Face perception predicts affective theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder but not schizophrenia or typical development.

Altschuler, Melody R; Trevisan, Dominic A.; Wolf, Julie M.; Naples, Adam; Foss‐Feig, Jennifer H.; Srihari, Vinod H.; McPartland, James C.

doi:10.1037/abn0000621

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Studies examining emotion recognition in children and adolescents with ASD, ADHD, or SCZ showed overall inconclusive results. Some studies showed that the recognition of basic emotions in those psychiatric disorders seems to be similar to that of neuro-typical controls [ASD: ( 22 – 26 ); ADHD: ( 27 , 28 ); SCZ: ( 29 – 31 )], while other have revealed recognition difficulties [ASD: ( 23 , 32 , 33 ); ADHD: ( 34 – 36 ); SCZ: ( 37 – 39 )]. The inconsistency of results can be attributed to various methodological aspects (e.g., complexity of the task, time pressure, different stimuli and dependent variables) as well as sample heterogeneity [ASD: ( 40 ); ADHD: ( 41 ); SCZ: ( 42 )].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attention for Emotion—How Young Adults With Neurodevelopmental Disorders Look at Facial Expressions of Affect

et al. 2022

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While Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Schizophrenia (SCZ) differ in many clinically relevant features such as symptomatology and course, they may also share genetic underpinnings, affective problems, deviancies in social interactions, and are all characterized by some kind of cognitive impairment. This situation calls for a joint investigation of the specifics of cognitive (dys-)functions of the three disorders. Such endeavor should focus, among other domains, on the inter-section of processing cognitive, affective and social information that is crucial in effective real-life interactions and can be accomplished when attentional preferences for human facial expressions of emotions is studied. To that end, attention to facial expressions of basic emotions was examined in young adults with ASD, ADHD, or SCZ in the present study. The three clinical groups were compared with an age-matched group of typically-developing participants (TD) during the free contemplation of five different facial emotions presented simultaneously, by varying identities, through the registration of eye movements. We showed, that dwell times and fixation counts differed for the different emotions in TD and in a highly similar way in ADHD. Patients with ASD differed from TD by showing a stronger differentiation between emotions and partially different attentional preferences. In contrast, the SCZ group showed an overall more restricted scanning behavior and a lack of differentiation between emotions. The ADHD group, showed an emotion-specific gazing pattern that was highly similar to that of controls. Thus, by analyzing eye movements, we were able to differentiate three different viewing patterns that allowed us to distinguish between the three clinical groups. This outcome suggests that attention for emotion may not tap into common pathophysiological processes and argues for a multi-dimensional approach to the grouping of disorders with neurodevelopmental etiology.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attention for Emotion—How Young Adults With Neurodevelopmental Disorders Look at Facial Expressions of Affect

et al. 2022

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“… 1 Altschuler et al ( 2021 ), 2 Booules-Katri et al ( 2019 ); 3 Couture et al ( 2010 ); 4 Kandalaft et al ( 2012 ); 5 Lugnegård et al ( 2013 ); 6 Pinkham et al ( 2020 ); 7 Boada et al ( 2020 ); 8 Veddum et al ( 2019 ); 9 Eack et al ( 2013 ); 10 Kuo et al ( 2019 ); 11 Nakata et al ( 2020 ); 12 Graux et al ( 2019 ); 13 Martinez et al ( 2017 ); 14 Dubreucq et al ( 2022 ); 15 Tobe et al ( 2016 ). …”

Section: Resultsunclassified

“…To diagnose SSD, 14 studies used SCID/SCID-II, 2 studies used DIGS, and 5 studies did not specify the diagnostic method. Only 4 studies conducted a sufficient differential diagnostic assessment of both their SSD and the ASD group (Altschuler et al, 2021 ; Boada et al, 2020 ; Martinez et al, 2017 ; Martinez et al, 2019 ). The remaining 17 studies (81%) used apparently solely an insufficient, specialized diagnostic method (AAA, ADOS, ADI, or DISCO) to diagnose ASD, meaning these 17 studies did not conduct a comprehensive differential diagnostic assessment of this group.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodological issues in social cognition research in autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorder: a systematic review

2023

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Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses conclude that similar social cognitive impairments are found in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD). While methodological issues have been mentioned as a limitation, no study has yet explored the magnitude of methodological heterogeneity across these studies and its potential impact for their conclusion. The purpose of this study was to systematically review studies comparing social cognitive impairments in ASD and SSD with a focus on methodology. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we searched all publications on PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase. Of the 765 studies identified in our data base searches, 21 cross-sectional studies were included in the review. We found significant methodological heterogeneity across the studies. In the 21 studies, a total of 37 different measures of social cognition were used, 25 of which were only used in 1 study. Across studies, the same measure was often said to be assessing different constructs of social cognition – a confusion that seems to reflect the ambiguous definitions of what these measures test in the studies that introduced them. Moreover, inadequate differential diagnostic assessment of ASD samples was found in 81% of the studies, and sample characteristics were markedly varied. The ASD and SSD groups were also often unmatched in terms of medication usage and substance use disorder history. Future studies must address these methodological issues before a definite conclusion can be drawn about the potential similarity of social cognitive impairments in ASD and SSD.

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“…Indeed, there is a long-standing debate in the literature about how ToM should be defined and measured. Especially, there is criticism of the RMET, which is based on the ability to recognize complex emotional states rather than reason with affective mental states [ 66 ]. Second, our study only focused on affective and cognitive components of ToM, although an increasing amount of evidence suggests the multifaced nature of ToM [ 67 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive and Affective Theory of Mind across Adulthood

et al. 2022

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Background: Theory of mind (ToM) is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. Previous studies on age-related changes in mentalizing processes have provided conflicting results. This study aims to investigate the age-related changes in the cognitive and affective components of ToM throughout adulthood. Methods: Two hundred and thirty-eight healthy participants divided into five age groups (18–40 years old; 41–50 years old; 51–60 years old; 61–70 years; 71–80 years old) underwent tasks assessing the cognitive (ToM Picture Sequencing Task, TMPS, and the Advanced Test of ToM, ATT) and affective (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task, RMET, and the Emotion Attribution Task, EAT) components of ToM, in both verbal and nonverbal modality. Results: Regarding affective ToM, both the youngest- and middle-old adult groups (61 to 80 years) performed worse than the young and youngest-middle adult groups (18 to 50 years) in the RMET, but no significant differences were found in the EAT. Regarding cognitive ToM, the middle-old adult group (71 to 80 years) performed worse than the young adult group (18 to 40 years) only in the TMPS, but no significant differences were found in the ATT. Conclusion: Rather than a general decline in ToM, our results provide evidence regarding selective changes in ToM in older adults, further confirming the dissociation of cognitive and affective ToM.

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Face perception predicts affective theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder but not schizophrenia or typical development.

Cited by 13 publications

References 71 publications

Attention for Emotion—How Young Adults With Neurodevelopmental Disorders Look at Facial Expressions of Affect

Attention for Emotion—How Young Adults With Neurodevelopmental Disorders Look at Facial Expressions of Affect

Methodological issues in social cognition research in autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorder: a systematic review

Cognitive and Affective Theory of Mind across Adulthood

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