Roles of empathy in altruistic cooperation in adults with and without autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Altruistic cooperation (AC) is essential in human social interactions. Previous studies have investigated AC-related behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), revealing that there is considerable individual variability in the behavior. However, this issue is still largely unexplored especially in the adult population. Aims: To investigate individual differences in AC-related behavior, we conducted the resource allocation task (RAT) and modified version of the ultimatum game (mUG) among adults with and without ASD. Methods and procedures: The study employed a cross-sectional design, involving 27 adults with ASD (mean age 29.1 ± 4.3 years; three females) and 27 adults with typical development (TD) (mean age 25.8 ± 6.7 years; two females), who completed the RAT and mUG tasks. Beyond clinical characteristics, we assessed three primary psychological metrics: the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), Barratt impulsiveness scale, and the behavioral inhibition and activation systems. Outcomes and results: No significant differences were observed in the proportions of participants with high AC when assessed by RAT (p = 0.15) and mUG (p = 0.59) between the TD and ASD groups. Participants with high AC from the RAT demonstrated higher perspective-taking scores on the IRI than those with low AC within both the TD (p = 0.04) and ASD groups (p = 0.03). In the TD group, high AC individuals also scored higher on the IRI's fantasy subscale as per the mUG (p = 0.03); however, this trend was not present in the ASD group. Conclusions and implications: The present findings indicate that empathy plays an important role in individual differences in AC-related behavior among adults with and without ASD, although the role could be different depending on the types of AC-related behavior between TD and ASD populations.

Generalizable and transportable resting-state neural signatures characterized by functional networks, neurotransmitters, and clinical symptoms in autism.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong condition with elusive biological mechanisms. The complexity of factors, including inter-site and developmental differences, hinders the development of a generalizable neuroimaging classifier for ASD. Here, we developed a classifier for ASD using a large-scale, multisite resting-state fMRI dataset of 730 Japanese adults, aiming to capture neural signatures that reflect pathophysiology at the functional network level, neurotransmitters, and clinical symptoms of the autistic brain. Our adult ASD classifier was successfully generalized to adults in the United States, Belgium, and Japan. The classifier further demonstrated its successful transportability to children and adolescents. The classifier contained 141 functional connections (FCs) that were important for discriminating individuals with ASD from typically developing controls. These FCs and their terminal brain regions were associated with difficulties in social interaction and dopamine and serotonin, respectively. Finally, we mapped attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia (SCZ), and major depressive disorder (MDD) onto the biological axis defined by the ASD classifier. ADHD and SCZ, but not MDD, were located proximate to ASD on the biological dimensions. Our results revealed functional signatures of the ASD brain, grounded in molecular characteristics and clinical symptoms, achieving generalizability and transportability applicable to the evaluation of the biological continuity of related diseases.

Shared and Specific Neural Correlates of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of 243 Task-Based Functional MRI Studies.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate shared and specific neural correlates of cognitive functions in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the authors performed a comprehensive meta-analysis and considered a balanced set of neuropsychological tasks across the two disorders. METHODS: A broad set of electronic databases was searched up to December 4, 2022, for task-based functional MRI studies investigating differences between individuals with ADHD or ASD and typically developing control subjects. Spatial coordinates of brain loci differing significantly between case and control subjects were extracted. To avoid potential diagnosis-driven selection bias of cognitive tasks, the tasks were grouped according to the Research Domain Criteria framework, and stratified sampling was used to match cognitive component profiles. Activation likelihood estimation was used for the meta-analysis. RESULTS: After screening 20,756 potentially relevant references, a meta-analysis of 243 studies was performed, which included 3,084 participants with ADHD (676 females), 2,654 participants with ASD (292 females), and 6,795 control subjects (1,909 females). ASD and ADHD showed shared greater activations in the lingual and rectal gyri and shared lower activations in regions including the middle frontal gyrus, the parahippocampal gyrus, and the insula. By contrast, there were ASD-specific greater and lower activations in regions including the left middle temporal gyrus and the left middle frontal gyrus, respectively, and ADHD-specific greater and lower activations in the amygdala and the global pallidus, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although ASD and ADHD showed both shared and disorder-specific standardized neural activations, disorder-specific activations were more prominent than shared ones. Functional brain differences between ADHD and ASD are more likely to reflect diagnosis-related pathophysiology than bias from the selection of specific neuropsychological tasks.

Increased glutamate and glutamine levels and their relationship to astrocytes and dopaminergic transmissions in the brains of adults with autism.

Increased excitatory neuronal tones have been implicated in autism, but its mechanism remains elusive. The amplified glutamate signals may arise from enhanced glutamatergic circuits, which can be affected by astrocyte activation and suppressive signaling of dopamine neurotransmission. We tested this hypothesis using magnetic resonance spectroscopy and positron emission tomography scan with 11C-SCH23390 for dopamine D1 receptors in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). We enrolled 18 male adults with high-functioning autism and 20 typically developed (TD) male subjects. The autism group showed elevated glutamate, glutamine, and myo-inositol (mI) levels compared with the TD group (p = 0.045, p = 0.044, p = 0.030, respectively) and a positive correlation between glutamine and mI levels in the ACC (r = 0.54, p = 0.020). In autism and TD groups, ACC D1 receptor radioligand binding was negatively correlated with ACC glutamine levels (r = - 0.55, p = 0.022; r = - 0.58, p = 0.008, respectively). The enhanced glutamate-glutamine metabolism might be due to astroglial activation and the consequent reinforcement of glutamine synthesis in autistic brains. Glutamine synthesis could underly the physiological inhibitory control of dopaminergic D1 receptor signals. Our findings suggest a high neuron excitation-inhibition ratio with astrocytic activation in the etiology of autism.

Neural correlates of perceptual switching and their association with empathy and alexithymia in individuals with and without autism spectrum disorder.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show limited empathy (poor recognition of others' emotions) and high alexithymia (poor recognition of own emotions and external thinking), which can negatively impact their social functioning. Previous experimental studies suggest that alterations in cognitive flexibility play key roles in the development of these characteristics in ASD. However, the underlying neural mechanisms that link cognitive flexibility and empathy/alexithymia are still largely unknown. In this study, we examined the neural correlates of cognitive flexibility via functional magnetic resonance imaging during perceptual task-switching in typical development (TD) adults and adults with ASD. We also investigated associations between regional neural activity and psychometric empathy and alexithymia scores among these populations. In the TD group, stronger activation of the left middle frontal gyrus was associated with better perceptual switching and greater empathic concern. Among individuals with ASD, stronger activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus was associated with better perceptual switching, greater empathy, and lower alexithymia. These findings will contribute to develop a better understanding of social cognition, and could be informative for the development of new ASD therapies.

White matter alterations in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): a systematic review of 129 diffusion imaging studies with meta-analysis.

Aberrant anatomical brain connections in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are reported inconsistently across diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) studies. Based on a pre-registered protocol (Prospero: CRD42021259192), we searched PubMed, Ovid, and Web of Knowledge until 26/03/2022 to conduct a systematic review of DWI studies. We performed a quality assessment based on imaging acquisition, preprocessing, and analysis. Using signed differential mapping, we meta-analyzed a subset of the retrieved studies amenable to quantitative evidence synthesis, i.e., tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) studies, in individuals of any age and, separately, in children, adults, and high-quality datasets. Finally, we conducted meta-regressions to test the effect of age, sex, and medication-naïvety. We included 129 studies (6739 ADHD participants and 6476 controls), of which 25 TBSS studies provided peak coordinates for case-control differences in fractional anisotropy (FA)(32 datasets) and 18 in mean diffusivity (MD)(23 datasets). The systematic review highlighted white matter alterations (especially reduced FA) in projection, commissural and association pathways of individuals with ADHD, which were associated with symptom severity and cognitive deficits. The meta-analysis showed a consistent reduced FA in the splenium and body of the corpus callosum, extending to the cingulum. Lower FA was related to older age, and case-control differences did not survive in the pediatric meta-analysis. About 68% of studies were of low quality, mainly due to acquisitions with non-isotropic voxels or lack of motion correction; and the sensitivity analysis in high-quality datasets yielded no significant results. Findings suggest prominent alterations in posterior interhemispheric connections subserving cognitive and motor functions affected in ADHD, although these might be influenced by non-optimal acquisition parameters/preprocessing. Absence of findings in children may be related to the late development of callosal fibers, which may enhance case-control differences in adulthood. Clinicodemographic and methodological differences were major barriers to consistency and comparability among studies, and should be addressed in future investigations.

Generalizable neuromarker for autism spectrum disorder across imaging sites and developmental stages: A multi-site study.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong condition, and its underlying biological mechanisms remain elusive. The complexity of various factors, including inter-site and development-related differences, makes it challenging to develop generalizable neuroimaging-based biomarkers for ASD. This study used a large-scale, multi-site dataset of 730 Japanese adults to develop a generalizable neuromarker for ASD across independent sites and different developmental stages. Our adult ASD neuromarker achieved successful generalization for the US and Belgium adults and Japanese adults. The neuromarker demonstrated significant generalization for children and adolescents. We identified 141 functional connections (FCs) important for discriminating individuals with ASD from TDCs. Finally, we mapped schizophrenia (SCZ) and major depressive disorder (MDD) onto the biological axis defined by the neuromarker and explored the biological continuity of ASD with SCZ and MDD. We observed that SCZ, but not MDD, was located proximate to ASD on the biological dimension defined by the ASD neuromarker. The successful generalization in multifarious datasets and the observed relations of ASD with SCZ on the biological dimensions provide new insights for a deeper understanding of ASD.

Generalizable neuromarker for autism spectrum disorder across imaging sites and developmental stages: A multi-site study.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong condition, and its underlying biological mechanisms remain elusive. The complexity of various factors, including inter-site and development-related differences, makes it challenging to develop generalizable neuroimaging-based biomarkers for ASD. This study used a large-scale, multi-site dataset of 730 Japanese adults to develop a generalizable neuromarker for ASD across independent sites (U.S., Belgium, and Japan) and different developmental stages (children and adolescents). Our adult ASD neuromarker achieved successful generalization for the US and Belgium adults (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.70) and Japanese adults (AUC = 0.81). The neuromarker demonstrated significant generalization for children (AUC = 0.66) and adolescents (AUC = 0.71; all P<0.05, family-wise-error corrected). We identified 141 functional connections (FCs) important for discriminating individuals with ASD from TDCs. These FCs largely centered on social brain regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus, dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortices, and temporal cortices. Finally, we mapped schizophrenia (SCZ) and major depressive disorder (MDD) onto the biological axis defined by the neuromarker and explored the biological continuity of ASD with SCZ and MDD. We observed that SCZ, but not MDD, was located proximate to ASD on the biological dimension defined by the ASD neuromarker. The successful generalization in multifarious datasets and the observed relations of ASD with SCZ on the biological dimensions provide new insights for a deeper understanding of ASD.

Autistic children and adolescents with frequent restricted interest and repetitive behavior showed more difficulty in social cognition during mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multisite survey.

BACKGROUND: The public health measures enacted in order to control the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic have caused considerable changes to daily life. For autistic children and adolescents, adapting to the "new normal," including mask-wearing, may be difficult because of their restricted interest and repetitive behavior (RRB) characteristics. We aimed to examine the relationships between RRB characteristics and the impact of mask-wearing on their social communications during the pandemic. METHODS: We recruited participants with a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder based on DSM-5 diagnostic criteria from two outpatient clinics in Tokyo, Japan, between November 2020 and April 2021 using a convenience sampling methodology. As a result, the participants consisted of 102 children and adolescents (mean (SD) age = 11.6 (5.3)). We collected data on RRB characteristics frequency before and during the pandemic using the CoRonavIruS Health Impact Survey (CRISIS) - Adapted for Autism and Related Neurodevelopmental conditions (AFAR). We then conducted factor analyses to compute the RRB severity composite scores, which are divided into lower- (e.g., sensory seeking), and higher-order (e.g., restricted interest). We also investigated mask-wearing culture using a bespoke questionnaire, and using Spearman's rank correlation analyses, we examined the relationships between before pandemic RRB characteristics, and the impact of mask-wearing on social communications during the pandemic. RESULTS: We found that children and adolescents who exhibited lower-order RRB before the pandemic had difficulties in going-out with mask-wearing (rho = -0.25, q = .031), more challenges with mask-wearing (rho = - 0.34, q = .0018), and difficulty in referring to others' emotions while wearing masks (rho = - 0.36, q = .0016). We also found an association between higher-order RRB before the pandemic and an uncomfortable sensation (rho = - 0.42, q = .0002) and difficulties in referring to other's emotions while wearing masks (rho = - 0.25, q = .031). CONCLUSIONS: We revealed that various behaviors, such as sensory seeking, repetitive motor mannerisms and movements, and rituals and routines, undertaken before the pandemic could be important predictors of difficulties with mask-wearing and social communication for autistic children and adolescents during the pandemic. Caregivers and teachers wearing masks may need to provide extra support for social communication to autistic children and adolescents showing RRB characteristics frequently.

Intergroup bias in punishing behaviors of adults with autism spectrum disorder.

Groups are essential elements of society, and humans, by nature, commonly manifest intergroup bias (i.e., behave more positively toward an ingroup member than toward an outgroup member). Despite the growing evidence of various types of altered decision-making in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), their behavior under the situation involving group membership remains largely unexplored. By modifying a third-party punishment paradigm, we investigated intergroup bias in individuals with ASD and typical development (TD). In our experiment, participants who were considered as the third party observed a dictator game wherein proposers could decide how to distribute a provided amount of money while receivers could only accept unconditionally. Participants were confronted with two different group situations: the proposer was an ingroup member and the recipient was an outgroup member (IN/OUT condition) or the proposer was an outgroup member and the recipient was an ingroup member (OUT/IN condition). Participants with TD punished proposers more severely when violating social norms in the OUT/IN condition than in IN/OUT condition, indicating that their decisions were influenced by the intergroup context. This intergroup bias was attenuated in individuals with ASD. Our findings deepen the understanding of altered decision-making and socioeconomic behaviors in individuals with ASD.

Decision flexibilities in autism spectrum disorder: an fMRI study of moral dilemmas.

People make flexible decisions across a wide range of contexts to resolve social or moral conflicts. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently report difficulties in such behaviors, which hinders the flexibility in changing strategies during daily activities or adjustment of perspective during communication. However, the underlying mechanisms of this issue are insufficiently understood. This study aimed to investigate decision flexibility in ASD using a functional magnetic resonance imaging task that involved recognizing and resolving two types of moral dilemmas: cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and mitigating inevitable misconducts (MIM). The CBA session assessed the participants' pitting of result-oriented outcomes against distressful harmful actions, whereas the MIM session assessed their pitting of the extenuation of a criminal sentence against a sympathetic situation of defendants suffering from violence or disease. The behavioral outcome in CBA-related flexibility was significantly lower in the ASD group compared to that of the typical development group. In the corresponding CBA contrast, activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus was lower in the ASD group. Meanwhile, in the MIM-related flexibility, there were no significant group differences in behavioral outcome or brain activity. Our findings add to our understanding of flexible decision-making in ASD.

Dimensional distribution of cortical abnormality across antipsychotics treatment-resistant and responsive schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: One-third of patients with schizophrenia are treatment-resistant to non-clozapine antipsychotics (TRS), while the rest respond (NTRS). Examining whether TRS and NTRS represent different pathophysiologies is an important step toward precision medicine. METHODS: Focusing on cortical thickness (CT), we analyzed international multi-site cross-sectional datasets of magnetic resonance imaging comprising 110 patients with schizophrenia (NTRS = 46, TRS = 64) and 52 healthy controls (HCs). We utilized a logistic regression with L1-norm regularization to find brain regions related to either NTRS or TRS. We conducted nested 10-fold cross-validation and computed the accuracy and area under the curve (AUC). Then, we applied the NTRS classifier to patients with TRS, and vice versa. RESULTS: Patients with NTRS and TRS were classified from HCs with 65% and 78% accuracies and with the AUC of 0.69 and 0.85 (p = 0.014 and < 0.001, corrected), respectively. The left planum temporale (PT) and left anterior insula/inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) contributed to both NTRS and TRS classifiers. The left supramarginal gyrus only contributed to NTRS and right superior temporal sulcus and right lateral orbitofrontal cortex only to the TRS. The NTRS classifiers successfully distinguished those with TRS from HCs with the AUC of 0.78 (p < 0.001), while the TRS classifiers classified those with NTRS from HCs with the AUC of 0.69 (p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: Both NTRS and TRS could be distinguished from HCs on the basis of CT. The CT pathological basis of NTRS and TRS has commonalities, and TRS presents unique CT features.

Prediction of life satisfaction from resting-state functional connectome.

BACKGROUND: Better life satisfaction (LS) is associated with better psychological and psychiatric outcomes. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined prediction models for LS. METHODS: Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) Young Adult S1200 dataset, we examined whether LS is predictable from intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC). All the HCP data were subdivided into either discovery (n = 100) or validation (n = 766) datasets. Using R-fMRI data in the discovery dataset, we computed a matrix of iFCs between brain regions. Ridge regression, in combination with principal component analysis and 10-fold cross-validation, was used to predict LS. Prediction performance was evaluated by comparing actual and predicted LS scores. The generalizability of the prediction model obtained from the discovery dataset was evaluated by applying this model to the validation dataset. RESULTS: The model was able to successfully predict LS in the discovery dataset (r = 0.381, p < .001). The model was also able to successfully predict the degree of LS (r = 0.137, 5000-repetition permutation test p = .006) in the validation dataset, suggesting that our model is generalizable to the prediction of LS in young adults. iFCs stemming from visual, ventral attention, or limbic networks to other networks (such as the dorsal attention network and default mode network) were likely to contribute positively toward predicted LS scores. iFCs within ventral attention and limbic networks also positively contributed to predicting LS. On the other hand, iFCs stemming from the visual and cerebellar networks to other networks were likely to contribute negatively to the predicted LS scores. CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest that LS is predictable from the iFCs. These results are an important step toward identifying the neural basis of life satisfaction.

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a meta-analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) studies in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and in adults with ADHD to assess spatial convergence of findings from available studies. METHOD: Based on a preregistered protocol in PROSPERO (CRD42019119553), a large set of databases were searched up to April 9, 2019, with no language or article type restrictions. Study authors were systematically contacted for additional unpublished information/data. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies using seed-based connectivity (SBC) or any other method (non-SBC) reporting whole-brain results of group comparisons between participants with ADHD and typically developing controls were eligible. Voxelwise meta-analysis via activation likelihood estimation with cluster-level familywise error (voxel-level: p < .001; cluster-level: p < .05) was used. RESULTS: Thirty studies (18 SBC and 12 non-SBC), comprising 1,978 participants (1,094 with ADHD; 884 controls) were retained. The meta-analysis focused on SBC studies found no significant spatial convergence of ADHD-related hyperconnectivity or hypoconnectivity across studies. This nonsignificant finding remained after integrating 12 non-SBC studies into the main analysis and in sensitivity analyses limited to studies including only children or only non-medication-naïve patients. CONCLUSION: The lack of significant spatial convergence may be accounted for by heterogeneity in study participants, experimental procedures, and analytic flexibility as well as in ADHD pathophysiology. Alongside other neuroimaging meta-analyses in other psychiatric conditions, the present results should inform the conduct and publication of future neuroimaging studies of psychiatric disorders.

Neural correlates of shared sensory symptoms in autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder often co-occur. Among these, sensory impairment, which is a core diagnostic feature of autism spectrum disorder, is often observed in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. However, the underlying mechanisms of symptoms that are shared across disorders remain unknown. To examine the neural correlates of sensory symptoms that are associated with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, we analysed resting-state functional MRI data obtained from 113 people with either autism spectrum disorder or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (n = 78 autism spectrum disorder, mean age = 29.5; n = 35 attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, mean age = 31.2) and 96 neurotypical controls (mean age = 30.6, range: 20-55 years) using a cross-sectional study design. First, we used a multi-dimensional approach to examine intrinsic brain functional connectivity related to sensory symptoms in four domains (i.e. low registration, sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity and sensation avoidance), after controlling for age, handedness and head motion. Then, we used a partial least squares correlation to examine the link between sensory symptoms related to intrinsic brain functional connectivity and neurodevelopmental symptoms measured using the Autism Spectrum Quotient and Conners' Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale, regardless of diagnosis. To test whether observed associations were specific to sensory symptoms related to intrinsic brain functional connectivity, we conducted a control analysis using a bootstrap framework. The results indicated that transdiagnostic yet distinct intrinsic brain functional connectivity neural bases varied according to the domain of the examined sensory symptom. Partial least squares correlation analysis revealed two latent components (latent component 1: q < 0.001 and latent component 2: q < 0.001). For latent component 1, a set of intrinsic brain functional connectivity was predominantly associated with neurodevelopmental symptom-related composite score (r = 0.64, P < 0.001), which was significantly correlated with Conners' Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale total T scores (r = -0.99, q < 0.001). For latent component 2, another set of intrinsic brain functional connectivity was positively associated with neurodevelopmental symptom-related composite score (r = 0.58, P < 0.001), which was eventually positively associated with Autism Spectrum Quotient total scores (r = 0.92, q < 0.001). The bootstrap analysis showed that the relationship between intrinsic brain functional connectivity and neurodevelopmental symptoms was relative to sensory symptom-related intrinsic brain functional connectivity (latent component 1: P = 0.003 and latent component 2: P < 0.001). The current results suggest that sensory symptoms in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have shared neural correlates. The neural correlates of the sensory symptoms were associated with the severity of both autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms, regardless of diagnosis.

White matter alterations in autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in relation to sensory profile.

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have high rates of co-occurrence and share atypical behavioral characteristics, including sensory symptoms. The present diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study was conducted to examine whether and how white matter alterations are observed in adult populations with developmental disorders (DD) and to determine how brain-sensory relationships are either shared between or distinct to ASD and ADHD. METHODS: We collected DTI data from adult population with DD (a primary diagnosis of ASD: n = 105, ADHD: n = 55) as well as age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) participants (n = 58). Voxel-wise fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity (RD) were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics. The severities of sensory symptoms were assessed using the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP). RESULTS: Categorical analyses identified voxel clusters showing significant effects of DD on FA and RD in the posterior portion of the corpus callosum and its extension in the right hemisphere. Furthermore, regression analyses using the AASP scores revealed that slopes in relationships of FA or RD with the degree of sensory symptoms were parallel between the two DDs in large parts of the affected corpus callosum regions. A small but significant cluster did exist showing difference in association between an AASP subscale score and RD across ASD and ADHD. LIMITATIONS: Wide age range of the participants may be oversimplified. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that white matter alteration and their relationships to sensory symptoms are largely shared between ASD and ADHD, with localized abnormalities showing significant between-diagnosis differences within DD.

Binding of Dopamine D1 Receptor and Noradrenaline Transporter in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A PET Study.

Although previous studies have suggested the involvement of dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) neurotransmissions in the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) pathophysiology, few studies have examined these neurotransmissions in individuals with ASD in vivo. Here, we investigated DA D1 receptor (D1R) and noradrenaline transporter (NAT) binding in adults with ASD (n = 18) and neurotypical controls (n = 20) by utilizing two different PET radioligands, [11C]SCH23390 and (S,S)-[18F]FMeNER-D2, respectively. We found no significant group differences in DA D1R (striatum, anterior cingulate cortex, and temporal cortex) or NAT (thalamus and pons) binding. However, in the ASD group, there were significant negative correlations between DA D1R binding (striatum, anterior cingulate cortex and temporal cortex) and the "attention to detail" subscale score of the Autism Spectrum Quotient. Further, there was a significant positive correlation between DA D1R binding (temporal cortex) and emotion perception ability assessed by the neurocognitive battery. Associations of NAT binding with empathic abilities and executive function were found in controls, but were absent in the ASD group. Although a lack of significant group differences in binding might be partly due to the heterogeneity of ASD, our results indicate that central DA and NA function might play certain roles in the clinical characteristics of ASD.

Transdiagnostic subtyping of males with developmental disorders using cortical characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are biologically heterogeneous and often co-occur. As within-diagnosis heterogeneity and overlapping diagnoses are challenging for researchers and clinicians, identifying biologically homogenous subgroups, independent of diagnosis, is an urgent need. METHODS: MRI data from 148 adult males with developmental disorders (99 primary ASD, mean age = 31.7 ± 8.0, 49 primary ADHD; mean age = 31.7 ± 9.6) and 105 neurotypical controls (NTC; mean age = 30.6 ± 6.8) were analyzed. We extracted mean cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) values using a functional atlas. Then, we conducted HeterogeneitY through DiscRiminant Analysis (HYDRA) to transdiagnostically cluster and classify individuals. Differences in diagnostic likelihood and clinical symptoms between subtypes were tested. Sensitivity analyses tested the stability of the number of subtypes and their membership by excluding 13 participants diagnosed with both ASD and ADHD and by using a different atlas. RESULTS: In relation to both CT and SA, HYDRA identified two subtypes. The likelihood of ASD or ADHD was not significantly different from the chance of belonging to any of these two subtypes. Clinical characteristics did not differ between subtypes in either CT or SA based analyses. The high consistency in membership was replicated when utilizing a different atlas or excluding people with dual diagnoses in CT (dice coefficients > 0.94) and in SA (>0.88). CONCLUSION: Although the brain-derived subtypes do not match diagnostic groups, individuals with developmental disorders were successfully and stably subtyped using either CT or SA.

Role of the right temporoparietal junction in intergroup bias in trust decisions.

Intergroup bias, which is the tendency to behave more positively toward an in-group member than toward an out-group member, is pervasive in real life. In particular, intergroup bias in trust decisions substantially influences multiple areas of life and thus better understanding of this tendency can provide significant insights into human social behavior. Although previous functional magnetic resonance imaging studies showed the involvement of the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) in intergroup trust bias, a causal relationship between the two has rarely been explored. By combining repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and a newly developed trust game task, we investigated the causal role of the right TPJ in intergroup bias in trust decisions. In the trust game task, the counterpart's group membership (in-group or out-group) and reciprocity were manipulated. We applied either neuronavigated inhibitory continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) or sham stimulation over the right TPJ before performing the trust game task in healthy volunteers. After the sham stimulation, the participants' degrees of investments with in-group members were significantly higher than those with out-group members. However, after cTBS to the right TPJ, this difference was not observed. The current results extend previous findings by showing that the causal roles of the right TPJ can be observed in intergroup bias in trust decisions. Our findings add to our understanding of the mechanisms of human social behavior.