The neural basis of social interaction perception and its disruption in autism spectrum disorder

项目摘要 自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的主要特征是社交和沟通方面的缺陷。 然而，尽管有这些明显的行为差异，但很难将高层社会成员之间的差异隔离开来 ASD的脑区。一个一直未被充分研究的重要领域是对他人社交的感知 互动。认识到他人的社会互动--两个或多个人之间定向的、偶然的行动-- 是人类认知的核心领域。人类在观看视频时可以快速、轻松地提取大量信息 一种社交互动，并使用这些信息来指导自己的行动。社交互动感知显著地 在自闭症中被破坏，但这些缺陷的大脑基础仍然未知。最近，后部的一个区域 神经典型(NT)成人的颞上沟已被发现在观看时选择性地参与 其他人在受控刺激和自然观影期间的社交互动。重要的是，社交互动 在ASD中，大脑的选择性从未被研究过。这项研究的长期目标是了解 自闭症患者在受控和自然环境下的社会互动知觉的大脑基础，及其对自闭症的干扰。 我们的总体目标是确定高功能患者对社会互动的神经反应的差异 患有自闭症的个体同时使用受控刺激和电影刺激。我们的中心假设是社会互动 在受控和自然环境中，让NT受试者参与pSTS的相同区域，并且这 自闭症患者的活跃度显著降低。目标1将确定选择性地对社交做出反应的大脑区域 在NT受试者中使用控制的和自然的电影fMRI范例的交互作用。高级机器学习 方法将分离电影观看过程中社交互动的独特神经贡献，允许第一个 控制刺激、社会神经科学的现状和自然电影刺激之间的直接比较， 一种令人兴奋的新范式，它与生态更相关，更好地驱动神经反应，并打开大门 对新人群的研究，包括儿童和更受影响的自闭症患者 。目标2将确定 自闭症受试者在受控刺激和电影刺激中对社会互动有选择性的大脑区域及其方式 它们与目标1中确定的神经典型大脑反应不同。拟议的研究将为我们提供直接的 在受控和自然环境中社会互动知觉的神经基础的比较 对自闭症患者社交知觉的神经基础有清晰的认识。这项工作也将开创 利用自然刺激研究神经发育障碍，创建了一个新的框架来理解 一系列临床人群高级社会知觉的神经基础。

Project Summary Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized largely by deficits in social interaction and communication. However, despite these clear behavioral differences it has been difficult to isolate differences in high-level social brain regions in ASD. One important area that has been under-studied is the perception of others’ social interactions. Recognizing others’ social interactions—directed, contingent actions between two or more people— is a core area of human cognition. Humans quickly and effortlessly extract a wealth of information when viewing a social interaction and use this information to guide their own actions. Social interaction perception is notably disrupted in autism, but the brain basis of these deficits are still unknown. Recently a region in the posterior superior temporal sulcus in neurotypical (NT) adults has been identified that is selectively engaged when viewing others’ social interactions in both controlled stimuli and during natural movie viewing. Critically, social interaction selectivity in the brain has never been studied in ASD. The long-term goal of this research is to understand the brain basis of social interaction perception in controlled and naturalistic contexts, and its disruption in autism. Our overall objective is to identify differences in neural response to social interactions in high-functioning individuals with ASD using both controlled and movie stimuli. Our central hypotheses are that social interactions engage the same region of the pSTS in NT subjects in both controlled and naturalistic settings, and that this activity is significantly decreased in autism. Aim 1 will identify the brain regions that selectively respond to social interactions in NT subjects using both controlled and natural movie fMRI paradigms. Advanced machine learning methods will isolate the unique neural contribution of social interactions during movie viewing, allowing the first direct comparison between controlled stimuli, the status quo in social neuroscience, and natural movie stimuli, an exciting new paradigm that is more ecologically relevant, better drives neural responses, and opens the door to studies of new populations, including children and more impacted individuals with autism . Aim 2 will identify the brain regions that are selective to social interactions in ASD subjects in controlled and movie stimuli and how they differ from neurotypical brain responses identified in Aim 1. The proposed study will provide us with a direct comparison of the neural basis of social interaction perception in controlled and naturalistic settings, as well as a clear understanding of the neural basis of social interaction perception in ASD. This work will also pioneer the use of natural stimuli for studies of neurodevelopmental disorders, creating a new framework to understand the neural basis of high-level social perception in a range of clinical populations.