Autistic empathy toward autistic others

Hidetsugu Komeda; Hirotaka Kosaka; Daisuke N Saito; Yoko Mano; Minyoung Jung; Takeshi Fujii; Hisakazu T Yanaka; Toshio Munesue; Makoto Ishitobi; Makoto Sato; Hidehiko Okazawa

doi:10.1093/scan/nsu126

Autistic empathy toward autistic others

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015 Feb;10(2):145-52. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsu126. Epub 2014 Oct 20.

Affiliations

¹ The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Ushinomiya-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan, Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Division of Developmental Higher Brain Functions, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University and University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Biomedical Imaging Research Center, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Department of Psychiatry, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry Hospital, 4-1-1, Ogawahigashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan, Faculty of Regional Sciences, Tottori University, Koyamacho-Minami, Tottori City 680-8551, Japan, Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan, Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8553, Japan, Division of Developmental Neuroscience, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University and University of Fukui, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan, and Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan komeda.hidetsugu.5w@kyoto-u.ac.jp.
² The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Ushinomiya-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan, Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Division of Developmental Higher Brain Functions, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University and University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Biomedical Imaging Research Center, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Department of Psychiatry, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry Hospital, 4-1-1, Ogawahigashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan, Faculty of Regional Sciences, Tottori University, Koyamacho-Minami, Tottori City 680-8551, Japan, Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan, Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8553, Japan, Division of Developmental Neuroscience, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University and University of Fukui, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan, and Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Ushinomiya-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan, Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Division of Developmental Higher Brain Functions, Department of Child
³ The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Ushinomiya-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan, Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Division of Developmental Higher Brain Functions, Department of Child Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University and University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Biomedical Imaging Research Center, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193, Japan, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA, Department of Psychiatry, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry Hospital, 4-1-1, Ogawahigashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan, Faculty of Regional Sciences, Tottori University, Koyamacho-Minami, Tottori City 680-8551, Japan, Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan, Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8553, Japan, Division of Developmental Neuroscience, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Chiba University and University of Fukui, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan, and Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.

Abstract

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are thought to lack self-awareness and to experience difficulty empathizing with others. Although these deficits have been demonstrated in previous studies, most of the target stimuli were constructed for typically developing (TD) individuals. We employed judgment tasks capable of indexing self-relevant processing in individuals with and without ASD. Fourteen Japanese men and 1 Japanese women with high-functioning ASD (17-41 years of age) and 13 Japanese men and 2 TD Japanese women (22-40 years of age), all of whom were matched for age and full and verbal intelligence quotient scores with the ASD participants, were enrolled in this study. The results demonstrated that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex was significantly activated in individuals with ASD in response to autistic characters and in TD individuals in response to non-autistic characters. Although the frontal-posterior network between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and superior temporal gyrus participated in the processing of non-autistic characters in TD individuals, an alternative network was involved when individuals with ASD processed autistic characters. This suggests an atypical form of empathy in individuals with ASD toward others with ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; empathy; self; similarity; ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Autistic Disorder / psychology*
Ego
Empathy*
Female
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Intelligence
Judgment
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Nerve Net / physiopathology
Photic Stimulation
Prefrontal Cortex / physiopathology
Psychomotor Performance
Reaction Time
Young Adult