Autism, Emotional Processing, and the Amygdala

NCT ID: NCT04549506

Last Updated: 2020-09-16

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Total Enrollment

51 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2014-04-19

Study Completion Date

2017-06-16

Brief Summary

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Empathy imbalance hypothesis suggests that individuals with autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) should have a deficit of cognitive empathy and a surfeit of emotional empathy. Considering that inconsistent amygdala reactivity to emotional faces might be ascribed to aberrant attention in ASD, the investigators hypothesized to investigate if there would be an imbalance between conscious and nonconscious emotional processing. This fMRI study recruited 26 youths and young adults with autism spectrum disorder and 25 matched controls, and measured their amygdala reactivity and functional connectivity in response to conscious and nonconscious (backward masked) perception of threatening faces.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder; amygdala reactivity; emotional processing; fMRI

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Autism Spectrum Disorder

Study Design

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Observational Model Type

CASE_CONTROL

Study Time Perspective

CROSS_SECTIONAL

Study Groups

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ASD group

There is no intervention to be administered in this study. Here, this fMRI study used the backwardly masked paradigm to elucidate how perceiving emotional expressions affects amygdala engagement and its related functional connectivity across two participant groups: ASD with and controls. All ASD participants were diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition's (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria (APA, 2013) and confirmed by clinical consensus. ASD individuals were recruited from a community autism program and referred to children's health doctors and child psychiatrists. Exclusion criteria for all participants were neurological abnormalities, a history of epilepsy or seizures, head trauma and IQ \<75. The subjects did not participate in any intervention or drug programs during the experimental period.

No interventions assigned to this group

Control group

There is no intervention to be administered in this study. Here, this fMRI study used the backwardly masked paradigm to elucidate how perceiving emotional expressions affects amygdala engagement and its related functional connectivity across two participant groups: ASD with and controls. The participants in the age- and sex-matched control group were recruited from the local community, and screened for major psychiatric illnesses by conducting structured interviews.

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Clinical diagnosis of severity of Autism-Spectrum Disorders
* IQ \> 75

Exclusion Criteria

* Neurological abnormalities,
* A history of epilepsy or seizures, head trauma a
* IQ \<75
Minimum Eligible Age

13 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

40 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Yawei Cheng

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Yawei Cheng

Professor

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

References

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Liddell BJ, Williams LM, Rathjen J, Shevrin H, Gordon E. A temporal dissociation of subliminal versus supraliminal fear perception: an event-related potential study. J Cogn Neurosci. 2004 Apr;16(3):479-86. doi: 10.1162/089892904322926809.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15072682 (View on PubMed)

Williams LM, Kemp AH, Felmingham K, Liddell BJ, Palmer DM, Bryant RA. Neural biases to covert and overt signals of fear: dissociation by trait anxiety and depression. J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 Oct;19(10):1595-608. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2007.19.10.1595.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 17854280 (View on PubMed)

Schumann CM, Amaral DG. Stereological analysis of amygdala neuron number in autism. J Neurosci. 2006 Jul 19;26(29):7674-9. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1285-06.2006.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16855095 (View on PubMed)

Eimer M, Kiss M, Holmes A. Links between rapid ERP responses to fearful faces and conscious awareness. J Neuropsychol. 2008 Mar;2(Pt 1):165-81. doi: 10.1348/174866407X245411.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19330049 (View on PubMed)

Hall GB, Doyle KA, Goldberg J, West D, Szatmari P. Amygdala engagement in response to subthreshold presentations of anxious face stimuli in adults with autism spectrum disorders: preliminary insights. PLoS One. 2010 May 25;5(5):e10804. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010804.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20520836 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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YM102035

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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