Executive Function Deficits in High‐Functioning Autistic Individuals: Relationship to Theory of Mind

Ozonoff, Sally J; Pennington, Bruce F.; Rogers, Sally J.

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1991.tb00351.x

Cited by 1,407 publications

(1,094 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Interestingly, significant correlations between success at ToM tests and EF tasks in young children with autism were found to be independent of age and verbal as well as non-verbal ability (Pellicano, 2007), with dissociations being found in one direction only, namely impaired ToM with intact EF, suggesting that EF may indeed be an important factor in ToM development in autism. Moreover neurological considerations have been evoked to substantiate the idea of a potential link between ToM and EF and to explain why children with ASD may suffer from deficits in both of these cognitive realms (Ozonoff, Pennington, & Rogers, 1991), namely that the same regions of the brain that have been claimed to be implicated in EF have also been implicated in ToM, i.e. the prefrontal cortex and the right hemisphere (McDonald, 1993;Alexander, Benson, & Stuss, 1989;Brownell, 2000).…”

Section: Executive Functioning In Tom Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring links between language and cognition in autism spectrum disorders: Complement sentences, false belief, and executive functioning

Durrleman

Franck

2015

Journal of Communication Disorders

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Section: Executive Functioning In Tom Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring links between language and cognition in autism spectrum disorders: Complement sentences, false belief, and executive functioning

Durrleman

Franck

2015

Journal of Communication Disorders

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“…The CAM tests recognising emotions independent of weak central coherence (Frith, 1989) or executive function (Ozonoff, Pennington, & Rogers, 1991) because there is minimal context or planning, which burden working memory. However, like almost everything, responses do of course require some minimal inhibition (the ability to go through all the answers and choose the best one) and working memory.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cambridge Mindreading (CAM) Face-Voice Battery: Testing Complex Emotion Recognition in Adults with and without Asperger Syndrome

Golan

Baron‐Cohen

Hill

2006

J Autism Dev Disord

268

195

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Adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) can recognise simple emotions and pass basic theory of mind tasks, but have difficulties recognising more complex emotions and mental states. This study describes a new battery of tasks, testing recognition of 20 complex emotions and mental states from faces and voices. The battery was given to males and females with AS and matched controls. Results showed the AS group performed worse than controls overall, on emotion recognition from faces and voices and on 12/20 specific emotions. Females recognised faces better than males regardless of diagnosis, and males with AS had more difficulties recognising emotions from faces than from voices. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to social functioning in AS.

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“…Planning is a complex, dynamic operation in which a sequence of planned actions must be constantly monitored, re-evaluated and updated.Children, adolescents and adults with autism have been reported to be impaired on planning tests,suchastheTower ofLondon(seeBox2).This is the case in relation to age-matched clinical control groups including dyslexia, ADHD and Tourette syndrome [19][20][21][22][23][24] as well as to age-matched normally developing individuals [21] (see Figure 1). Furthermore this impairment is maintained over time [23].…”

Section: Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Executive dysfunction in autism☆

Hill¹

2004

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

1,179

862

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Abstract'Executive function' is an umbrella term for functions such as planning, working memory, impulse control, inhibition and mental flexibility, as well as for the initiation and monitoring of action. The primacy of executive dysfunction in autism is a topic of much debate, as are recent attempts to examine subtypes of executive function within autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders that are considered to implicate frontal lobe function. This article will review cognitive behavioural studies of planning, mental flexibility and inhibition in autism. It is concluded that more detailed research is needed to fractionate the executive system in autism by assessing a wide range of executive functions as well as their neuroanatomical correlates in the same individuals across the lifespan.2 Executive dysfunction in autism.Goldsmiths Research Online.'Executive function' is traditionally used as an umbrella term for functions such as planning, working memory, impulse control, inhibition and shifting set as well as the initiation and monitoring of action [1]. These functions share the need to disengage from the immediate environment to guide actions. Executive functions are typically impaired in patients with acquired damage to the frontal lobes as well as in a range of neurodevelopmental disorders that are likely to involve congenital deficits in the frontal lobes. Such clinical disorders include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive compulsive disorder, Tourette syndrome, phenylketonuria, schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. It should be noted that executive dysfunction can be observed in those with acquired damage to non-frontal brain areas.Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder characterised by impaired social interaction and communication as well as repetitive behaviours and restricted interests. It is a lifelong disorder and affects at least 0.6% of the population with males being affected three times more often than females [2,3]. Estimates of learning disability vary. In a recent review of epidemiological studies the percentage of individuals with a learning disability is given as 70% [4]. Although different labels are used to define people at each end of the spectrum (e.g. autism, Asperger syndrome), 'autism' will be used in this review to refer to the whole spectrum.In recent years three key cognitive theories and their variants have been investigated in an attempt to understand the link between the brain and behaviour in autism. The most well-known of these is the theory of mind deficit hypothesis [5][6][7][8][9][10], and another account is that of weak central coherence [11][12][13][14][15] (see Box 1). Although these two accounts together can explain many of the deficits and assets associated with autism, repetitive behaviours and restricted interests might best be explained by a third cognitive theory: that of executive dysfunction. Executive dysfunction in autismOver the past twenty years several executive functions have been studied in autism. In this rev...

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Executive Function Deficits in High‐Functioning Autistic Individuals: Relationship to Theory of Mind

Cited by 1,407 publications

References 65 publications

Exploring links between language and cognition in autism spectrum disorders: Complement sentences, false belief, and executive functioning

Exploring links between language and cognition in autism spectrum disorders: Complement sentences, false belief, and executive functioning

The Cambridge Mindreading (CAM) Face-Voice Battery: Testing Complex Emotion Recognition in Adults with and without Asperger Syndrome

Executive dysfunction in autism☆

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