Deficits in social cognition and interaction, such as in mentalizing and imitation behavior, are hallmark features of autism spectrum disorders. Both imitation and mentalizing are at the core of the sense of agency, the awareness that we are the initiators of our own behavior. Little evidence exists regarding the sense of agency in autism. Thus,…

This study examined physiological response and affective report in 10 adult individuals with autism and 10 typically developing controls. An emotion induction paradigm using stimuli from the International Affective Picture System was applied. Blood pressure, heart and self-ratings of experienced valence (pleasure), arousal and dominance (control)…

The WAIS III was administered to 16 adults with high functioning autism (HFA) and 27 adults with Asperger syndrome. Differences between Verbal Intelligence (VIQ) and Performance Intelligence (PIQ) were not found. Processing Speed problems in people with HFA appeared. At the subtest level, the Asperger syndrome group performed weak on Digit Span.…

Altered visual exploration of faces likely contributes to social cognition deficits seen in autism. To investigate the relationship between face gaze and social cognition in autism, we measured both face gaze and how facial regions were actually used during emotion judgments from faces. Compared to IQ-matched healthy controls, nine…

Patterns of sensory abnormalities in children and adults with autism were examined using the Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders (DISCO). This interview elicits detailed information about responsiveness to a wide range of sensory stimuli. Study 1 showed that over 90% of children with autism had sensory abnormalities and had…

Difficulties in social interaction are a central feature of Asperger syndrome. Effective social interaction involves the ability to solve interpersonal problems as and when they occur. Here we examined social problem-solving in a group of adults with Asperger syndrome and control group matched for age, gender and IQ. We also assessed…

Free recall in adults with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) was compared with that in matched controls in an experiment including semantically similar, phonologically similar and unrelated word lists. Without supportive instructions, adults with AS were significantly impaired in their recall of phonologically and semantically related lists, but not…

Twenty six children with autism, 24 children with developmental disabilities, and 15 typically developing children participated in tasks in which an adult displayed emotions. Child focus of attention, change in facial tone (i.e., hedonic tone), and latency to changes in tone were measured and summary scores of emotional contagion were created.…

We studied the association between an adult's behavior and episodes of social engagement (ESEs) in young children with autism during play-based assessment. ESEs were defined as events in which a child looked toward the adult's face and simultaneously showed an additional form of communicative behavior. The adult's behavior before each ESE, and…

A deficit in empathy has consistently been cited as a central characteristic of Asperger syndrome (AS), but previous research on adults has predominantly focused on cognitive empathy, effectively ignoring the role of affective empathy. We administered the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), a multi-dimensional measure of empathy, and the Strange…

Hyperserotonemia is the most consistent serotonin-related finding in autism. The basis of this phenomenon, and its relationship to the central serotonergic dysfunction remains unclear. Platelet serotonin level (PSL) in 53 autistic adults and 45 healthy controls was measured. Mean PSL in autistic group (75.7 [plus or minus] 37.4 ng/[microliters])…

This study tests the empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory of sex differences and the extreme male brain (EMB) theory of autism. Three groups of participants took part: n = 48 people with autism spectrum, n = 137 general population controls, and n = 1,250 university student controls. Each participant completed the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and the…

The aim of the present experiment was to examine the ability of adults with Asperger's syndrome and age-matched typically-developing controls to identify incongruent and congruent emotional information from the face and voice. In the first part of the experiment, participants determined whether simultaneously presented expressive faces and voices…

We examine the nature and predictors of social and romantic functioning in adolescents and adults with ASD. Parental reports were obtained for 25 ASD adolescents and adults (13-36 years), and 38 typical adolescents and adults (13-30 years). The ASD group relied less upon peers and friends for social (OR = 52.16, p less than 0.01) and romantic…

We examined behaviour management problems as predictors of psychotropic medication, use of psychiatric consultation and in-patient admission in a group of 66 adults with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and intellectual disability (ID) and 99 controls matched in age, gender and level of ID. Overall, people with PDD had higher rates of most…