If you are interested in participating in one of the following research studies, please contact the study coordinator listed. Please be sure to include your name, phone number and/or email address, and the best time and way (phone/email) to reach you. In addition, more information about our autism research may be found at http://brainimaging.waisman.wisc.edu/AutismWeb.
Current research projects in this area include:
Description: This research involves the application of functional MRI connectivity techniques to better understand the role that both segregation and integration of affective processes play to produce the altered social behavior characteristic of the autistic phenotype. It is part of ongoing projects directed at characterizing brain-behavior relationships in autism.
Coordinator: Dan Kelley
Description: It is proposed that difficulties in social/emotional processing associated with autism are related to poor integration of visual and vocal emotional cues. Recent advances in brain imaging have allowed for groundbreaking progress toward a better understanding of underlying brain processes necessary for this processing. This research is designed to extend our findings in the brain circuitry of emotion and emotion regulation during emotional face and voice processing and integration in individuals with autism using state-of-the-art eye-tracking and brain imaging techniques.
Coordinator: Kim M. Dalton
Description: Autism is over-represented in fragile X syndrome - a rare, inherited genetic disorder associated with mental retardation. Both autism and fragile X syndrome are associated with core deficits in social and emotional processes. It is the aim of this research to compare differences in patterns of brain function, eye fixation times and arousal among groups of individuals with autism, individuals with fragile X syndrome and individuals with both autism and fragile-X syndrome. The purpose of this research is to address one of the key issues raised in the previous research concerning the causal role of eye fixation in group differences in brain function. Specifically, we are interested in the relationship between gaze aversion and group differences in brain activation in response to human faces. This research is designed to build upon our working hypothesis that a core component of autism is discomfort in response to social cues such as direct eye-contact. Furthermore, it is predicted that this core feature, which is common in other related developmental disabilities such as fragile X syndrome, may be associated with common underlying differences in brain function and structure between these groups.
Coordinator: Kim M. Dalton
Description: This project is part of a larger project on social/emotional processes and brain function in a variety of developmental disabilities, such as autism or Asperger's syndrome, fragile X syndrome and Williams syndrome. Individuals interested in participating in this line of research are asked to first participate in a behavioral and cognitive assessment session, along with an MRI pre-screen and fake MRI session. Participants and/or parents are asked to complete a subset of standardized assessments depending on their (child's) clinical diagnoses. Typically developing individuals without any medical or psychological diagnoses who are interested in participating as comparison individuals are asked to complete a minimal behavioral/cognitive assessment and short pre-screen. Individuals with developmental disabilities are asked to complete more extensive behavioral/cognitive assessments, along with a diagnostic assessment and parental interview regarding early development and childhood.
Coordinator: Kim M. Dalton
This study is focused on the contribution of volumetric, chemical, and physical connectivity differences in the brain to impairments in
social behavior. Through Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) we can
estimate how much or how little wiring connects different parts of the
brain, and using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) we can measure
some of the chemicals and neurotransmitters that contribute to brain
structure and function. Through this multimodal imaging work, we hope
to relate differences in social behavior and brain function to
potentially heritable, tissue-level differences in brain structure,
with particular focus on the amygdala.
Coordinator:
We are working to develop potential fMRI tasks that test perception of
biological and non-biological motion, and a similar set that tests the
effects of social engagement on behavioral performance. We aim to use
these tasks to dissect out contributions of lower level visual
processing areas, areas specialized for recognition of biological
entities, and affective circuitry to the social processing deficits of
individuals with differentd evelopmental disorders.
Coordinator: