Social cognitive functions refer generally to the ability to behave in social settings. Two important underlying skills are emotional perception and the ability to inhibit inappropriate (bad) behaviour. These abilities are largely controlled by areas of the frontal lobes of the brain which develop until adulthood. We have limited knowledge of frontal lobe development and its relation to how children acquire social skills, but we know that frontal lobe abnormalities seriously disrupt social cognitive functions. We will determine the development of these abilities, measuring brain structure, brain function and brain connectivity while children are completing an emotional processing task and an inhibition task. We will study 7-16yr-olds typically developing children as well as children born very preterm and children with autism. These clinical groups each affect about 1/100 children. Both clinical groups have significant difficulties with social behaviour as well as distinct frontal lobe structural abnormalities. Structural brain imaging (MRI/DTI) will provide measures of grey and white matter, and of structural brain connections. Functional brain imaging (using magnetoencephalography (MEG) will provide the timing of brain activity, brain dynamics and the strength of functional brain connections. By studying typical children, we will understand the normal development of these important social skills and the role of frontal lobe maturation; the two clinical groups will allow us to distinguish structural and functional brain abnormalities related to their differing disturbances in social functions. We know that failure to learn or acquire adequate social skills has a devastating impact on an individual's personal and professional life. Increasing our knowledge of these problems, the underlying brain processes and their critical periods, will improve our ability to develop and fine-tune appropriate interventions for these two groups of vulnerable children.
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
Autism Research Database (AFD)
