Functional Alterations in Neural Substrates of Geometric Reasoning in Adults with High-Functioning Autism 英文参考文献.docVIP

FunctionalAlterationsinNeuralSubstratesofGeometric ReasoninginAdultswithHigh-FunctioningAutism TakashiYamada1,HaruhisaOhta1,HiromiWatanabe1,ChiekoKanai1,2,MasayukiTani1,TaiseiOhno1, YukoTakayama1,AkiraIwanami1,NobumasaKato1,2,RyuichiroHashimoto1,2 * 1DepartmentofPsychiatry,ShowaUniversitySchoolofMedicine,Tokyo,Japan,2JapanScienceandTechnologyAgency,CREST,Tokyo,Japan Abstract Individuals with autism spectrum condition (ASC) are known to excel in some perceptual cognitive tasks, but such developed functions have been often regarded as ‘‘islets of abilities’’ that do not significantly contribute to broader intellectual capacities. However, recent behavioral studies have reported that individuals with ASC have advantages for performing Raven’s (Standard) Progressive Matrices (RPM/RSPM), a standard neuropsychological test for general fluid intelligence, raising the possibility that ASC9s cognitive strength can be utilized for more general purposes like novel problemsolving.Here,thebrainactivityof25adultswithhigh-functioningASCand26matchednormalcontrols(NC)was measuredusingfunctionalmagneticresonanceimaging(fMRI)toexamineneuralsubstratesofgeometricreasoningduring the engagement of a modified version of the RSPM test. Among the frontal and parietal brain regions involved in fluid intelligence, ASC showed larger activation in the left lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC) during an analytic condition withmoderatedifficultythanNC.ActivationintheleftLOTCandventrolateralprefrontalcortex(VLPFC)increasedwithtask difficulty in NC, whereas such modulation of activity was absent in ASC. Furthermore, functional connectivity analysis revealed a significant reduction of activation coupling between the left inferior parietal cortex and the right anterior prefrontal cortex during both figural and analytic conditions in ASC. These results indicate altered pattern of functional specializationandintegrationintheneuralsystemforgeometricreasoninginASC,whichmayexplainitsatypicalcognitive p