Brief Report: The Go/No-Go Task Online: Inhibitory Control Deficits in Autism in a Large Sample.

Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC, also referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorders) entail difficulties with inhibition: inhibiting action, inhibiting one's own point of view, and inhibiting distractions that may interfere with a response set. However, the association between inhibitory control (IC) and ASC, especially in adulthood, is unclear. The current study measured IC, using the Go/No-Go task online, in a large adult sample of 201 people with ASC and 240 controls. Number of both False Alarm and False Positive responses were significantly associated with autistic traits and diagnostic status, separately, but not jointly. These findings suggest that deficits in inhibition are associated with ASC. Future studies need to investigate the role of inhibition in ASC in everyday difficulties.This research was supported by the Autism Research Trust, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and EU-AIMS. FU was supported by the British Friends of Haifa University, the Israel Science Foundation (Grant No. 449/14), the British Friends of Hebrew University, and the Joseph Levy Charitable Foundatio

The Oxytocin Receptor (OXTR) Contributes to Prosocial Fund Allocations in the Dictator Game and the Social Value Orientations Task

Background: Economic games observe social decision making in the laboratory that involves real money payoffs. Previously we have shown that allocation of funds in the Dictator Game (DG), a paradigm that illustrates costly altruistic behavior, is partially determined by promoter-region repeat region variants in the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor gene (AVPR1a). In the current investigation, the gene encoding the related oxytocin receptor (OXTR) was tested for association with the DG and a related paradigm, the Social Values Orientation (SVO) task. Methodology/Principal Findings: Association (101 male and 102 female students) using a robust-family based test between 15 single tagging SNPs (htSNPs) across the OXTR was demonstrated with both the DG and SVO. Three htSNPs across the gene region showed significant association with both of the two games. The most significant association was observed with rs1042778 (p = 0.001). Haplotype analysis also showed significant associations for both DG and SVO. Following permutation test adjustment, significance was observed for 2–5 locus haplotypes (p,0.05). A second sample of 98 female subjects was subsequently and independently recruited to play the dictator game and was genotyped for the three significant SNPs found in the first sample. The rs1042778 SNP was shown to be significant for the second sample as well (p = 0.004, Fisher’s exact test). Conclusions: The demonstration that genetic polymorphisms for the OXTR are associated with human prosocial decisio

Physiological Correlates of Volunteering

We review research on physiological correlates of volunteering, a neglected but promising research field. Some of these correlates seem to be causal factors influencing volunteering. Volunteers tend to have better physical health, both self-reported and expert-assessed, better mental health, and perform better on cognitive tasks. Research thus far has rarely examined neurological, neurochemical, hormonal, and genetic correlates of volunteering to any significant extent, especially controlling for other factors as potential confounds. Evolutionary theory and behavioral genetic research suggest the importance of such physiological factors in humans. Basically, many aspects of social relationships and social activities have effects on health (e.g., Newman and Roberts 2013; Uchino 2004), as the widely used biopsychosocial (BPS) model suggests (Institute of Medicine 2001). Studies of formal volunteering (FV), charitable giving, and altruistic behavior suggest that physiological characteristics are related to volunteering, including specific genes (such as oxytocin receptor [OXTR] genes, Arginine vasopressin receptor [AVPR] genes, dopamine D4 receptor [DRD4] genes, and 5-HTTLPR). We recommend that future research on physiological factors be extended to non-Western populations, focusing specifically on volunteering, and differentiating between different forms and types of volunteering and civic participation

Empathic disequilibrium as a predictor of non-suicidal self-injury in autistic and non-autistic people

Background Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) affects many autistic individuals, and has been linked to suicidality in this group. It has been closely linked to difficulties with intrapersonal emotion regulation, but a role of interpersonal emotion regulation processes in NSSI has been underexplored. Empathic disequilibrium is a state of imbalance between a person’s cognitive empathy (CE) and emotional empathy (EE). We recently found that autistic people exhibit heightened EE relative to CE, consistent with their first-hand reports of hyper-sensitivity to the emotions of others. Because this kind of empathic imbalance is associated with hyperarousal and emotional reactivity, we hypothesised that it might increase risk of NSSI, which often occurs as a means of trying to regulate overwhelming or distressing emotions. Methods We measured CE, EE, emotional reactivity, and NSSI behaviours in 304 autistic and 289 non-autistic participants, and used Polynomial Regression with Response Surface Analysis to examine empathic disequilibrium as a predictor of emotional reactivity and engagement in NSSI. Results Replicating previous research, individuals with an autism diagnosis were more likely to show a pattern of EE-dominance (OR = 4.51 [2.66, 7.63], p < 0.001), though they did not differ significantly in overall empathy levels. While empathic disequilibrium was associated with NSSI in autistic and non-autistic people, the nature of these pathways differed between groups. In autistic people, empathic disequilibrium towards EE-dominance was associated with higher incidence of NSSI through emotional reactivity. In contrast, for non-autistic individuals, incidence of NSSI was associated with overall empathy and, when accounting for emotional reactivity, with empathic disequilibrium towards CE-dominance. Conclusions While future studies should investigate the direction of relationships with longitudinal designs, these findings highlight different mechanisms for NSSI in autistic and non-autistic people. They corroborate growing evidence that the relative imbalance between empathic abilities may be relevant for meaningful outcomes, such as psychopathology

Vasopressin selectively impairs emotion recognition in men

Psychoneuroendocrinology374576-580PSYC

Boys' serotonin transporter genotype affects maternal behavior through self-control: A case of evocative gene-environment correlation

10.1017/S095457941200096XDevelopment and Psychopathology251151-162DPES

Vasopressin needs an audience: Neuropeptide elicited stress responses are contingent upon perceived social evaluative threats

Hormones and Behavior601121-127HOBE

The oxytocin receptor (OXTR) contributes to prosocial fund allocations in the Dictator Game and the social value orientations task

10.1371/journal.pone.0005535PLoS ONE45e553