liu.seSearch for publications in DiVA
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • oxford
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Contributions of face processing, social anhedonia and mentalizing to the expression of social autistic-like traits
Linköping University, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Division of Neurobiology. Linköping University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Linköping University, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience. Linköping University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5029-341x
Linköping University, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Division of Neurobiology. Linköping University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1904-5554
2022 (English)In: Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, E-ISSN 1662-5153, Vol. 16, article id 1046097Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Quantitative autistic-like traits (QATs) are a constellation of traits that mirror those of clinical autism and are thought to share the same mechanisms as the condition. There is great interest in identifying the genetic and neurobiological basis of QATs, but progress is hindered by the composite nature of these clinically based constructs. Social QATs are defined according to the diagnostic criteria for autism, comprising multiple potential neural mechanisms that may contribute to varying degrees. The objective of this study was to decompose social QATs into more specific constructs, in line with the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC). We chose constructs with trait-like properties and known or suggested significance for autistic social function: 1) social anhedonia, 2) prosopagnosia (face blindness), and 3) mentalizing (attributing mental states to images of eyes). We hypothesized that these constructs may all contribute to observed variance in social QATs. We recruited 148 adults with a broad range of QATs (mean age 37.9 years, range 18–69; 50% female; 5.4% autistic) to an experimental behavioral study conducted online. We estimated social QATs using the social factor of the Comprehensive Autistic Traits Inventory. We used the Oxford Face Matching Task and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test to measure face matching ability and mentalizing, respectively. Social anhedonia traits were measured with the Anticipatory and Consummatory Interpersonal Pleasure Scale, and prosopagnosic traits with the 20-item Prosopagnosia Index. A combination of frequentist and Bayesian statistics was used to test the social constructs as predictors of social QATs. We found that social anhedonic traits, prosopagnosic traits, and face matching performance were likely predictors of social QATs, whereas mentalizing showed limited contribution. The findings support prosopagnosic and anhedonic traits, but not mentalizing deficits, as dimensional predictors of individual differences in social function across the autistic spectrum. Further, the study strongly suggest that social reward systems and face processing networks play significant and independent roles in autistic-like social function.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Frontiers Media S.A., 2022. Vol. 16, article id 1046097
National Category
Neurosciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-190420DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1046097ISI: 000907694500001PubMedID: 36620857OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-190420DiVA, id: diva2:1717254
Funder
Swedish Research Council
Note

Funding: Swedish Research Council;  [2018-02131]

Available from: 2022-12-07 Created: 2022-12-07 Last updated: 2024-07-04Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textPubMed

Authority records

Wiskerke, JoostIgelström, Kajsa

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Pieslinger, JohanWiskerke, JoostIgelström, Kajsa
By organisation
Division of NeurobiologyFaculty of Medicine and Health SciencesCenter for Social and Affective Neuroscience
In the same journal
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Neurosciences

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn
Total: 204 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • oxford
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf