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Friday, May 16, 2008
Champagne Terrace/Bordeaux (Novotel London West)
Background: The mirror neuron system (MNS) is an observation/execution brain system, translating visual input into motor understanding through the activation of the observer’s motor system. Disruptions in this neural circuitry can significantly impact social interaction. It has been suggested that empathy may critically depend on one’s ability to understand the observed facial expression in terms of one’s own motor representations. In light of the fact that deficits in social cognition are a core feature of autism, it is of interest to examine this system in autism. Studies indicate that a decrease in electroencephalogram (EEG) power in the mu frequency band recorded over motor cortex reflects MNS activity during execution and observation of motor actions.
Objectives: To investigate the MNS activity in children with high-functioning autism (HFA) during imitation and observation of facial emotional expressions.
Methods: Normally intelligent children (9 to 13 years) with HFA were compared with typically developing peers. Subjects were asked 1) to watch photographs of facial expressions and 2) to imitate the observed footage, during which mu wave suppression was measured.
Results: Preliminary results indicate that mu suppression is comparable between the HFA and the control group in action-imitation conditions, as well as in action-observation conditions. Further analyses are currently in progress.
Conclusions: Preliminary findings do no support the hypothesis of an impaired MNS in children with HFA when observing or imitating facial expressions.
Objectives: To investigate the MNS activity in children with high-functioning autism (HFA) during imitation and observation of facial emotional expressions.
Methods: Normally intelligent children (9 to 13 years) with HFA were compared with typically developing peers. Subjects were asked 1) to watch photographs of facial expressions and 2) to imitate the observed footage, during which mu wave suppression was measured.
Results: Preliminary results indicate that mu suppression is comparable between the HFA and the control group in action-imitation conditions, as well as in action-observation conditions. Further analyses are currently in progress.
Conclusions: Preliminary findings do no support the hypothesis of an impaired MNS in children with HFA when observing or imitating facial expressions.