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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04549506

Autism, Emotional Processing, and the Amygdala

Empathy imbalance hypothesis suggests that individuals with autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) should have a deficit of cognitive empathy and a surfeit of emotional empathy. Considering that inconsistent amygdala reactivity to emotional faces might be ascribed to aberrant attention in ASD, the investigators hypothesized to investigate if there would be an imbalance between conscious and nonconscious emotional processing. This fMRI study recruited 26 youths and young adults with autism spectrum disorder and 25 matched controls, and measured their amygdala reactivity and functional connectivity in response to conscious and nonconscious (backward masked) perception of threatening faces.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder; amygdala reactivity; emotional processing; fMRI

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Key information

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder Child Development Disorders, Pervasive Mental Disorders Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Age range

13 year–40 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Clinical diagnosis of severity of Autism-Spectrum Disorders
  • IQ > 75

Exclusion criteria

  • Neurological abnormalities,
  • A history of epilepsy or seizures, head trauma a
  • IQ <75

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  1. Age

    Time frame: 1 minutes

    Age in years

  2. Anxiety scores

    Time frame: 10 minutes

    State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)

  3. Severity of Austism-Spectrum Disorders

    Time frame: 20 minutes

    Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ)

  4. Color identification task

    Time frame: 10 minutes

    During fMRI scanning, subjects watched emotional faces and performed the color identification task, in which they were asked to judge the color of each face (pseudo-colored in either red, yellow, or blue) and to indicate the answer by a keypad button press.

  5. Detection task

    Time frame: 10 minutes

    Immediately after fMRI scanning, participants underwent the detection task, during which they were shown all of the stimuli again and alerted of the presence of fearful faces. The subjects were administered a forced-choice test under the same presentation conditions as those during scanning and asked to indicate whether they observed a fearful face or not.

  6. fMRI response

    Time frame: 10 minutes

    During fMRI scanning, subjects watched emotional faces and performed the color identification task, in which they were asked to judge the color of each face (pseudo-colored in either red, yellow, or blue) and to indicate the answer by a keypad button press.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Yawei Cheng

Other

Registry information

Official study title

The Hypothesis of Emotional Empathy Imbalance in Autism: Conscious and Non-conscious Processing of Emotional Faces

Important dates

Study start
2014
Primary completion
2016
Study completion
2017
First posted
Sep 16, 2020
Registry last updated
Sep 16, 2020

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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