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Related Concept Videos

Autism Spectrum Disorder01:19

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition marked by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction alongside restrictive and repetitive behaviors or interests. ASD is sometimes accompanied by intellectual impairment.
These core symptoms manifest differently among individuals, ranging from mild to severe. The disorder's complexity extends beyond its clinical presentation, encompassing a diverse range of biological, cognitive, and sociocultural influences.
Operant Conditioning Intervention01:24

Operant Conditioning Intervention

Operant conditioning serves as a foundational principle in therapeutic interventions aimed at modifying maladaptive behaviors. Central to this approach is the notion that behaviors, both adaptive and maladaptive, are learned through reinforcement. By analyzing the environmental factors that reinforce problematic behaviors, clinicians can design interventions to weaken these reinforcements and replace maladaptive behaviors with healthier alternatives.
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Neural Circuits01:25

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Long-term potentiation, or LTP, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTP is the process of synaptic strengthening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic strengthening of LTP works in opposition to the synaptic weakening of long-term depression (LTD) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Hebbian LTP
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Behavior Modification

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A real-world application of operant conditioning principles is applied...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 6, 2026

An Electrophysiology Protocol to Measure Reward Anticipation and Processing in Children
05:04

An Electrophysiology Protocol to Measure Reward Anticipation and Processing in Children

Published on: October 4, 2018

Reward circuitry function in autism spectrum disorders.

Gabriel S Dichter1, Jennifer N Felder, Steven R Green

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, CB# 3366, 101 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3366, USA. dichter@med.unc.edu

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
|December 15, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is linked to altered brain reward circuit function. Individuals with ASD showed reduced nucleus accumbens activation for monetary rewards but not for autism-relevant objects.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Developmental Disorders

Background:

  • Social interaction deficits and restricted repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) may stem from atypical brain reward circuit functioning.
  • Previous neuroimaging studies have not examined reward circuit integrity in ASD using an incentive delay paradigm.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate brain activation patterns within reward circuits during reward anticipation and outcomes in individuals with ASD.
  • To compare responses to monetary incentives versus visually salient object incentives in participants with and without ASD.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to measure blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activation.
  • Fifteen participants with ASD and 16 matched controls underwent fMRI scanning during an incentive delay task involving monetary and object rewards.
  • Activation was assessed during anticipation and receipt of incentives.

Main Results:

  • Participants with ASD exhibited decreased nucleus accumbens activation during monetary reward anticipation and outcomes.
  • No significant differences in activation were observed for object-related anticipation or outcomes between groups.
  • Interaction effects in the nucleus accumbens and ventromedial prefrontal cortex indicated differential responses based on reward type and temporal phase.

Conclusions:

  • Autism spectrum disorder is associated with hypoactivation in reward circuitry concerning monetary incentives.
  • This hypoactivation is not observed for autism-relevant object images, suggesting a dissociation based on reward type.
  • Findings highlight the complex interplay of reward type and temporal processing in the neurobiology of ASD.