Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Sep 2021)

Reduced Brain Activation in Response to Social Cognition Tasks in Autism Spectrum Disorder with and without Depression

  • Ohtani T,
  • Matsuo K,
  • Sutoh C,
  • Oshima F,
  • Hirano Y,
  • Wakabayashi A,
  • Shimizu E

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 17
pp. 3015 – 3024

Abstract

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Toshiyuki Ohtani,1– 3 Koji Matsuo,4 Chihiro Sutoh,5 Fumiyo Oshima,2,3 Yoshiyuki Hirano,2,3 Akio Wakabayashi,6 Eiji Shimizu2,3,5 1Safety and Health Organization, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan; 2Research Center for Child Mental Development, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan; 3United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University and University of Fukui, Suita, Japan; 4Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan; 5Department of Cognitive Behavioral Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine and School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan; 6Department of Psychology,Graduate School of Humanities, Chiba University, Chiba, JapanCorrespondence: Toshiyuki OhtaniSafety and Health Organization, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoicho, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8522, JapanTel/Fax +81 43 290 2216Email [email protected]: In clinical settings, diagnosing comorbid depression in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often difficult. Neuroimaging studies have reported reduced activation of frontal and temporal regions during emotional face recognition task (EFRT) in ASD and depression. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has examined differences in frontotemporal activation during EFRT between ASD with and without comorbid depression. We aimed to compare the frontotemporal hemodynamic responses to the EFRT in ASD with and without depression and to find clues to help in discriminating the characteristics between them.Patients and Methods: In 24 drug-naïve young adults with ASD (12 with depression [ASD-Dep(+)] and 12 without depression [ASD-Dep(-)]) and 12 with typical development (TD), frontotemporal hemodynamic responses during an EFRT were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).Results: The ASD groups showed reduced activation during EFRT than the TD group in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). Moreover, the ASD-Dep(+) group showed reduced activation during EFRT than the ASD-Dep(-) group in the right anterior temporal cortex (aTC), and reduced activation than the TD group in the left VLPFC.Conclusion: The observed results might reflect reduced regional activation in ASD and ASD with comorbid depression.Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, depression comorbidity, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, emotional face recognition, social cognition, frontotemporal activation

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