The “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test in Autism-Spectrum Disorders Comparison with Healthy Controls: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Peñuelas-Calvo, Inmaculada; Sareen, Aditya; Sevilla‐Llewellyn‐Jones, Julia; Fernández‐Berrocal, Pablo

doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3814-4

Cited by 79 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…We found 11 meta-analyses 20 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 comprising 7 constructs within 3 domains: social (emotion recognition and theory of mind), executive (cognitive flexibility, planning, and inhibition), and neurologic (event-related potential P3b and brain size) ( Table ). These included a total of 27 723 individuals.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal Changes in Effect Sizes of Studies Comparing Individuals With and Without Autism

et al. 2019

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IMPORTANCE The definition and nature of autism have been highly debated, as exemplified by several revisions of the DSM (DSM-III, DSM-IIIR, DSM-IV, and DSM-5) criteria. There has recently been a move from a categorical view toward a spectrum-based view. These changes have been accompanied by a steady increase in the prevalence of the condition. Changes in the definition of autism that may increase heterogeneity could affect the results of autism research; specifically, a broadening of the population with autism could result in decreasing effect sizes of group comparison studies. OBJECTIVE To examine the correlation between publication year and effect size of autism-control group comparisons across several domains of published autism neurocognitive research. DATA SOURCES This meta-analysis investigated 11 meta-analyses obtained through a systematic search of PubMed for meta-analyses published from January 1, 1966, through January 27, 2019, using the search string autism AND (meta-analysis OR meta-analytic). The last search was conducted on January 27, 2019. STUDY SELECTION Meta-analyses were included if they tested the significance of group differences between individuals with autism and control individuals on a neurocognitive construct. Meta-analyses were only included if the tested group difference was significant and included data with a span of at least 15 years. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Data were extracted and analyzed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) reporting guideline using fixed-effects models. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Estimated slope of the correlation between publication year and effect size, controlling for differences in methods, sample size, and study quality. RESULTS The 11 meta-analyses included data from a total of 27 723 individuals. Demographic data such as sex and age were not available for the entire data set. Seven different psychological and neurologic constructs were analyzed based on data from these meta-analyses. Downward temporal trends for effect size were found for all constructs (slopes:-0.067 to-0.003), with the trend being significant in 5 of 7 cases: emotion recognition (slope:-0.028 [95% CI,-0.048 to-0.007]), theory of mind (-0.045 [95% CI,-0.066 to-0.024]), planning (-0.067 [95% CI,-0.125 to-0.009]), P3b amplitude (-0.048 [95% CI,-0.093 to-0.004]), and brain size (-0.047 [95% CI,-0.077 to-0.016]). In contrast, 3 analogous constructs in schizophrenia, a condition that is also heterogeneous but with no reported increase in prevalence, did not show a similar trend. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The findings suggest that differences between individuals with autism and those without the diagnosis have decreased over time and that possible changes in the definition of autism from a narrowly defined and homogenous population toward an inclusive and heterogeneous population may reduce our capacity to build mechanistic models of the condition.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal Changes in Effect Sizes of Studies Comparing Individuals With and Without Autism

et al. 2019

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“…However, others have found no basic FER deficit in ASC (Castelli, 2005;Homer & Rutherford, 2008). Similar inconsistencies have been seen in the recognition of complex emotions such as insincerity, as some have found impairments in ASC (Black et al, 2020;Golan et al, 2006;Peñuelas-Calvo et al, 2019), while others have not (Tracy et al, 2011). Research has also investigated whether autistic individuals are only impaired at recognising specific emotions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Facial emotion recognition in autistic adult females correlates with alexithymia, not autism

Ola

Gullon-Scott

2020

Autism

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Research on predominantly male autistic samples has indicated that impairments in facial emotion recognition typically associated with autism spectrum conditions are instead due to co-occurring alexithymia. However, whether this could be demonstrated using more realistic facial emotion recognition stimuli and applied to autistic females was unclear. In all, 83 females diagnosed with autism spectrum condition completed online self-report measures of autism spectrum condition severity and alexithymia, and afacial emotion recognition deficit that assessed their ability to identify multimodal displays of complex emotions. Higher levels of alexithymia, but not autism spectrum condition severity, were associated with less accurate facial emotion recognition. Difficulty identifying one’s own feelings and externally oriented thinking were the components of alexithymia that were specifically related to facial emotion recognition accuracy. However, alexithymia (and autism spectrum condition severity) was not associated with speed of emotion processing. The findings are primarily discussed with the theoretical view that perceiving and experiencing emotions share the same neural networks, thus being able to recognise one’s own emotions may facilitate the ability to recognise others’. This study is in line with previous similar research on autistic males and suggests impairments in facial emotion recognition in autistic females should be attributed to co-occurring alexithymia. Lay abstract Research with autistic males has indicated that difficulties in recognising facial expressions of emotion, commonly associated with autism spectrum conditions, may instead be due to co-occurring alexithymia (a condition involving lack of emotional awareness, difficulty describing feelings and difficulty distinguishing feelings from physical bodily sensations) and not to do with autism. We wanted to explore if this would be true for autistic females, as well as to use more realistic stimuli for emotional expression. In all, 83 females diagnosed with autism spectrum condition completed self-report measures of autism spectrum condition traits and alexithymia and completed a visual test that assessed their ability to identify multimodal displays of complex emotions. Higher levels of alexithymia, but not autism spectrum condition features, were associated with less accuracy in identifying emotions. Difficulty identifying one’s own feelings and externally oriented thinking were the components of alexithymia that were specifically related to facial emotion recognition accuracy. However, alexithymia (and levels of autism spectrum condition traits) was not associated with speed of emotion processing. We discuss the findings in terms of possible underlying mechanisms and the implications for our understanding of emotion processing and recognition in autism.

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“…It has been consistently reported in more recent meta-analysis study. 11 The correlation between neurocognitive function and RMET was also observed in recent studies involving various clinically-ill patients groups, such as Autism spectrum disorder, 11 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, 21 and dementia. 22 Reasoning by analogy is the ability to understand rules and build abstractions by integrating relationships based on non-social visual information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 52%

Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test: Relationship with Neurocognition and Facial Emotion Recognition in Non-Clinical Youths

Seo

Koo

Kim

et al. 2020

Psychiatry Investig

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Objective The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) is a common measure of the Theory of Mind. Previous studies found a correlation between RMET performance and neurocognition, especially reasoning by analogy; however, the nature of this relationship remains unclear. Additionally, neurocognition was shown to play a significant role in facial emotion recognition. This study is planned to examine the nature of relationship between neurocognition and RMET performance, as well as the mediating role of facial emotion recognition.Methods One hundred fifty non-clinical youths performed the RMET. Reasoning by analogy was tested by Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) and facial emotion recognition was assessed by the Korean Facial Expressions of Emotion (KOFEE) test. The percentile bootstrap method was used to calculate the parameters of the mediating effects of facial emotion recognition on the relationship between SPM and RMET scores.Results SPM scores and KOFEE scores were both statistically significant predictors of RMET scores. KOFEE scores were found to partially mediate the impact of SPM scores on RMET scores.Conclusion These findings suggested that facial emotion recognition partially mediated the relationship between reasoning by analogy and social cognition. This study highlights the need for further research for individuals with serious mental illnesses.

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The “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test in Autism-Spectrum Disorders Comparison with Healthy Controls: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Cited by 79 publications

References 64 publications

Temporal Changes in Effect Sizes of Studies Comparing Individuals With and Without Autism

Temporal Changes in Effect Sizes of Studies Comparing Individuals With and Without Autism

Facial emotion recognition in autistic adult females correlates with alexithymia, not autism

Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test: Relationship with Neurocognition and Facial Emotion Recognition in Non-Clinical Youths

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