Social emotions in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A neuroanatomical study of envy and Schadenfreude

GARCIA ADOLFO; GARCÍA CORDERO INDIRA; IBAÑEZ AGUSTIN; CADAVEIRA MATIAS; FITTIPALDI SOL; SEDEÑO LUCAS; BAEZ SANDRA

Congreso; Society for Neuroscience; 2018

Introduction: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ADS) is a neuropsychiatric condition characterized by severe deficits in emotional and social functioning, which is a critical component in their quality of life. Although the study of social cognition and its neural correlates in ASD has received considerable interest in recent years, few works have addressed a fundamental aspect of human interaction such as social emotions (i.e. those that are triggered by the presence or interaction with others). In this study, we aim to fill that gap by exploring how ASD patients experience envy and Schadenfreude (pleasure at others? misfortune), two social emotions that constitute counter-empathic responses and therefore can negatively impact interpersonal relationships. Methods: We administered a novel ecological paradigm to 15 adults with ASD and 15 healthy controls (HC) matched in age, gender, IQ and level of education. Subjects had to read short sentences describing different fortunate and unfortunate events that happened to different characters, and rate how much envy and pleasure they felt, respectively. We used SPSS to compare the performance between patients and HC in the task. Additionally, we obtained magnetic resonance imaging recordings from all subjects. Using MATLAB and SPM, we performed voxel-based morphometry to explore the neuroanatomical correlates of envy and Schadenfreude in ADS. Results: Behaviorally, ASD patients reported significantly lower levels of envy and Schadenfreude as compared to HC. VBM analysis revealed a positive correlation between levels of Schadenfreude and gray matter volume of middle-frontal and parietal regions. Envy did not correlate with any structure.Discussion: This is the first study that explored the neuroanatomical correlates of envy and Schadenfreude in ASD. We found that patients with ASD had a difficulty in feeling those social emotions. Moreover, the experience of Schadenfreude was associated with fronto-parietal hubs, structures previously implicated in mentalizing processes and in ASD symptoms. The study of complex social emotions through ecological paradigms that resemble real-life situations is critical to better understand some of the core deficits of ASD. This findings may help the development of new assessment and intervention strategies to improve the patients? quality of life.