Neocerebellar contributions to social perception in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is specialized for interpreting perceived human actions, and disruptions to its function occur in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here we consider the role of Crus I of neocerebellum in supporting pSTS function. Research has associated Crus I activity with imitation and biological motion perception, and neocerebellum is theorized to coordinate activity among cerebral sites more generally. Moreover, cerebellar abnormalities have been associated with ASD. We hypothesized that disordered Crus I-pSTS interactions could predict social deficits in ASD. 15 high functioning adolescents with ASD and 15 same-age comparison youth participated in an fMRI imitation paradigm; ratings of mentalizing ability were collected via parent report. We predicted that stronger Crus I-pSTS interactions would be associated with better mentalizing ability. Consistent with these hypotheses, stronger psychophysiological interactions between Crus I and right pSTS were associated with greater mentalizing ability among adolescents with ASD. Whole-brain analyses also indicated that typically developing youth recruited right inferior frontal gyrus, left pSTS, medial occipital regions, and precuneus more strongly during imitation than did youth with ASD. Overall, these results indicate that variability in neocerebellar interactions with key cortical social brain sites may help explain individual differences in social perceptual outcomes in ASD.