Differential neural correlates underlying mental rotation processes in two distinct cognitive profiles in autism.

Researchers used brain scans to study how autistic people with different strengths solve visual puzzles. They found that autistic people with strong visual-spatial skills used different brain areas and connections than those without these strengths. The group with visual strengths performed better and showed stronger connections between brain areas that process visual information. This suggests there are different types of autism with distinct brain patterns, which could help explain why some autistic people excel at visual tasks.

This fMRI study examined brain activity patterns during mental rotation tasks in 27 autistic adults with different cognitive profiles and 23 neurotypical controls. Researchers identified two autism subgroups: those with enhanced visuospatial abilities (Block Design peaks) and those without. The enhanced group showed faster task performance, increased bilateral parietal and occipital activation, stronger occipito-parietal and fronto-occipital connectivity, but reduced fronto-parietal connectivity compared to controls. The non-enhanced autism group showed different patterns with greater right and anterior region activation and reduced occipital-parietal connectivity.

Results suggest that commonly reported posterior brain reliance in autism may be specific to those with enhanced visuospatial abilities, challenging traditional under-connectivity theories.

Results support the importance of identifying cognitive subgroups in autism for personalized interventions. Enhanced visuospatial abilities in some autistic individuals may be leveraged in educational and vocational settings. Future research should characterize autism subgroups to better understand heterogeneous presentations and optimize support strategies.

Small sample sizes reduce generalizability of findings. Study included only male participants, limiting applicability to females with autism. The cross-sectional design prevents establishment of causal relationships. Limited sample size also reduces statistical power for detecting subtle group differences.

Enhanced visuospatial abilities characterize the cognitive profile of a subgroup of autistics. However, the neural correlates underlying such cognitive strengths are largely unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the neural underpinnings of superior visuospatial functioning in different autistic subgroups. Twenty-seven autistic adults, including 13 with a Wechsler's Block Design peak (AUTp) and 14 without (AUTnp), and 23 typically developed adults (TYP) performed a classic mental rotation task.

As expected, AUTp participants were faster at the task compared to TYP. At the neural level, AUTp participants showed enhanced bilateral parietal and occipital activation, stronger occipito-parietal and fronto-occipital connectivity, and diminished fronto-parietal connectivity compared to TYP. On the other hand, AUTnp participants presented greater activation in right and anterior regions compared to AUTp. In addition, reduced connectivity between occipital and parietal regions was observed in AUTnp compared to AUTp and TYP participants.

A greater reliance on posterior regions is typically reported in the autism literature. Our results suggest that this commonly reported finding may be specific to a subgroup of autistic individuals with enhanced visuospatial functioning. Moreover, this study demonstrated that increased occipito-frontal synchronization was associated with superior visuospatial abilities in autism. This finding contradicts the long-range under-connectivity hypothesis in autism.

Finally, given the relationship between distinct cognitive profiles in autism and our observed differences in brain functioning, future studies should provide an adequate characterization of the autistic subgroups in their research. The main limitations are small sample sizes and the inclusion of male-only participants.