自闭症谱系障碍患者共情能力的认知神经机制研究

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a neural development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication. People with ASD have great social impairments. Until now, how ASD occurs is not well understood. One typical symptom of individuals with ASD is their low ability of empathy. However, the nature of cognitive and neural mechanism for empathy in these individuals has been debated. Mind-blindness hypothesis, extreme-male-brain theory of autism, the empathy imbalance hypothesis of autism, and broken-mirror theory are proposed to explain the empathy impairment in ASD individuals, but there are some insufficiencies in the theories.. Based on the summary of the existed theories and studies, this project will use both behavior and ERP technologies to explore the typical empathic responses of individuals with ASD, as well as several influencing factors, such as reality, attention, memory, emotion, and self. . The findings of this project will test and develop the existing theories, and expand the basic knowledge of cognitive and brain processes of ASD. For the long-term, we may be able to establish an objective and quantitative behavioral and ERP biomarker in clinical diagnosis to assess ASD, thus helping patients with ASD recover.

自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）泛指一大类在社会交往、沟通方面存在功能缺陷的疾病，该疾病给患者的生活和学习带来严重的不良影响，至今病因尚未阐明，是困扰人类身心健康的一个世界性难题。共情能力的缺陷可能是该疾病的核心因素。研究者提出自闭症的心灵盲假设、极端男性脑理论、共情失衡假设和碎镜理论解释其内在机制，但是这些理论都存在不足。. 项目在系统总结前人研究和现有理论的基础上，从行为和脑电水平上探索ASD患者对他人疼痛的共情特点，以及知觉、注意、记忆、情绪、自我等因素对ASD患者共情能力的影响，从而验证和发展已有自闭症共情理论。 . 该项目将更深入地揭示ASD的认知神经机制，可以为ASD患者共情能力的临床诊断提供客观的衡量指标，帮助患者康复。

自闭症谱系障碍个体的社会性功能存在严重缺陷。研究者曾认为共情能力的损害是其核心因素，但实证研究结果却大相径庭，自闭症个体倾向于在任务复杂或内隐的实验条件下共情受损, 而在任务简单或外显的条件下则倾向于共情完整。且他们可能存在不同感觉通道的共情差异。项目在对高自闭特质个体研究的基础上，将行为实验和事件相关电位技术结合起来，探讨自闭症个体疼痛共情的特点、影响因素和认知神经机制。发现自闭个体在非注意条件下听觉疼痛共情受损，而在注意条件下或视觉模态下疼痛共情能力较完整，说明注意和模态会影响自闭个体的疼痛共情。本项目更深入地揭示了自闭症的共情机制，为自闭症个体的矫正和干预提供进一步的理论基础。