Functional imaging study of social emotion in autism spectrum disorder

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24730534
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Educational psychology
• Research Institution: Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Ito Hiroyuki 浜松医科大学, 子どものこころの発達研究センター, 助教 (80611433)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: ユーモア / fMRI / 自閉症スペクトラム障害

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present study was aimed at understanding the neural mechanism underlying deficits of social emotion (e.g. humor) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). First, I delineated a psychological model of the cognitive process involved in humor appreciation and then I tested this model against behavioral data. Second, I conducted an fMRI experiment on control subjects (i.e. typically developing students) to image the neural activity correlated with humor appreciation. Third, I conducted an fMRI experiment on ASD individuals to elucidate the neural mechanism underlying the affection derived from humor appreciation by comparing these subjects with typically developing individuals.

Free Research Field

認知心理学