Differences in age-dependent neural correlates of semantic processing between youths with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing youths
Pin-Jane Chen
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Susan Shur-Fen Gau
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taiwan
Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Address for correspondence and reprints: Susan Shur-Fen Gau, Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, No 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, 10002, Taiwan. E-mail: [email protected] or Tai-Li Chou, Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 106, Taiwan. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorShu-Hui Lee
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Tai-Li Chou
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Address for correspondence and reprints: Susan Shur-Fen Gau, Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, No 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, 10002, Taiwan. E-mail: [email protected] or Tai-Li Chou, Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 106, Taiwan. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorPin-Jane Chen
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Susan Shur-Fen Gau
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taiwan
Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Address for correspondence and reprints: Susan Shur-Fen Gau, Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, No 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, 10002, Taiwan. E-mail: [email protected] or Tai-Li Chou, Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 106, Taiwan. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorShu-Hui Lee
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Tai-Li Chou
Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Address for correspondence and reprints: Susan Shur-Fen Gau, Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, No 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, 10002, Taiwan. E-mail: [email protected] or Tai-Li Chou, Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 106, Taiwan. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have aberrant neural activity during semantic judgments. We aimed to examine age-dependent neural correlates of semantic processing in boys with ASD as compared to typically developing boys (TD). We used functional MRI to investigate 37 boys with ASD (mean age = 13.3 years, standard deviation = 2.4) and 35 age-, sex-, Intelligence quotient (IQ)- and handedness-matched TD boys (mean age = 13.3 years, standard deviation = 2.7) from age 8 to 18 years. Participants had to indicate whether pairs of Chinese characters presented visually were related in meaning. Group (ASD, TD) × Age (Old, Young) ANOVA was used to examine the difference of age-related changes. Direct comparisons between the adolescent group and the child group were also performed. The behavioral results showed that the ASD group had lower accuracy in the related condition relative to the TD group. The neuroimaging results showed greater activation in the cuneus and less activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus in boys with ASD than TD boys. Children with ASD produced greater activation in the cuneus than TD children. Adolescents with ASD showed reduced left IFG activation as compared to TD adolescents. Our findings suggest that TD boys may engage more in higher-level processing of retrieving or selecting semantic features while boys with ASD may rely more on lower-level visual processing during semantic judgments. The findings imply different functional organizations of the semantic system between the two groups. Autism Res 2016, 9: 1263–1273. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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aur1616-sup-0001-supptable1.pdf1.2 MB |
Table S1. Areas of activation for combining the related and unrelated conditions versus perceptual condition for the ASD and TD groups. |
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