Emotional Ego- and Altercentric Biases in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autor(en)

Helena Hartmann, Lukas Lengersdorff, Hannah H. Hitz, Philipp Stepnicka, Giorgia Silani

Abstrakt

Self-other distinction is a crucial aspect of social cognition, as it allows us to differentiate our own mental and emotional states from those of others. Research suggests that this ability might be impaired in individuals on the autism spectrum, but convincing evidence of self-other distinction difficulties in the emotional domain is lacking. Here we aimed at evaluating emotional self-other distinction abilities in autistic and non-autistic adults, in two behavioral pilot studies and one fMRI study. By using a newly developed virtual ball-tossing game that induced simultaneous positive and negative emotional states in each participant and another person, we were able to measure emotional egocentric and altercentric biases (namely the tendency to ascribe self-/other-related emotions to others/ourselves, respectively). Despite no behavioral differences, individuals on the autism spectrum showed decreased activation (1) in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) during active overcoming of the emotional egocentric bias vs. passive game viewing, and (2) in the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) during ego- vs. altercentric biases, compared to neurotypical participants. These results suggest a different recruitment of these two regions in autistic individuals when dealing with conflicting emotional states of oneself and another person. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of considering different control conditions when interpreting the involvement of rTPJ and rSMG during self-other distinction processes.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Psychologie der Kognition, Emotion und Methoden, Institut für Klinische und Gesundheitspsychologie

Journal

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Band

13

ISSN

1664-0640

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.813969

Publikationsdatum

02-2022

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

501010 Klinische Psychologie, 501030 Kognitionswissenschaft, 501014 Neuropsychologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Psychiatry and Mental health

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/dac5416a-62ad-448b-954a-314a73413d46