Deconstructing Theory-of-Mind Impairment in High-Functioning Adults with Autism

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Theory of Mind (ToM) involves representing others' mental states and is crucial for social interaction.
• ToM development is delayed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), impacting social functioning.
• Computational models have elucidated ToM in healthy individuals, but less so in ASD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize specific ToM impairments in high-functioning adults with ASD using a novel learning task and model-based analysis.
• To investigate how individuals with ASD infer intentions based on beliefs in a dynamic social context.

Main Methods:

• Developed and applied a novel "mentalizer" task involving observing an agent's charitable donations.
• Utilized model-based analyses to assess participants' ability to track agent beliefs and infer intentions.
• Compared high-functioning adults with ASD and matched healthy controls.

Main Results:

• ASD participants showed specific impairment in using belief estimates to infer agent intentions.
• The ability to dynamically track an agent's beliefs was intact in ASD participants.
• Reasoning about beliefs and intentions was rational, and model parameters correlated with social functioning (e.g., ADOS scores).

Conclusions:

• Identified a specific deficit in integrating belief information to infer intentions in adults with ASD.
• Highlights the utility of model-based approaches for dissecting ToM deficits in ASD.
• Suggests novel, specific targets for future research and interventions for ToM impairment in ASD.