Processing of expressions by individuals with autistic traits: Empathy deficit or sensory hyper-reactivity?

ABSTRACT: Individuals with autistic traits display impaired social interaction and communication in everyday life, but the underlying cognitive neural mechanisms remain very unclear and still remain controversial. The mind-blindness hypothesis suggests that social difficulties in individuals with autistic traits are caused by empathy impairment in individuals; however, the intense world theory suggests that these social difficulties are caused by sensory hyper-reactivity and sensory overload, rather than empathy impairment. To further test these two theories, this study investigated event-related potentials (ERPs) to explore the cognitive neural processing of repetitive expressions in individuals with autistic traits. This study employed the Mandarin version of the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) to a

SUBMITTER: Meng C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8270190 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature