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RESEARCHAutism is Characterized by Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Hyperactivation During Social Target Detection S. Dichter; N. Felder; W. Bodfish Posted: 12/28/2009; Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 2009;4(3):215-226. © 2009 medscape.com is.gd/5GKT8Abstract and IntroductionAbstract Though the functional neural correlates of impaired cognitive control and social dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been delineated, brain regions implicated in poor cognitive control of social information is a novel area of autism research. We recently reported in a non-clinical sample that detection of 'social oddball' targets activated a portion of the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus and the supracalcarine cortex (Dichter, Felder, Bodfish, Sikich, and Belger, 2009). In the present investigation, we report functional magnetic resonance imaging results from individuals with ASD who completed the same social oddball task. Between-group comparisons revealed generally greater activation in the ASD group to both social and non-social targets. When responses to social and non-social targets were contrasted, the ASD group showed relatively greater activation in the right and middle inferior frontal gyri and a region in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex that abuts the dorsal anterior cingulate (Brodmann's Area 32). Further, dorsal anterior cingulate activation to social targets predicted the severity of social impairments in a subset of the ASD sample. These data suggest that the dorsal anterior cingulate mediates social target detection in neurotypical individuals and is implicated in deficits of cognitive control of social information in ASD.Introduction The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of regional brain activation in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) during a target detection task that involved both social and non-social components. Whereas previous studies have demonstrated that individuals with ASD show anomalous brain activation during target detection tasks (Gomot et al., 2008; Shafritz et al., 2008), these studies used tasks that involved non-social information. However, the social cognitive deficits that are the sine qua non of autism should produce a unique pattern of responses during tasks that press for cognitive control of social information. Such tasks would represent a reasonable facsimile of everyday social situations wherein successful adaptation requires the identification of relevant and irrelevant social cues as well as the differential processing of social and non-social sources of information.+ Read more: is.gd/5GKT8

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