Neuromagnetic premotor abnormalities in children with asperger syndrome compared to control children correlate with social skills
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1
University of Konstanz, Germany
Recent studies suggest that neuronal activation of own action representations during observation of actions performed by others is crucial for understanding the meaning and intention of such actions. Also, these shared representations have been assumed to be crucial for social skills. Children with Asperger syndrome show severe deficits in social behavior while their intellectual and language development is intact. Therefore, this study investigated neuromagnetic (MEG) activity in children with Asperger syndrome and healthy control children, while they observed movies of grasping movements. Relative to a baseline condition (non-biological movement), strong modulations occurred in the mu-frequency range (10-12 Hz) at frontal and central sensors, especially in healthy control participants. Source localization revealed differential origins of this modulation in the two groups. Control participants showed stronger premotor (Brodmann area, BA 6) activity increases and reduced prefrontal (BA 8) activity compared to Asperger‘s children. Correlational analyses of source activity and behavioral scores revealed a strong linear relationship of social competence scores with precentral (BA 6) and prefrontal (BA 8) regions and an inverse relationship of the same areas with social problem scores. The findings indicate that Asperger‘s children show abnormal activation patterns during observation of actions. Activation patterns correlate with scores of social skills, thereby confirming the hypotheses that these abnormalities may be crucial for social deficits. Funding: Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz.
Keywords:
asperger,
emotion
Conference:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Poster Sessions: Emotion, Motivation and the Social Brain
Citation:
Hauswald
A,
Kissler
J and
Weisz
N
(2011). Neuromagnetic premotor abnormalities in children with asperger syndrome compared to control children correlate with social skills.
Conference Abstract:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00286
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Received:
22 Nov 2011;
Published Online:
28 Nov 2011.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Anne Hauswald, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany, anne.hauswald@uni-konstanz.de