Independence of Hot and Cold Executive Function Deficits in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Independence of Hot and Cold Executive Function Deficits in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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DOI：
10.3389/fnhum.2016.00024
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发表时间：
2016
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Gullo MJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Zimmerman DL;Ownsworth T;O'Donovan A;Roberts J;Gullo MJ
自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 患者在社交、认知和行为功能方面表现出多种缺陷。迄今为止，对于患有自闭症谱系障碍的高功能成人（智商> 70）执行功能缺陷的概况，研究结果不一。 “冷”和“热”执行功能之间通常存在概念上的区别。冷执行功能是指机械性的高阶认知操作（例如工作记忆），而热执行功能则涉及由情绪意识和社会感知（例如社会认知）支持的认知能力。本研究旨在确定患有自闭症谱系障碍的高功能成人的冷热执行功能缺陷的独立性。 42 名自闭症谱系障碍成人（64% 为男性，年龄 18-66 岁）和 40 名年龄和性别匹配的对照组接受了社会推理意识测试（TASIT；情绪识别和社会推理）、字母数字排序（工作记忆）和 Hayling 句子完成测试（反应启动和抑制）。组间分析发现，自闭症谱系障碍组在冷执行功能和热执行功能的所有测量方面的表现均显着差于匹配对照组（d = 0.54 - 1.5）。分层多元回归分析显示，在控制了冷执行功能和就业状况后，自闭症谱系障碍样本在情绪识别和社会推理任务上的表现比匹配对照组更差。研究结果还表明，识别情绪和做出社会推理的能力得到了工作记忆以及反应启动和抑制过程的支持。总体而言，这项研究支持成人自闭症谱系障碍患者的热执行功能障碍和冷执行功能障碍之间的区别。此外，它增进了对该人群社交互动困难背后的高阶损伤的理解，这反过来又可能有助于诊断并为干预计划提供信息。
Individuals with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) display diverse deficits in social, cognitive and behavioral functioning. To date, there has been mixed findings on the profile of executive function deficits for high-functioning adults (IQ > 70) with ASD. A conceptual distinction is commonly made between “cold” and “hot” executive functions. Cold executive functions refer to mechanistic higher-order cognitive operations (e.g., working memory), whereas hot executive functions entail cognitive abilities supported by emotional awareness and social perception (e.g., social cognition). This study aimed to determine the independence of deficits in hot and cold executive functions for high-functioning adults with ASD. Forty-two adults with ASD (64% male, aged 18–66 years) and 40 age and gender matched controls were administered The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT; emotion recognition and social inference), Letter Number Sequencing (working memory) and Hayling Sentence Completion Test (response initiation and suppression). Between-group analyses identified that the ASD group performed significantly worse than matched controls on all measures of cold and hot executive functions (d = 0.54 − 1.5). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that the ASD sample performed more poorly on emotion recognition and social inference tasks than matched controls after controlling for cold executive functions and employment status. The findings also indicated that the ability to recognize emotions and make social inferences was supported by working memory and response initiation and suppression processes. Overall, this study supports the distinction between hot and cold executive function impairments for adults with ASD. Moreover, it advances understanding of higher-order impairments underlying social interaction difficulties for this population which, in turn, may assist with diagnosis and inform intervention programs.