Brain-to-brain synchrony has been proposed as an important mechanism underlying social interaction. While first findings indicate that it may be modulated in children with ASD, no study to date has investigated the influence of different interaction partners and task characteristics. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning, we assessed brain-to-brain synchrony in 41 male typically developing (TD) children (8–18 years; control sample), as well as 18 children with ASD and age-matched TD children (matched sample), while performing cooperative and competitive tasks with their parents and an adult stranger. Dyads were instructed to either respond jointly in response to a target (cooperation) or to respond faster than the other player (competition). Wavelet coherence was calculated for oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin brain signals. In the control sample, a widespread enhanced coherence was observed for parent-child competition, and a more localized coherence for parent-child cooperation in the frontopolar cortex. While behaviorally, children with ASD showed a lower motor synchrony than children in the TD group, no significant group differences were observed on the neural level. In order to identify biomarkers for typical and atypical social interactions in the long run, more research is needed to investigate the neurobiological underpinnings of reduced synchrony in ASD.

中文翻译：

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自闭症儿童和青少年的大脑和运动同步性——一项 fNIRS 超扫描研究。


脑对脑同步已被认为是社会互动的重要机制。虽然初步研究结果表明它可能在自闭症谱系障碍儿童中受到调节，但迄今为止还没有研究调查不同互动伙伴和任务特征的影响。使用功能性近红外光谱超扫描，我们评估了 41 名男性典型发育 (TD) 儿童（8-18 岁；对照样本）以及 18 名 ASD 儿童和年龄匹配的 TD 儿童（匹配的 TD 儿童）的脑对脑同步性。样本），同时与父母和成年陌生人执行合作和竞争任务。双人组被指示要么共同响应目标（合作），要么比其他玩家更快地响应（竞争）。计算氧合血红蛋白和脱氧血红蛋白脑信号的小波相干性。在对照样本中，观察到亲子竞争的一致性普遍增强，而额极皮层亲子合作的一致性更加局部化。虽然在行为上，患有 ASD 的儿童表现出比 TD 组儿童更低的运动同步性，但在神经水平上没有观察到显着的组间差异。从长远来看，为了确定典型和非典型社交互动的生物标志物，需要更多的研究来调查自闭症谱系障碍同步性降低的神经生物学基础。