Autism symptomology has a profound impact on cognitive and affective functioning, yet we know relatively little about how it shapes patterns of ongoing thought. In an exploratory study in a large population of neurotypical individuals, we used experience sampling to characterise the relationship between ongoing cognition and self-reported autistic traits. We found that with increasing autistic symptom score, cognition was characterised by thinking more in words than images. Analysis of structural neuroimaging data found that autistic traits linked to social interaction were associated with greater cortical thickness in a region of lingual gyrus (LG) within the occipital cortex. Analysis of resting state functional neuroimaging data found autistic traits were associated with stronger connectivity between the LG and a region of motor cortex. Importantly, the strength of connectivity between the LG and motor cortex moderated the link between autistic symptoms and thinking in words: individuals showing higher connectivity showed a stronger association between autistic traits and thinking in words. Together we provide behavioural and neural evidence linking autistic traits to the tendency to think in words which may be rooted in underlying cortical organisation. These observations lay the groundwork for research into the form and content of self-generated thoughts in individuals with the established diagnosis of autism.

中文翻译：

---

言语举止-自闭症症状与以言语形式进行思考的偏好之间存在关联的经验和神经认知证据。

自闭症症状对认知和情感功能产生了深远的影响，但我们对它如何影响进行中的思维方式知之甚少。在对大量神经型个体的探索性研究中，我们使用经验抽样来表征正在进行的认知与自我报告的自闭症特征之间的关系。我们发现，随着自闭症症状评分的增加，认知的特征在于单词思考比图像思考更多。对结构性神经影像数据的分析发现，与社交互动相关的自闭症特征与枕叶皮层内舌回（LG）区域的更大皮层厚度有关。对静止状态功能神经影像数据的分析发现，自闭症特征与LG与运动皮层区域之间更强的连通性有关。重要的是，LG与运动皮层之间的连接强度减弱了自闭症症状与言语思维之间的联系：显示更高连通性的个体显示出自闭症特征与言语思维之间的关联更紧密。我们一起提供了行为和神经方面的证据，将自闭症特征与可能以潜在的皮层组织为根基的单词思维倾向联系起来。这些发现为研究自闭症患者的自我产生的思想的形式和内容奠定了基础。我们一起提供了行为和神经方面的证据，将自闭症特征与可能以潜在的皮层组织为根基的单词思维倾向联系起来。这些发现为研究自闭症患者的自我产生的思想的形式和内容奠定了基础。我们一起提供了行为和神经方面的证据，将自闭症特征与可能以潜在的皮层组织为根基的单词思维倾向联系起来。这些发现为研究自闭症患者的自我产生的思想的形式和内容奠定了基础。