A1 Journal article (refereed)
Neural-level associations of non-verbal pragmatic comprehension in young Finnish autistic adults (2021)

Kotila, A., Tohka, J., Kauppi, J.-P., Gabbatore, I., Mäkinen, L., Hurtig, T. M., Ebeling, H. E., Korhonen, V., Kiviniemi, V. J., & Loukusa, S. (2021). Neural-level associations of non-verbal pragmatic comprehension in young Finnish autistic adults. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 80(1), Article 1909333. https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2021.1909333

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Kotila, Aija; Tohka, Jussi; Kauppi, Jukka-Pekka; Gabbatore, Ilaria; Mäkinen, Leena; Hurtig, Tuula M.; Ebeling, Hanna E.; Korhonen, Vesa; Kiviniemi, Vesa J.; Loukusa, Soile

Journal or series: International Journal of Circumpolar Health

ISSN: 1239-9736

eISSN: 2242-3982

Publication year: 2021

Publication date: 01/01/2021

Volume: 80

Issue number: 1

Article number: 1909333

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2021.1909333

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/75920

Abstract

This video-based study examines the pragmatic non-verbal comprehension skills and corresponding neural-level findings in young Finnish autistic adults, and controls. Items from the Assessment Battery of Communication (ABaCo) were chosen to evaluate the comprehension of non-verbal communication. Inter-subject correlation (ISC) analysis of the functional magnetic resonance imaging data was used to reveal the synchrony of brain activation across participants during the viewing of pragmatically complex scenes of ABaCo videos. The results showed a significant difference between the ISC maps of the autistic and control groups in tasks involving the comprehension of non-verbal communication, thereby revealing several brain regions where correlation of brain activity was greater within the control group. The results suggest a possible weaker modulation of brain states in response to the pragmatic non-verbal communicative situations in autistic participants. Although there was no difference between the groups in behavioural responses to ABaCo items, there was more variability in the accuracy of the responses in the autistic group. Furthermore, mean answering and reaction times correlated with the severity of autistic traits. The results indicate that even if young autistic adults may have learned to use compensatory resources in their communicative-pragmatic comprehension, pragmatic processing in naturalistic situations still requires additional effort.

Keywords: autism; autism spectrum disorders; pragmatics; nonverbal communication; video; functional magnetic resonance imaging

Free keywords: autism spectrum; autistic adults; pragmatics; non-verbal; video; fMRI

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2021

JUFO rating: 1