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: Further research is needed to directly test for functional interdependence of these systems during higher-level social cognition.
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: It is possible that these two systems may be functionally independent . Further research is needed to directly test for functional interdependence of these systems during higher-level social cognition. While our activation findings are largely consistent with previous studies, they are inconsistent with the findings from a recent fMRI study of ToM using verbally presented stories requiring drawing inferences with ASD participants in the same age range studied here .