Investigation of the neural mechanisms underlying autism based on the hypothesis of functional imbalance between frontal and parietal region

• Project/Area Number: 25860841
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Pediatrics
• Research Institution: Tohoku University (2016); Hamamatsu University School of Medicine (2013-2015)
• Principal Investigator: Wakusawa Keisuke 東北大学, 加齢医学研究所, 非常勤講師 (30645239)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): TAKI YASUYUKI 東北大学, 加齢医学研究所機能画像医学研究分野, 教授 (10375115)
• Research Collaborator: TSUCHIYA KENJI 浜松医科大学, 子どもの心の発達研究センター, 教授 (20362189)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
• Keywords: 自閉巣ペクトラム症 / 自閉スペクトラム症 / 機能的MRI / 拡散強調画像

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by restricted interests and impaired social communication. One of the most specific cognitive characteristics of ASD is imbalanced cognitive profile shown in psychological test or in real life. However, there have been no test or neuro-imaging approaches to evaluate the quantity of this imbalance. Our purpose was to develop such approaches. We examined the performances of ASD individuals of the tasks related to adaptation to novel and typical daily situations (these tasks were developed by our previous study), and detected ASD-specific imbalanced pattern. We also found that the imbalance of cortical activities linked to these tasks were correlated with the severity of ASD. furthermore, we detected another autistic imbalanced findings in brain; imbalanced proportion of the density of neural fiber between the cortical regions related to language production and those related to comprehension of others' mind.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Adaptive ability to cope with atypical or novel situations involving tool use: An fMRI approach (2014)
  • Author(s): Keisuke Wakusawa, Motoaki Sugiura, Yuko Sassa, Hyeonjeong Jeong, Yukihito Yomogida, Kaoru Horie, Shigeru Sato, Hiroyuki Yokoyama, Shigeo Kure, Noriyoshi Takei, Norio Mori, Ryuta Kawashima
  • Journal Title: Neuroscience Research Volume: ahead of print Pages: 72-82
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2014.03.008
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] Investigation of the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive characteristics of ASD (2016)
  • Author(s): 涌澤圭介
  • Organizer: 18th World Congress of Psychophysiology, IOP2016
  • Place of Presentation: ハバマ、キューバ
  • Int'l Joint Research