A specific hypoactivation of right temporo-parietal junction/posterior superior temporal sulcus in response to socially awkward situations in autism
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People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulty comprehending social situations in the complex, dynamic contexts encountered in the real world. To study the social brain under conditions which approximate naturalistic situations, we measured brain activity with FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING: while participants watched a full-length episode of the sitcom The Office. Having quantified the degree of social awkwardness at each moment of the episode, as judged by an independent sample of controls, we found that both individuals with ASD and control participants showed reliable activation of several brain regions commonly associated with social perception and cognition (e.g. those comprising the 'mentalizing network') during the more awkward moments. However, individuals with ASD showed less activity than controls in a region near right temporo-parietal junction (RTPJ) extending into the posterior end of the right superior temporal sulcus (RSTS). Further analyses suggested that, despite the free-form nature of the experimental design, this group difference was specific to this RTPJ/RSTS area of the mentalizing network; other regions of interest showed similar activity across groups with respect to both location and magnitude. These findings add support to a body of evidence suggesting that RTPJ/RSTS plays a special role in social processes across modalities and may function atypically in individuals with ASD navigating the social world.
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In response to socially awkward situations, individuals with autism spectrum disorder show reduced activation of the right temporoparietal junction and posterior superior temporal sulcus.
“in response to socially-awkward situations, reduced activation of the right TPJ and pSTS , areas implicated in ToM processes (see above), has been observed in individuals with ASD (Pantelis et al., 2015).”
From Behavioral, Perceptual, and Neural Alterations in Sensory and Multisensory Function in Autism Spectrum Disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Pantelis et al., 2015
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- Authors
- Pantelis, P. C., Byrge, L., Tyszka, J. M., Adolphs, R., & Kennedy, D. P.
- Affiliations
- Indiana University Bloomington (US)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Venue
- Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2015-03-29
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1348-1356
- ISSN
- 1749-5016 (ISSN-L)
- 1749-5024
- PMC
- PMC4590532
- OpenAlex
- W2128492818
- Cited by
- 97
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5
- FWCI
- 7.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K99MH094409, R00MH094409, P50MH094258)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, social awkwardness, right temporoparietal junction, posterior superior temporal sulcus, mentalizing network, social perception, social cognition
- MeSH terms
- Autism Spectrum Disorder, Autistic Disorder, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Parietal Lobe, Social Perception, Temporal Lobe, Young Adult, Theory of Mind, Connectome
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