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25-09-2024 | Research Article

Can similarity of autistic traits promote neural synchronization?

Authors: Shuyuan Feng, Lin Ding, Mingliang Wang, Jianing Zhang, Yuqing Yuan, Peng Zhang, Xuejun Bai

Published in: Experimental Brain Research

Abstract

People with similar levels of autistic traits are reported to exhibit better interactions than those with larger differences in autistic traits. However, whether this “similarity effect” exists at the neural level remains unclear. To address this gap, the present study employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning technology to assess inter-brain synchronization (IBS) during naturalistic conversations among dyads with three types of autistic trait combinations (20 high-high, 22 high-low, and 18 low-low dyads). The results revealed that the high-high dyads exhibited significantly lower IBS in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) region compared to the low-low dyads, with no significant differences observed between the high-low group and the other two groups. Moreover, though dyadic differences in conversation satisfaction were positively correlated with dyadic autistic trait differences, IBS only showed a significant negative correlation with the dyadic average autistic trait scores and no significant correlation with the dyadic difference scores of autistic traits. These findings suggest that dyads with high autistic traits may have shared feelings about conversations, but cannot produce IBS through successful mutual prediction and understanding.

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Title: Can similarity of autistic traits promote neural synchronization?
Authors: Shuyuan Feng
Lin Ding
Mingliang Wang
Jianing Zhang
Yuqing Yuan
Peng Zhang
Xuejun Bai
Publication date: 25-09-2024
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Experimental Brain Research
Print ISSN: 0014-4819
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1106
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-024-06919-3

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Can similarity of autistic traits promote neural synchronization?

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