News Finding: "Weaker coordination and communication among core brain areas during social thinking tasks in autism provides evidence for how different brain areas in autism struggle to work together as a team."
Paper Finding: This is similar to the reduced connectivity between medial and cerebellar regions found in our study.
News Context: "Reduced brain activity in ToM-related brain regions and reduced connectivity among these regions in children with autism suggest how deficits in the neurobiological mechanisms can lead to difficulties in cognitive and behavioral functioning, such as theory of mind," said Marcel Just, the D.O. "Weaker coordination and communication among core brain areas during social thinking tasks in autism provides evidence for how different brain areas in autism struggle to work together as a team." The shapes, such as a large red triangle and a small blue triangle, moved in ways that could be seen as an interaction between them, such as coaxing or dancing.
Paper Context: Mostofsky and colleagues found weaker functional connectivity between the cerebellum and motor areas during motor task performance, while Khan and colleagues found weaker functional connectivity between cerebellum and areas associated with higher cognitive functioning (prefrontal, parietal, and temporal) in ASD compared to TD participants. This is similar to the reduced connectivity between medial and cerebellar regions found in our study. The reduced cerebellar activation and connectivity in the ASD participants might underscore the role of the cerebellum in social cognition and suggest a deficit in how the cerebellum is recruited in social processing in ASD.