia (involuntary repetition of another person's actions), and abnormalities in person deixis and pronoun reversal ("you" instead of "I") [18].…”

“…frequency range(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) were controlled by a PC using E-Prime software. This system enables the generation of different self-face and other-face perceptual conditions when two individuals, A and B, are facing either side of the mirror (Fig 1B):…”