The circumstances under which empathy is altered in ASD remain unclear, as previous studies did not systematically find differences in brain activation between ASD and controls in empathy-eliciting paradigms, and did not always monitor whether differences were primarily due to ASD “per se”, or to conditions overlapping with ASD, such as alexithymia and anxiety. Here, we collected fMRI data from 47 participants (22 ASD) viewing pictures depicting hands and feet of unknown others in painful, disgusting, or neutral situations. We computed brain activity for painful and disgusting stimuli (vs. neutral) in whole brain and in regions of interest among the brain areas typically activated during the perception of nociceptive stimuli. Group differences in brain activation disappeared when either alexithymia or anxiety – both elevated in the ASD group – were controlled for. Regression analyses indicated that the influence of symptoms was mainly shared between autistic symptomatology, alexithymia and anxiety or driven by unique contributions from alexithymia or anxiety. Our results suggest that affective empathy may be affected in ASD, but that this association is complex. The respective contribution of alexithymia and anxiety to decreased affective empathy of people with ASD may be due to the association of those psychiatric conditions with reduced motor resonance/Theory of Mind.
Influence of anxiety and alexithymia on brain activations associated with the perception of others’ pain in autism / Lassalle, Amandine; Zürcher, Nicole R.; Porro, Carlo A.; Benuzzi, Francesca; Hippolyte, Loyse; Lemonnier, Eric; Åsberg Johnels, Jakob; Hadjikhani, Nouchine. - In: SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE. - ISSN 1747-0919. - 14:3(2019), pp. 359-377.
Data di pubblicazione: | 2019 |
Data di prima pubblicazione: | 7-mag-2018 |
Titolo: | Influence of anxiety and alexithymia on brain activations associated with the perception of others’ pain in autism |
Autore/i: | Lassalle, Amandine; Zürcher, Nicole R.; Porro, Carlo A.; Benuzzi, Francesca; Hippolyte, Loyse; Lemonnier, Eric; Åsberg Johnels, Jakob; Hadjikhani, Nouchine |
Autore/i UNIMORE: | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2018.1468358 |
Rivista: | |
Volume: | 14 |
Fascicolo: | 3 |
Pagina iniziale: | 359 |
Pagina finale: | 377 |
Codice identificativo ISI: | WOS:000464587400009 |
Codice identificativo Scopus: | 2-s2.0-85046684918 |
Codice identificativo Pubmed: | 29683406 |
Citazione: | Influence of anxiety and alexithymia on brain activations associated with the perception of others’ pain in autism / Lassalle, Amandine; Zürcher, Nicole R.; Porro, Carlo A.; Benuzzi, Francesca; Hippolyte, Loyse; Lemonnier, Eric; Åsberg Johnels, Jakob; Hadjikhani, Nouchine. - In: SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE. - ISSN 1747-0919. - 14:3(2019), pp. 359-377. |
Tipologia | Articolo su rivista |
File in questo prodotto:
File | Descrizione | Tipologia | |
---|---|---|---|
Lassalle_Social Neuroscience 2018.pdf | Versione dell'editore (versione pubblicata) | Administrator Richiedi una copia |

I documenti presenti in Iris Unimore sono rilasciati con licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia, salvo diversa indicazione.
In caso di violazione di copyright, contattare Supporto Iris