Download or read book Neural Effects of a Cognitive-behavioral Social Skills Treatment on Gaze Processing in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder written by Karim Ibrahim (Psy.D. candidate at the University of Hartford) and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social deficits are a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and have been associated with underactivity in brain regions important for social cognition. Social skills training using a cognitive-behavioral (CBT) approach has been shown to improve social behavior in children with ASD. However, little is known about the neural response to treatment. In the present study, we used functional MRI to examine the neural correlates of gaze processing in ASD following a CBT-based social skills group. Verbally fluent children (ages 8-11) were randomized to CBT or a facilitated play comparison group. Behavioral assessments and fMRI were conducted at baseline, endpoint (12 weeks), and at a 3-month follow-up. While undergoing fMRI, children viewed images of emotionally expressive faces with either a direct or averted gaze. Regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationship between changes in brain activity and baseline participant characteristics, and to evaluate neural predictors and moderators of changes in social cognition and behavior. Following treatment, the CBT group showed greater activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) relative to baseline. In contrast, the comparison group did not show any regions of increased activity post-intervention. When directly comparing the two groups, the CBT group showed greater increases in the MPFC, implicated in mentalizing, relative to comparison. Greater increases in MPFC and VLPFC activity following treatment were associated with older baseline age for the CBT group. Baseline activity in the FG predicted response to treatment. Specifically, children with greater baseline activation of the FG demonstrated improvements on measures of social competence including the social awareness subscale of the Social Responsiveness Scale and a social cognition composite. Findings suggest that a cognitive-behavioral approach to social skills treatment may increase activity in social brain networks in verbally fluent children with ASD. In addition, children who demonstrated a more typical neural response to faces at baseline (i.e., increased FG activity) were responders to treatment. This study contributes to our understanding of the plasticity of networks involved in social cognition and neural biomarkers of treatment response.