scholarly journals Genetic variation in the oxytocin system and its link to social motivation in human infants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Marie Krol ◽  
Nauder Namaky ◽  
Mikhail Monakhov ◽  
Poh San Lai ◽  
Richard Ebstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Brain Asymmetry ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Frontal Asymmetry ◽  
Frontal Brain ◽  
The Individual

Introduction. Variability in the motivation to approach or withdraw from others displayed in infancy is thought to have long-term effects on human social development. Frontal brain asymmetry has been linked to motivational processes in infants and adults, with greater left frontal asymmetry reflecting motivation to approach and greater right frontal asymmetry reflecting motivation to withdraw. We examined the hypothesis that variability in infants’ social motivation is linked to genetic variation in the endogenous oxytocin system. Specifically, we measured infants’ frontal brain asymmetry and later looking preferences to smiling and frowning individuals and assayed a single-nucleotide polymorphism in the CD38 gene (rs3796863) linked to autism spectrum disorder and reduced peripheral oxytocin levels. Methods. 77 11-month-old infants’ (36 female) brain responses were measured via functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) while viewing four individuals display either smiles or frowns directed toward or away from them. This was followed by a person preference test using eyetracking. Results. Frontal brain asymmetry patterns evoked by direct-gaze faces significantly differed as a function of CD38 genotype. Specifically, while non-risk A-allele carriers displayed greater left lateralization to smiling faces (approach) and greater right lateralization to frowning faces (withdrawal), infants with the CC (ASD risk) genotype displayed withdrawal from smiling faces. During eyetracking, A-allele carriers showed a heightened preference for the individual who smiled, while CC infants preferred the individual who frowned.Conclusions. Our findings demonstrate that, from early in human ontogeny, genetic variation in the oxytocin system is linked to variability in brain and behavioral markers of social motivation.

scholarly journals A Synchrony-Based Classification Approach for Predicting Attitudes Using fNIRS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Macrina C Dieffenbach ◽  
Grace S R Gillespie ◽  
Shannon M Burns ◽  
Ian A McCulloh ◽  
Daniel L Ames ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Near Infrared ◽  
Neural Synchrony ◽  
Reference Groups ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Neuroscience Research ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Dispositional Differences

Abstract Social neuroscience research has demonstrated that those who are like-minded are also “like-brained.” Studies have shown that people who share similar viewpoints have greater neural synchrony with one another, and less synchrony with people who “see things differently.” Although these effects have been demonstrated at the group level, little work has been done to predict the viewpoints of specific individuals using neural synchrony measures. Furthermore, the studies that have made predictions using synchrony-based classification at the individual level used expensive and immobile neuroimaging equipment (e.g. fMRI) in highly controlled laboratory settings, which may not generalize to real-world contexts. Thus, this study uses a simple synchrony-based classification method, which we refer to as the neural reference groups approach, to predict individuals’ dispositional attitudes from data collected in a mobile “pop-up neuroscience” lab. Using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data, we predicted individuals’ partisan stances on a sociopolitical issue by comparing their neural timecourses to data from two partisan neural reference groups. We found that partisan stance could be identified at above-chance levels using data from dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). These results indicate that the neural reference groups approach can be used to investigate naturally-occurring, dispositional differences anywhere in the world.

scholarly journals The Development of Brain Network in Males with Autism Spectrum Disorders from Childhood to Adolescence: Evidence from fNIRS Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 120
Author(s):  
Wei Cao ◽  
Huilin Zhu ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Yu Wang ◽  
Wuxia Bai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

In the current study, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to collect resting-state signals from 77 males with autism spectrum disorders (ASD, age: 6~16.25) and 40 typically developing (TD) males (age: 6~16.58) in the theory-of-mind (ToM) network. The graph theory analysis was used to obtain the brain network properties in ToM network, and the multiple regression analysis demonstrated that males with ASD showed a comparable global network topology, and a similar age-related decrease in the medial prefrontal cortex area (mPFC) compared to TD individuals. Nevertheless, participants with ASD showed U-shaped trajectories of nodal metrics of right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), and an age-related decrease in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), while trajectories of TD participants were opposite. The nodal metrics of the right TPJ was negatively associated with the social deficits of ASD, while the nodal metrics of the left MFG was negatively associated with the communication deficits of ASD. Current findings suggested a distinct developmental trajectory of the ToM network in males with ASD from childhood to adolescence.

scholarly journals Narrowband Resting-State fNIRS Functional Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiting Sun ◽  
Xiaoyin Wu ◽  
Tingzhen Zhang ◽  
Fang Lin ◽  
Huiwen Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Characteristic Analysis ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Hemispheric asymmetry in the power spectrum of low-frequency spontaneous hemodynamic fluctuations has been previously observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This observation may imply a specific narrow-frequency band in which individuals with ASD could show more significant alteration in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC). To test this assumption, we evaluated narrowband RSFC at several frequencies for functional near-infrared spectroscopy signals recorded from the bilateral temporal lobes on 25 children with ASD and 22 typically developing (TD) children. In several narrow-frequency bands, we observed altered interhemispheric RSFC in ASD. However, in the band of 0.01–0.02 Hz, more mirrored channel pairs (or cortical sites) showed significantly weaker RSFC in the ASD group. Receiver operating characteristic analysis further demonstrated that RSFC in the narrowband of 0.01–0.02 Hz might have better differentiation ability between the ASD and TD groups. This may indicate that the narrowband RSFC could serve as a characteristic for the prediction of ASD.

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