Plasticity of cognitive development in autism spectrum disorder: a cross-cultural study

• Project/Area Number: 26590141
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Educational psychology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: HASEGAWA Toshikazu 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 教授 (30172894)
• Research Collaborator: SENJU Atsushi ロンドン大学, バークベック校, 准教授 ; HARADA Nanami ロンドン大学, バークベック校
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,510,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥810,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
• Keywords: 自閉スペクトラム症 / 比較文化 / 自閉症スペクトラム / 社会的認知 / 文化差

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Cross-cultural cognitive psychological research has been conducted to study the impact of sociocultural environment on the development of cognition and attention in children with ASD, who suffer from social adaptation and interpersonal communication. As a result, children with ASD show cultural differences in the development of attention to faces (social attention) and to landscapes (non-social attention) just as typically developing children. These results suggest that children with ASD develop cognitive and attentional skills adaptive to surrounding sociocultural environment, just as typically developing children.

Research Products

• [Int'l Joint Research] ロンドン大学/バークベックカレッジ(英国)
• [Int'l Joint Research] ロンドン大学/バークベックカレッジ(英国)
• [Journal Article] Reduced Personal Space in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (2016)
  • Author(s): Asada, K., Tojo, Y., Osanai, H., Saito, A., Hasegawa, T., & Kumagaya, S.
  • Journal Title: PloSOne Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Pages: e0146306-e0146306
  • DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146306
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Preferential awareness of protofacial stimuli in autism. (2015)
  • Author(s): Akechi, H., Stein, T., Kikuchi, Y., Tojo, Y., Osanai, H., & Hasegawa, T.
  • Journal Title: Cognition Volume: 143 Pages: 129-134
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2015.06.016
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Shape and spatial working memory capacities are mostly independent. (2015)
  • Author(s): Sanada, M., Ikeda, K., & Hasegawa, T.
  • Journal Title: Frontiers in psychology Volume: 6 Pages: 581-581
  • DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00581
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Absence of Preferential Unconscious Processing of Eye Contact in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. (2014)
  • Author(s): Akechi, H., Stein, T., Senju, A., Kikuchi, Y., Tojo, Y., Osanai, H.
  • Journal Title: Autism Research Volume: 7 Issue: 5 Pages: 590-597
  • DOI: 10.1002/aur.1397
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Presentation] Cultural Influence on Natural Scene Viewing in Autism: A Comparison Between Japan and the UK (2017)
  • Author(s): N. Harada, E. Pellicano, Y. Tojo, T. Hasegawa, H. Osanai, & A. Senju
  • Organizer: International Meeting for Autism Research 2017
  • Place of Presentation: San Francisco (United States)
  • Year and Date: 2017-05-12
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 共感性研究の意義と課題 (2016)
  • Author(s): 長谷川寿一
  • Organizer: 第11回日本統合失調症学会
  • Place of Presentation: ベイシア文化ホール（群馬県前橋市日吉町）
  • Year and Date: 2016-03-26
  • Invited
• [Presentation] ASD者におけるアイコンタクトによる心拍数の減少 (2015)
  • Author(s): 菊池由葵子・東條吉邦・長内博雄・齋藤慈子・長谷川寿一
  • Organizer: 第26回日本発達心理学会大会
  • Place of Presentation: 東京大学（東京都文京区）
  • Year and Date: 2015-03-21
• [Presentation] 自閉スペクトラム症者のボディイメージについて (2015)
  • Author(s): 浅田晃佑・東條吉邦・長内博雄・齋藤慈子・長谷川寿一・熊谷晋一郎
  • Organizer: 第26回日本発達心理学会大会
  • Place of Presentation: 東京大学（東京都文京区）
  • Year and Date: 2015-03-20
• [Book] 思春期学 (2015)
  • Author(s): 長谷川寿一(監修), 笠井清登(編), 藤井直敬(編), 福田正人(編), 長谷川眞理子(編)
  • Total Pages: 360
  • Publisher: 東京大学出版会