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Goyard, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Goyard, D..

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Attenuated Anticipation of Social and Monetary Rewards in Autism Spectrum Disorders

BackgroundReward processing has been proposed to underpin atypical social behavior, a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, previous neuroimaging studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding the specificity of atypicalities for social rewards in ASD. Utilizing a large sample, we aimed to assess altered reward processing in response to reward type (social, monetary) and reward phase (anticipation, delivery) in ASD. MethodsFunctional magnetic resonance imaging during social and monetary reward anticipation and delivery was performed in 212 individuals with ASD (7.6-30.5 years) and 181 typically developing (TD) participants (7.6-30.8 years). ResultsAcross social and monetary reward anticipation, whole-brain analyses (p<0.05, family-wise error-corrected) showed hypoactivation of the right ventral striatum (VS) in ASD. Further, region of interest (ROI) analysis across both reward types yielded hypoactivation in ASD in both the left and right VS. Across delivery of social and monetary reward, hyperactivation of the VS in individuals with ASD did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Reward type by diagnostic group interactions, and a dimensional analysis of autism trait scores were not significant during anticipation or delivery. Levels of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms did not affect reward processing in ASD. ConclusionsOur results do not support current theories linking atypical social interaction in ASD to specific alterations in processing of social rewards. Instead, they point towards a generalized hypoactivity of VS in ASD during anticipation of both social and monetary rewards. We suggest that this indicates attenuated subjective reward value in ASD independent of social content and ADHD symptoms.

neuroscience↗

Dissecting the heterogeneous cortical anatomy of autism spectrum disorder using normative models

BackgroundThe neuroanatomical basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has remained elusive, mostly due to high biological and clinical heterogeneity among diagnosed individuals. Despite considerable effort towards understanding ASD using neuroimaging biomarkers, heterogeneity remains a barrier, partly because studies mostly employ case-control approaches, which assume that the clinical group is homogeneous.\n\nMethodsHere, we used an innovative normative modelling approach to parse biological heterogeneity in ASD. We aimed to dissect the neuroanatomy of ASD by mapping the deviations from a typical pattern of neuroanatomical development at the level of the individual and to show the necessity to look beyond the case-control paradigm to understand the neurobiology of ASD. We first estimated a vertex-wise normative model of cortical thickness development using Gaussian process regression, then mapped the deviation of each participant from the typical pattern. For this we employed a heterogeneous cross-sectional sample of 206 typically developing (TD) individuals (127 male), and 321 individuals (232 male) with ASD (aged 6-31).\n\nResultsWe found few case-control differences but the ASD cohort showed highly individualized patterns of deviations in cortical thickness that were widespread across the brain. These deviations correlated with severity of repetitive behaviors and social communicative symptoms, although only repetitive behaviors survived corrections for multiple testing.\n\nConclusionsOur results: (i) reinforce the notion that individuals with ASD show distinct, highly individualized trajectories of brain development and (ii) show that by focusing on common effects (i.e. the average ASD participant), the case-control approach disguises considerable inter-individual variation crucial for precision medicine.

neuroscience↗