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Cited by 158Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesGenetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

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Atypical recruitment of medial prefrontal cortex in autism spectrum disorders: An fMRI study of two executive function tasks

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Gilbert, Sam J., Bird, Geoffrey, Brindley, Rachel, Frith, Christopher D., Burgess, Paul W.·2008·Neuropsychologia
DOI 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.03.025PMC PMC2648877
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Abstract

Recent studies have suggested an uneven profile of executive dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). For example, some authors have reported deficits on newly developed tests of executive function sensitive to rostral prefrontal function, despite spared, or even superior, performance on other tests. We investigated the performance of a group of high-functioning participants with ASD (N=15) and an age- and IQ-matched control group (N=18) on two executive function tests, whilst undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Behaviourally, there were no significant differences between the two groups. In a classical test of executive function (random response generation), BOLD signal differed between the groups in the cerebellum but not in the frontal lobes. However, on a new test of executive function (selection between stimulus-oriented and stimulus-independent thought), the ASD group exhibited significantly greater signal-change in medial rostral prefrontal cortex (especially Brodmann Area 10) in the comparison of stimulus-oriented versus stimulus-independent attention. In addition, the new test (but not the classical test) provided evidence for abnormal functional organisation of medial prefrontal cortex in ASD. These results underline the heterogeneity of different tests of executive function, and suggest that executive functioning in ASD is associated with task-specific functional change.

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Fig. 1 Behavioural data from the random generation task, presented separately for Slow and Fast blocks. Graphs indicate the percentage of responses of each of the four types, depending on the previous response. Horizontal lines indicate the expected percentage of responses in a truly random sequence. Error bars indicate standard errors.
Fig. 1 Behavioural data from the random generation task, presented separately for Slow and Fast blocks. Graphs indicate the percentage of responses of each of the four types, depending on the previous response. Horizontal lines indicate the expected percentage of responses in a truly random sequence. Error bars indicate standard errors.CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig. 2 Behavioural data from the alphabet task. Left graph shows mean response time (RT) and right graph shows mean error rate, in each of four conditions depending on whether the phase was stimulus-oriented (SO) or stimulus-independent (SI), and whether the trial-type was switch (i.e. different phase to the previous trial: Sw) or non-switch (NS). Error bars indicate standard errors.
Fig. 2 Behavioural data from the alphabet task. Left graph shows mean response time (RT) and right graph shows mean error rate, in each of four conditions depending on whether the phase was stimulus-oriented (SO) or stimulus-independent (SI), and whether the trial-type was switch (i.e. different phase to the previous trial: Sw) or non-switch (NS). Error bars indicate standard errors.CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig. 3 Signal change associated with the comparisons between Random and Baseline conditions, presented separately for the Control and ASD groups. Areas of activation in the contrasts of Baseline > Random are presented on sagittal slices (x = 2) of the relevant group of participants’ mean normalized structural scan.
Fig. 3 Signal change associated with the comparisons between Random and Baseline conditions, presented separately for the Control and ASD groups. Areas of activation in the contrasts of Baseline > Random are presented on sagittal slices (x = 2) of the relevant group of participants’ mean normalized structural scan.CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig. 4 Regions showing significantly greater activation related to the contrast of Baseline > Random in the control than the ASD group. Results are plotted on a sagittal slice (x = −24) of the participants’ mean normalized structural scan.
Fig. 4 Regions showing significantly greater activation related to the contrast of Baseline > Random in the control than the ASD group. Results are plotted on a sagittal slice (x = −24) of the participants’ mean normalized structural scan.CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig. 5 Signal change associated with the comparisons between stimulus-oriented (SO) and stimulus-independent (SI) conditions, presented separately for the Control and ASD groups. Areas of activation in the contrasts of SO > SI are presented on sagittal slices (x = −12) of the relevant group of participants’ mean normalized structural scan.
Fig. 5 Signal change associated with the comparisons between stimulus-oriented (SO) and stimulus-independent (SI) conditions, presented separately for the Control and ASD groups. Areas of activation in the contrasts of SO > SI are presented on sagittal slices (x = −12) of the relevant group of participants’ mean normalized structural scan.CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig. 6 (Top) Regions showing significantly greater activation related to the contrast of SO > SI in the ASD than the control group. (Bottom) Regions showing activation in the contrast of SO > SI when the two groups are pooled. Results are plotted on a sagittal slice of the participants’ mean normalized structural scan (top: x = 0, bottom: x = 2, so that each slice displays the relevant peak voxel). Mean contrast estimates are plotted at the peak BA 10 voxel for each contrast (top: 0, 48, 2; bottom: 2, 64, 28) separately for the ASD and control groups. Error bars indicate standard errors.
Fig. 6 (Top) Regions showing significantly greater activation related to the contrast of SO > SI in the ASD than the control group. (Bottom) Regions showing activation in the contrast of SO > SI when the two groups are pooled. Results are plotted on a sagittal slice of the participants’ mean normalized structural scan (top: x = 0, bottom: x = 2, so that each slice displays the relevant peak voxel). Mean contrast estimates are plotted at the peak BA 10 voxel for each contrast (top: 0, 48, 2; bottom: 2, 64, 28) separately for the ASD and control groups. Error bars indicate standard errors.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Metadata

Authors
Gilbert, S. J., Bird, G., Brindley, R., Frith, C. D., & Burgess, P. W.
Affiliations
University College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Gilbert, Sam J.
ORCID
Venue
Neuropsychologia
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2008-07
Volume
46
Issue
9
Pages
2281-2291
ISSN
0028-3932 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.03.025
PMC
PMC2648877
OpenAlex
W2101777433
Cited by
158
References
86
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 8
FWCI
6.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Neuropsychologia (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (061171)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, executive function, medial prefrontal cortex, Brodmann area 10, cerebellum, high-functioning autism
MeSH terms
Adult, Autistic Disorder, Brain, Cognition, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Mental Processes, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Parietal Lobe, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Recruitment, Neurophysiological, Task Performance and Analysis, Prefrontal Cortex

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