Atypical neural modulation in the right prefrontal cortex during an inhibitory task with eye gaze in autism spectrum disorder as revealed by functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Takahiro Ikeda; Masahiro Hirai; Takeshi Sakurada; Yukifumi Monden; Tatsuya Tokuda; Masako Nagashima; Hideo Shimoizumi; Ippeita Dan; Takanori Yamagata

doi:10.1117/1.NPh.5.3.035008

5 September 2018 Atypical neural modulation in the right prefrontal cortex during an inhibitory task with eye gaze in autism spectrum disorder as revealed by functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Takahiro Ikeda, Masahiro Hirai, Takeshi Sakurada, Yukifumi Monden, Tatsuya Tokuda, Masako Nagashima, Hideo Shimoizumi, Ippeita Dan, Takanori Yamagata

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Neurophotonics, Vol. 5, Issue 3, 035008 (September 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.5.3.035008

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairment in social communication and the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests. Executive function impairment is reportedly partially responsible for these symptoms. Executive function includes planning, flexibility, and inhibitory control. Although planning and flexibility in ASD have been consistently reported as atypical, the atypicality of inhibitory control remains controversial. As most previous studies have used nonsocial stimuli to investigate inhibitory control in ASD, the effects of socially relevant information on the inhibitory control system in individuals with ASD remain unclear. Therefore, we developed a go/no-go task with gaze stimuli and measured hemodynamic responses in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC), involved in inhibitory processing in both typically developing (TD) children and children with ASD, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Direct gaze induced commission errors to similar extents in both groups. Contrary to the behavioral responses, neural activation in the right PFC was modulated by gaze direction only in the TD group. These findings suggest that the gaze-processing mechanisms in the prefrontal region may be affected by atypical gaze processing in other brain regions during an inhibitory control task with socially relevant information in ASD.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Takahiro Ikeda, Masahiro Hirai, Takeshi Sakurada, Yukifumi Monden, Tatsuya Tokuda, Masako Nagashima, Hideo Shimoizumi, Ippeita Dan, and Takanori Yamagata "Atypical neural modulation in the right prefrontal cortex during an inhibitory task with eye gaze in autism spectrum disorder as revealed by functional near-infrared spectroscopy," Neurophotonics 5(3), 035008 (5 September 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.5.3.035008

Received: 19 December 2017; Accepted: 2 August 2018; Published: 5 September 2018

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