Characterizing the personality and gray matter volume of chimpanzees that exhibit autism-related socio-communicative phenotypes.
Characterizing the personality and gray matter volume of chimpanzees that exhibit autism-related socio-communicative phenotypes.
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DOI：
10.1017/pen.2023.8
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发表时间：
2023
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Latzman, Robert D
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Hopkins, William D;Mulholland, Michele;Latzman, Robert D
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种以刻板印象或重复行为以及社会行为和社会沟通技能障碍为特征的发育障碍。与神经正常对照相比，ASD的一个标志性表型是较差的关节注意力技能。此外，自闭症患者在五大人格维度中的几个方面得分较低，包括外向性。在这里，我们在非人类灵长类动物模型（黑猩猩；泛穴居人）中研究了这些特征，以进一步了解人格和共同注意力技能之间的关系，以及促成这些表型的遗传和神经系统。我们使用了189只黑猩猩的档案数据，包括接受性联合注意（RJA）表现、基于看护人评级的个性和磁共振图像。我们发现，和人类一样，在RJA任务中表现较差的黑猩猩的外向性得分也较低。我们还发现，共同注意力技能和包括外向性在内的几个人格维度都具有显著的遗传性。RJA和外向性之间也存在显著的边缘遗传相关性。一项研究灰质体积的联合分析显示，大脑中有五个主要区域与较高水平的外向性和社会认知相关。这些区域包括右侧后颞中上回、双侧额下回、左侧额下沟和左侧额上沟，均位于社会脑网络内。总之，这些发现提供了进一步的证据，证明黑猩猩是理解与ASD相关的社会障碍潜在机制的绝佳模型。未来的研究应进一步研究非人灵长类动物模型中社会认知、人格、遗传学、神经解剖学和功能之间的关系。
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by stereotypies or repetitive behaviors and impairments in social behavior and socio-communicative skills. One hallmark phenotype of ASD is poor joint attention skills compared to neurotypical controls. In addition, individuals with ASD have lower scores on several of the Big 5 personality dimensions, including Extraversion. Here, we examine these traits in a nonhuman primate model (chimpanzees; Pan troglodytes) to further understand the relationship between personality and joint attention skills, as well as the genetic and neural systems that contribute to these phenotypes. We used archival data including receptive joint attention (RJA) performance, personality based on caretaker ratings, and magnetic resonance images from 189 chimpanzees. We found that, like humans, chimpanzees who performed worse on the RJA task had lower Extraversion scores. We also found that joint attention skills and several personality dimensions, including Extraversion, were significantly heritable. There was also a borderline significant genetic correlation between RJA and Extraversion. A conjunction analysis examining gray matter volume showed that there were five main brain regions associated with both higher levels of Extraversion and social cognition. These regions included the right posterior middle and superior temporal gyrus, bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, left inferior frontal sulcus, and left superior frontal sulcus, all regions within the social brain network. Altogether, these findings provide further evidence that chimpanzees serve as an excellent model for understanding the mechanisms underlying social impairment related to ASD. Future research should further examine the relationship between social cognition, personality, genetics, and neuroanatomy and function in nonhuman primate models.