Differences in understanding emotion in autism are well-documented, although far more research has considered how being autistic impacts an understanding of other people’s emotions, compared to their own. In neurotypical adults and children, many emotions are associated with distinct bodily maps of experienced sensation, and the ability to report these maps is significantly related to the awareness of interoceptive signals. Here, in 100 children who either carry a clinical diagnosis of autism (n = 45) or who have no history of autism (n = 55), we investigated potential differences in differentiation across autistic children’s bodily maps of emotion, as well as how such differentiation relates to the processing of interoceptive signals. As such, we measured objective interoceptive performance using the heartbeat-counting task, and participants’ subjective experience of interoceptive signals using the child version of the Body Perception Questionnaire. We found less differentiation in the bodily maps of emotion in autistic children, but no association with either objective or subjective interoceptive processing. These findings suggest that, in addition to previously reported differences in detecting others’ emotional states, autistic children have a less differentiated bodily experience of emotion. This does not, however, relate to differences in interoceptive perception as measured here.

Lay abstract

More research has been conducted on how autistic people understand and interpret other people’s emotions, than on how autistic people experience their own emotions. The experience of emotion is important however, because it can relate to difficulties like anxiety and depression, which are common in autism. In neurotypical adults and children, different emotions have been associated with unique maps of activity patterns in the body. Whether these maps of emotion are comparable in autism is currently unknown. Here, we asked 100 children and adolescents, 45 of whom were autistic, to color in outlines of the body to indicate how they experienced seven emotions. Autistic adults and children sometimes report differences in how they experience their internal bodily states, termed interoception, and so we also investigated how this related to the bodily maps of emotion. In this study, the autistic children and adolescents had comparable interoception to the non-autistic children and adolescents, but there was less variability in their maps of emotion. In other words, they showed more similar patterns of activity across the different emotions. This was not related to interoception, however. This work suggests that there are differences in how autistic people experience emotion that are not explained by differences in interoception. In neurotypical people, less variability in emotional experiences is linked to anxiety and depression, and future work should seek to understand if this is a contributing factor to the increased prevalence of these difficulties in autism.

中文翻译：

---

减少自闭症中与情绪相关的身体感觉的分化

自闭症患者在理解情绪方面的差异是有据可查的，尽管更多的研究已经考虑了自闭症如何影响对其他人情绪的理解，而不是他们自己。在神经典型的成人和儿童中，许多情绪与体验感觉的不同身体地图相关，并且报告这些地图的能力与内感受信号的意识显着相关。在这里，在 100 名临床诊断为自闭症 ( n  = 45) 或没有自闭症史 ( n = 55），我们研究了自闭症儿童身体情绪地图的潜在差异，以及这种差异与内感受信号处理的关系。因此，我们使用心跳计数任务测量客观的内感受性能，并使用儿童版的身体感知问卷测量参与者对内感受信号的主观体验。我们发现自闭症儿童的身体情绪地图差异较小，但与客观或主观的内感受处理无关。这些发现表明，除了先前报道的在检测他人情绪状态方面的差异外，自闭症儿童的身体情绪体验差异较小。然而，这并不

摘要

与自闭症患者如何体验自己的情绪相比，更多的研究是关于自闭症患者如何理解和解释他人的情绪。然而，情绪体验很重要，因为它可能与焦虑和抑郁等困难有关，这在自闭症中很常见。在神经典型的成人和儿童中，不同的情绪与身体活动模式的独特地图相关联。这些情感地图在自闭症中是否具有可比性目前尚不清楚。在这里，我们让 100 名儿童和青少年（其中 45 名患有自闭症）在身体轮廓上涂上颜色，以表明他们如何体验七种情绪。自闭症成人和儿童有时会报告他们如何体验其内部身体状态的差异，称为内感受，所以我们还研究了这与情绪的身体地图之间的关系。在这项研究中，自闭症儿童和青少年的内感受与非自闭症儿童和青少年相当，但他们的情绪地图变异性较小。换句话说，他们在不同的情绪中表现出更多相似的活动模式。然而，这与内感受无关。这项工作表明，自闭症患者体验情绪的方式存在差异，而这并不能用内感受的差异来解释。在神经典型的人中，情绪体验的变化较少与焦虑和抑郁有关，未来的工作应该试图了解这是否是导致自闭症这些困难患病率增加的一个因素。自闭症儿童和青少年的内感受与非自闭症儿童和青少年相似，但他们的情绪地图变异性较小。换句话说，他们在不同的情绪中表现出更多相似的活动模式。然而，这与内感受无关。这项工作表明，自闭症患者体验情绪的方式存在差异，而这并不能用内感受的差异来解释。在神经典型的人中，情绪体验的变化较少与焦虑和抑郁有关，未来的工作应该试图了解这是否是导致自闭症这些困难患病率增加的一个因素。自闭症儿童和青少年的内感受与非自闭症儿童和青少年相似，但他们的情绪地图变异性较小。换句话说，他们在不同的情绪中表现出更多相似的活动模式。然而，这与内感受无关。这项工作表明，自闭症患者体验情绪的方式存在差异，而这并不能用内感受的差异来解释。在神经典型的人中，情绪体验的变化较少与焦虑和抑郁有关，未来的工作应该试图了解这是否是导致自闭症这些困难患病率增加的一个因素。他们在不同的情绪中表现出更多相似的活动模式。然而，这与内感受无关。这项工作表明，自闭症患者体验情绪的方式存在差异，而这并不能用内感受的差异来解释。在神经典型的人中，情绪体验的变化较少与焦虑和抑郁有关，未来的工作应该试图了解这是否是导致自闭症这些困难患病率增加的一个因素。他们在不同的情绪中表现出更多相似的活动模式。然而，这与内感受无关。这项工作表明，自闭症患者体验情绪的方式存在差异，而这并不能用内感受的差异来解释。在神经典型的人中，情绪体验的变化较少与焦虑和抑郁有关，未来的工作应该试图了解这是否是导致自闭症这些困难患病率增加的一个因素。