Interpersonal motor synchrony in autism: a systematic review and meta-analysis

IntroductionInterpersonal motor synchrony (IMS) is the spontaneous, voluntary, or instructed coordination of movements between interacting partners. Throughout the life cycle, it shapes social exchanges and interplays with intra- and inter-individual characteristics that may diverge in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Here we perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the extant literature and quantify the evidence about reduced IMS in dyads including at least one participant with a diagnosis of ASD. MethodsEmpirical evidence from sixteen experimental studies was systematically reviewed, encompassing spontaneous and instructed paradigms as well as a paucity of measures used to assess IMS. Of these, thirteen studies (n = 512 dyads) contributed measures of IMS with an in situ neurotypical partner (TD) for ASD and control groups, which could be used for meta-analyses. ResultsReduced synchronization in ASD-TD dyads emerged from both the systematic review and meta-analyses, although both small and large effect sizes (i.e., Hedge’s g) in favor of the control group are consistent with the data (Hedge’s g = .85, p < 0.001, 95% CI[.35, 1.35], 95% PI[-.89, 2.60]). DiscussionUncertainty is discussed relative to the type of task, measures, and age range considered in each study. We further discuss that sharing similar experiences of the world might help to synchronize with one another. Future studies should not only assess whether reduced IMS is consistently observed in ASD-TD dyads and how this shapes social exchanges, but also explore whether and how ASD-ASD dyads synchronize during interpersonal exchanges

Sensorimotor Research Utilising Immersive Virtual Reality: A Pilot Study with Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

When learning and interacting with the world, people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) show compromised use of vision and enhanced reliance on body-based information. As this atypical profile is associated with motor and social difficulties, interventions could aim to reduce the potentially isolating reliance on the body and foster the use of visual information. To this end, head-mounted displays (HMDs) have unique features that enable the design of Immersive Virtual Realities (IVR) for manipulating and training sensorimotor processing. The present study assesses feasibility and offers some early insights from a new paradigm for exploring how children and adults with ASD interact with Reality and IVR when vision and proprioception are manipulated. Seven participants (five adults, two children) performed a self-turn task in two environments (Reality and IVR) for each of three sensory conditions (Only Proprioception, Only Vision, Vision + Proprioception) in a purpose-designed testing room and an HMD-simulated environment. The pilot indicates good feasibility of the paradigm. Preliminary data visualisation suggests the importance of considering inter-individual variability. The participants in this study who performed worse with Only Vision and better with Only Proprioception seemed to benefit from the use of IVR. Those who performed better with Only Vision and worse with Only Proprioception seemed to benefit from Reality. Therefore, we invite researchers and clinicians to consider that IVR may facilitate or impair individuals depending on their profiles

Towards the Automated Coverlay Assembly in FPCB Manufacturing: Concept and Preliminary Tests

AbstractIn modern electronics, flexible and rigid-flex PCBs are largely used due to their intrinsic versatility and performance, allowing to increase the available volume, or enabling connection between unconstrained components. Rigid-flex PCBs consists of rigid board portions with flexible interconnections and are commonly used in a wide variety of industrial applications. However, the assembly process of these devices still has some bottlenecks. Specifically, they require the application of cover layers (namely, coverlays), to provide insulation and protection of the flexible circuits. Due to the variability in planar shape and dimensions, the coverlay application is still performed manually, requiring troublesome manipulation steps and resulting in undetermined time-cycle and precision.This paper aims at the improvement of the industrial process currently performed, by proposing an approach for the automation of Kapton coverlay manipulation and application. Since these products are commercially provided as a film with a protective layer to be removed, the peeling issue is addressed, representing a challenging step of the automated process; the results of a systematic series of tests, performed in order to validate the peeling strategy, are reported in the paper. The overall assembly strategy relies on the development of a customized multi-hole vacuum gripper, whose concept is presented and contextualized in the proposed assembly process by outlining a suitable workcell architecture

Proprioceptive accuracy in Immersive Virtual Reality: A developmental perspective

Proprioceptive development relies on a variety of sensory inputs, among which vision is hugely dominant. Focusing on the developmental trajectory underpinning the integration of vision and proprioception, the present research explores how this integration is involved in interactions with Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) by examining how proprioceptive accuracy is affected by Age, Perception, and Environment. Individuals from 4 to 43 years old completed a self-turning task which asked them to manually return to a previous location with different sensory modalities available in both IVR and reality. Results were interpreted from an exploratory perspective using Bayesian model comparison analysis, which allows the phenomena to be described using probabilistic statements rather than simplified reject/not-reject decisions. The most plausible model showed that 4\u20138-year-old children can generally be expected to make more proprioceptive errors than older children and adults. Across age groups, proprioceptive accuracy is higher when vision is available, and is disrupted in the visual environment provided by the IVR headset. We can conclude that proprioceptive accuracy mostly develops during the first eight years of life and that it relies largely on vision. Moreover, our findings indicate that this proprioceptive accuracy can be disrupted by the use of an IVR headset

An Online Toolkit for Applications Featuring Collaborative Robots Across Different Domains

Collaborative robots (cobots) are being applied in areas such as healthcare, rehabilitation, agriculture and logistics, beyond the typical manufacturing setting. This is leading to a marked increase in the number of cobot stakeholders with little or no experience in traditional safety engineering. Considering the importance of human safety in collaborative robotic applications, this is currently proving to be a barrier to more widespread cobot usage. A web-based Toolkit that targets cobot end-users and manufacturers with varying levels of safety expertise was developed, helping them to understand how to consider the safety of their cobot applications. In this work, we will provide an overview of the state of the art for ensuring cobot safety, highlight the support provided by the 'COVR Toolkit' and introduce three examples where third parties applied the Toolkit for their collaborative robotics application.</p

Association of Variants in the SPTLC1 Gene With Juvenile Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Importance: Juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare form of ALS characterized by age of symptom onset less than 25 years and a variable presentation.Objective: To identify the genetic variants associated with juvenile ALS.Design, Setting, and Participants: In this multicenter family-based genetic study, trio whole-exome sequencing was performed to identify the disease-associated gene in a case series of unrelated patients diagnosed with juvenile ALS and severe growth retardation. The patients and their family members were enrolled at academic hospitals and a government research facility between March 1, 2016, and March 13, 2020, and were observed until October 1, 2020. Whole-exome sequencing was also performed in a series of patients with juvenile ALS. A total of 66 patients with juvenile ALS and 6258 adult patients with ALS participated in the study. Patients were selected for the study based on their diagnosis, and all eligible participants were enrolled in the study. None of the participants had a family history of neurological disorders, suggesting de novo variants as the underlying genetic mechanism.Main Outcomes and Measures: De novo variants present only in the index case and not in unaffected family members.Results: Trio whole-exome sequencing was performed in 3 patients diagnosed with juvenile ALS and their parents. An additional 63 patients with juvenile ALS and 6258 adult patients with ALS were subsequently screened for variants in the SPTLC1 gene. De novo variants in SPTLC1 (p.Ala20Ser in 2 patients and p.Ser331Tyr in 1 patient) were identified in 3 unrelated patients diagnosed with juvenile ALS and failure to thrive. A fourth variant (p.Leu39del) was identified in a patient with juvenile ALS where parental DNA was unavailable. Variants in this gene have been previously shown to be associated with autosomal-dominant hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathy, type 1A, by disrupting an essential enzyme complex in the sphingolipid synthesis pathway.Conclusions and Relevance: These data broaden the phenotype associated with SPTLC1 and suggest that patients presenting with juvenile ALS should be screened for variants in this gene.</p

Genome-wide Analyses Identify KIF5A as a Novel ALS Gene

To identify novel genes associated with ALS, we undertook two lines of investigation. We carried out a genome-wide association study comparing 20,806 ALS cases and 59,804 controls. Independently, we performed a rare variant burden analysis comparing 1,138 index familial ALS cases and 19,494 controls. Through both approaches, we identified kinesin family member 5A (KIF5A) as a novel gene associated with ALS. Interestingly, mutations predominantly in the N-terminal motor domain of KIF5A are causative for two neurodegenerative diseases: hereditary spastic paraplegia (SPG10) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 (CMT2). In contrast, ALS-associated mutations are primarily located at the C-terminal cargo-binding tail domain and patients harboring loss-of-function mutations displayed an extended survival relative to typical ALS cases. Taken together, these results broaden the phenotype spectrum resulting from mutations in KIF5A and strengthen the role of cytoskeletal defects in the pathogenesis of ALS.Peer reviewe

NEURODIVERSITY OF THE BODILY SELF: PERCEPTION, ACTION, AND COGNITION IN REAL AND VIRTUAL WORLDS

The present doctoral thesis investigates some fundamental components of the bodily self, looking at the underlying mechanisms related to perception, action, and cognition and their typical and atypical development. The use of virtual reality and multimedia technologies for studying and stimulating the bodily self is discussed. Focusing on perception, the first study explored self-location accuracy in real environments and Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR), whereby children and adults with or without autism had to locate themselves in space with different sensory information available (i.e., vision and proprioception were manipulated). Results indicate that IVR headsets reduce self-location accuracy in neurotypical children and adults, possibly due to the features of visual inputs. On the other hand, preliminary evidence from a pilot study suggests that those children with autism who show increased reliance on proprioception in real environments, benefit from vision to locate themselves in IVR. We can conclude that IVR has unique sensorimotor features that interact with individual differences in sensorimotor functioning, with meaningful impact on the possibility for people to perceive, move, act, and therefore learn in virtual environments. Moving to action, the second study aimed at disentangling the role of Agency and Reward in driving action selection while participants performed a free-choice task. The probability and valence (neutral or positive) of the effect resulting from participants’ selection among 3 alternatives were manipulated. Choices and reaction times were measured to understand whether participants preferred and were faster at selecting options with higher probability of producing a neutral vs. no effect (Agency) or a positive vs. neutral effect (Reward). Children and adults with or without autism were involved. Participants’ choices and RT were not affected by Agency, whereas a more frequent selection of the option with higher probability of a positive vs. neutral effect emerged across groups, thus suggesting motivation from Reward. Participants with ASD selected less frequently the option with chance level of receiving a neutral or no effect. Since that option was the one with the greatest degree of uncertainty about the choice outcome, this choice pattern could be interpreted as a sign of reduced tolerance of uncertainty. Across tasks, conditions and age groups, participants with ASD presented shorter RT, which is a marker of reduced action planning. Future research should deepen how tolerance of uncertainty and action planning impact the way individuals with ASD make choices in everyday life situations, potentially contributing to restricted and repetitive behaviours. By an emphasis on cognition, the third study delved into the use of kinematic measures to capture motor planning and control strategies beneath cognitive performance. Neurotypical adults, children with ADHD or typical development performed an adapted Go/No-Go task while their response movement was monitored by a wearable accelerometer. Results show that neurotypical participants employed increased motor planning to correctly inhibit a prepotent response and execute the instructed alternative. Despite being accurate, children with ADHD showed reduced motor planning, which can be interpreted as a sign of impulsivity and contribute to everyday life difficulties. The general discussion presents the future of virtual reality in leveraging embodiment to shape perception, action, and cognition. While these technologies have unique potential for controlled, yet naturalistic experiences, being vastly employed in research and increasingly in clinical practice, its distinctive effects are still largely unknown.The present doctoral thesis investigates some fundamental components of the bodily self, looking at the underlying mechanisms related to perception, action, and cognition and their typical and atypical development. The use of virtual reality and multimedia technologies for studying and stimulating the bodily self is discussed. Focusing on perception, the first study explored self-location accuracy in real environments and Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR), whereby children and adults with or without autism had to locate themselves in space with different sensory information available (i.e., vision and proprioception were manipulated). Results indicate that IVR headsets reduce self-location accuracy in neurotypical children and adults, possibly due to the features of visual inputs. On the other hand, preliminary evidence from a pilot study suggests that those children with autism who show increased reliance on proprioception in real environments, benefit from vision to locate themselves in IVR. We can conclude that IVR has unique sensorimotor features that interact with individual differences in sensorimotor functioning, with meaningful impact on the possibility for people to perceive, move, act, and therefore learn in virtual environments. Moving to action, the second study aimed at disentangling the role of Agency and Reward in driving action selection while participants performed a free-choice task. The probability and valence (neutral or positive) of the effect resulting from participants’ selection among 3 alternatives were manipulated. Choices and reaction times were measured to understand whether participants preferred and were faster at selecting options with higher probability of producing a neutral vs. no effect (Agency) or a positive vs. neutral effect (Reward). Children and adults with or without autism were involved. Participants’ choices and RT were not affected by Agency, whereas a more frequent selection of the option with higher probability of a positive vs. neutral effect emerged across groups, thus suggesting motivation from Reward. Participants with ASD selected less frequently the option with chance level of receiving a neutral or no effect. Since that option was the one with the greatest degree of uncertainty about the choice outcome, this choice pattern could be interpreted as a sign of reduced tolerance of uncertainty. Across tasks, conditions and age groups, participants with ASD presented shorter RT, which is a marker of reduced action planning. Future research should deepen how tolerance of uncertainty and action planning impact the way individuals with ASD make choices in everyday life situations, potentially contributing to restricted and repetitive behaviours. By an emphasis on cognition, the third study delved into the use of kinematic measures to capture motor planning and control strategies beneath cognitive performance. Neurotypical adults, children with ADHD or typical development performed an adapted Go/No-Go task while their response movement was monitored by a wearable accelerometer. Results show that neurotypical participants employed increased motor planning to correctly inhibit a prepotent response and execute the instructed alternative. Despite being accurate, children with ADHD showed reduced motor planning, which can be interpreted as a sign of impulsivity and contribute to everyday life difficulties. The general discussion presents the future of virtual reality in leveraging embodiment to shape perception, action, and cognition. While these technologies have unique potential for controlled, yet naturalistic experiences, being vastly employed in research and increasingly in clinical practice, its distinctive effects are still largely unknown

Multimedia Interventions for Neurodiversity: Leveraging Insights from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience to Build an Innovative Practice

Multimedia technologies and virtual reality offer unique possibilities to manipulate sensory, motor, interpersonal, and cognitive processes contributing to atypical developmental trajectories, thus holding an explosive potential to design innovative and engaging interventions. However, there has been little progress in developing interventions that go beyond the patient’s diagnosis or the fascination of technology and rather spring from a deep understanding of the specific neuropsychological processes to be nurtured in individuals. This perspective paper outlines how recent insights from developmental cognitive neuroscience can be leveraged to promote children’s multidimensional development and highlight future directions and challenges for innovating both research and clinical practice. Finally, we focus on some practical examples of multimedia and virtual reality activities we have designed to stimulate bodily-self experiences, which are crucial for building up a coherent sense of self and lay the foundation for interacting with the external world. Atypical bodily self is an early marker of heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions (such as autism spectrum disorders) and seems to be under-targeted in research and clinical approaches

Interpersonal Affective Touch in a Virtual World: Feeling the Social Presence of Others to Overcome Loneliness

Humans are by nature social beings tuned to communicate and interact from the very beginning of their lives. The sense of touch represents the most direct and intimate channel of communication and a powerful means of connection between the self and the others. In our digital age, the development and diffusion of internet-based technologies and virtual environments offer new opportunities of communication overcoming physical distance. It however, happens that social interactions are often mediated, and the tactile aspects of communication are overlooked, thus diminishing the feeling of social presence, which may contribute to an increased sense of social disconnection and loneliness. The current manuscript aims to review the extant literature about the socio-affective dimension of touch and current advancements in interactive virtual environments in order to provide a new perspective on multisensory virtual communication. Specifically, we suggest that interpersonal affective touch might critically impact virtual social exchanges, promoting a sense of co-presence and social connection between individuals, possibly overcoming feelings of sensory loneliness. This topic of investigation will be of crucial relevance from a theoretical perspective aiming to understand how we integrate multisensory signals in processing and making sense of interpersonal exchanges, this is important in both typical and atypical populations. Moreover, it will pave the way to promising applications by exploring the possibility to use technical innovations to communicate more interactively in the case of people who suffer from social isolation and disconnection from others