Biology subjects

Gooding-Williams, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Gooding-Williams, G..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

The Neural Oscillatory Basis of Perspective-Taking in Autistic and Non-Autistic Adolescents using MEG

Taking anothers perspective is a high-level mental skill underlying many aspects of social cognition. Perspective-taking is usually an embodied egocentric process whereby people mentally rotate themselves away from their physical location into the others orientation. This is accompanied by increased theta-band (3-7 Hz) brain oscillations within a widespread fronto-parietal cortical network including the temporoparietal junction. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been reported to experience challenges with high-level perspective-taking, particularly when adopting embodied strategies. To investigate the potential neurophysiological basis of these autism-related individual differences, we used magnetoencephalography in combination with a well-replicated perspective-taking paradigm in a group of 18 autistic and 17 age-matched non-autistic adolescents. Findings revealed that increasing the angle between self and other perspective resulted in prolonged reaction times for the autistic group during perspective-taking. This was accompanied by reduced theta power across a wide network of regions typically active during social cognitive tasks. On the other hand, the autistic group showed greater alpha power decreases in visual cortex compared with the non-autistic group across all perspective-taking conditions. These divergent theta and alpha power effects, coupled with steeper response time slopes, suggest that autistic individuals may rely more on alternative cognitive strategies, such as mental object rotation, rather than an egocentric embodied approach. Finally, no group differences were found when participants were asked to track, rather than take, anothers viewpoint, suggesting that autism-related individual differences are specific to high-level perspective-taking.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Reduced Auditory Steady State Responses in Autism Spectrum Disorder

BackgroundAuditory steady state responses (ASSRs) are elicited by clicktrains or amplitude-modulated tones, which entrain auditory cortex at their specific modulation rate. Previous research has reported reductions in ASSRs at 40Hz for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participants and first-degree relatives of people diagnosed with ASD [1,2]. MethodsUsing a 1.5s-long auditory clicktrain stimulus, designed to elicit an ASSR at 40Hz, this study attempted to replicate and extend these findings. Magnetencephalography (MEG) data were collected from 18 adolescent ASD participants and 18 typically developing controls. ResultsThe ASSR localised to bilateral primary auditory regions. Regions of interest were thus defined in left and right primary auditory cortex (A1). While the transient gamma-band response (tGBR) from 0-0.1s following presentation of the clicktrain stimulus was not different between groups, for either left or right A1, the ASD group had reduced oscillatory power at 40Hz from 0.5 to 1.5s post-stimulus onset, for both left and right A1. Additionally, the ASD group had reduced inter-trial coherence (phase consistency over trials) at 40Hz from 0.64-0.82s for right A1 and 1.04-1.22s for left A1. LimitationsIn this study, we did not conduct a clinical autism assessment (e.g. the ADOS), and therefore it remains unclear whether ASSR power and/or ITC are associated with the clinical symptoms of ASD. ConclusionOverall, our results support a specific reduction in ASSR oscillatory power and inter-trial coherence in ASD, rather than a generalised deficit in gamma-band responses. We argue that this could reflect a developmentally relevant reduction in non-linear neural processing.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Dysregulated Oscillatory Connectivity in the Visual System in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder is increasingly associated with atypical perceptual and sensory symptoms. Here we explore the hypothesis that aberrant sensory processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder could be linked to atypical intra- (local) and inter-regional (global) brain connectivity. To elucidate oscillatory dynamics and connectivity in the visual domain we used magnetoencephalography and a simple visual grating paradigm with a group of 18 adolescent autistic participants and 18 typically developing controls. Both groups showed similar increases in gamma (40-80Hz) and decreases in alpha (8-13Hz) frequency power in occipital cortex. However, systematic group differences emerged when analysing intra- and inter-regional connectivity in detail. Firstly, directed connectivity was estimated using non-parametric Granger causality between visual areas V1 and V4. Feedforward V1-to-V4 connectivity, mediated by gamma oscillations, was equivalent between Autism Spectrum Disorder and control groups, but importantly, feedback V4-to-V1 connectivity, mediated by alpha (8-13Hz) oscillations, was significantly reduced in the Autism Spectrum Disorder group. This reduction was positively correlated with autistic quotient scores, consistent with an atypical visual hierarchy in autism, characterised by reduced top-down modulation of visual input via alpha-band oscillations. Secondly, at the local level in V1, coupling of alpha-phase to gamma amplitude (alpha-gamma phase amplitude coupling, PAC) was reduced in the Autism Spectrum Disorder group. This implies dysregulated local visual processing, with gamma oscillations decoupled from patterns of wider alpha-band phase synchrony (i.e. reduced PAC), possibly due to an excitation-inhibition imbalance. More generally, these results are in agreement with predictive coding accounts of neurotypical perception and indicate that visual processes in autism are less modulated by contextual feedback information.

neuroscience↗