Cortical Activation during Cooperative and Competitive Joint Actions in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – An fNIRS Study

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have social communication and perceptuomotor difficulties that affect their ability to engage in various types of joint actions. In this study, we compared spatio-temporal action errors and fNIRS-related cortical activation between children with and without ASD during a Lincoln log joint action game requiring them to play leader or follower roles, move in synchrony or while taking turns, and move cooperatively or competitively with an adult partner. Children with ASD had greater motor, planning, and spatial errors and took longer to complete the building tasks compared to typically developing (TD) children. Children with ASD had lower superior temporal sulcus (STS) activation during Turn-take and Compete, and greater Inferior Parietal Lobe (IPL) activation during Lead and Turn-take compared to TD children. As joint action demands increased, TD children showed greater STS activation during Turn-take (vs. Synchrony) and Compete (vs. Cooperate) whereas children with ASD showed greater IPL activation during Lead and Compete (vs. Cooperate). Our findings suggest that children with ASD rely on self-generated action plans (i.e., increased IPL activation) more than relying on their partner’s action cues (i.e., reduced STS activation) when performing joint actions.