Altered effects of perspective-taking on functional connectivity during self- and other-referential processing in adults with autism spectrum disorder

In interactive social situations, it is often crucial to be able to take another person’s perspective when evaluating one’s own or another person’s specific trait; individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) critically lack this social skill. To examine how perspective-dependent self- and other-evaluation processes modulate functional connectivity in ASD, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in which 26 high-functioning adults with ASD and 24 typically developed (TD) controls were asked to decide whether an adjective describing a personality trait correctly described the participant himself/herself (“self”) or the participant’s mother (“other”) by taking either the first (1P) or third person (3P) perspective. We observed that functional connectivity between the left sensorimotor cortex and the left middle cingulate cortex was enhanced in TD control individuals taking the 3P perspective, this enhancement was significantly reduced in ASD, and the degree of reduction was significantly correlated with the severity of autistic traits. Furthermore, the self-reference effect on functional connectivity between the left inferior frontal cortex and frontopolar cortices was significantly enhanced in TD control individuals taking the 3P perspective, whereas such effect was reversed in ASD. These findings indicate altered effects of perspective on the functional connectivity, which may underlie the deficits in social interaction and communication observed in individuals with ASD.