Acceptance of emotion in individual with autism spectrum disorder:its neural substrate and facilitative factors

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K13686
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 10020:Educational psychology-related
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: MATSUZAKI YUTAKA 東北大学, 加齢医学研究所, 助教 (10806160)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 自閉スペクトラム症 / 感情制御 / 再評価 / 受容 / MRI

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present study investigated the characteristics of reappraisal and acceptance in people with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) in comparison with people with typical development (TD) using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Eighteen subjects each with ASD and TD groups were included in the analysis. The results revealed the following; First, performance differences between ASD and TD subjects were only observed in the reappraisal condition. Second, there were no differences between the two groups in brain activation during each condition. Third, during reappraisal, ASD subjects showed increased neural coupling between the amygdala and default mode network than TD subjects. These results indicate that ASD individuals were less likely to differ from TD individuals in acceptance and that the involvement of self-related information processing during reappraisal may be linked to lower performance during reappraisal.

Free Research Field

発達心理学、発達障害学、認知神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、不安や怒りのようなネガティブ感情の下方制御に苦手さを持つことが多いASD者を対象に、近年注目される「受容」と呼ばれる方略の特徴を心理学的・認知神経科学的アプローチから初めて検討した。主な知見として、行動レベルや、脳レベルにおいてASD者の受容パフォーマンスは定型発達者と統計的有意差を検出することができないことを示した。対象者の少なさや、受容の感情コントロールは従来の別の方法(再評価)と比して限定的であるという課題はあるものの、本研究の結果は、受容という方略が、ASD者にとって感情コントロールを支援していく際のオプションになり得ることを示したといえる。