Gabriela Rosenblau1,2,3, Garret O'Connell4, Hauke R Heekeren1,2,5, Isabel Dziobek1,2,4. 1. Cluster of Excellence 'Languages of Emotion', Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin14195, Germany. 2. Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin14195, Germany. 3. Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute, The George Washington University and Children's National Health System, 2115 G St NW, Washington, DC20052, USA. 4. Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany. 5. Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The promise of precision medicine for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) hinges on developing neuroscience-informed individualized interventions. Taking an important step in this direction, we investigated neuroplasticity in response to an ecologically-valid, computer-based social-cognitive training (SCOTT). METHODS: In an active control group design, 48 adults with ASD were randomly assigned to a 3-month SCOTT or non-social computer training. Participants completed behavioral tasks, a functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging session before and after the training period. RESULTS: The SCOTT group showed social-cognitive improvements on close and distant generalization tasks. The improvements scaled with reductions in functional activity and increases in cortical thickness in prefrontal regions. CONCLUSION: In sum, we provide evidence for the sensitivity of neuroscientific methods to reflect training-induced social-cognitive improvements in adults with ASD. These results encourage the use of neuroimaging data to describe and quantify treatment-related changes more broadly.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: The promise of precision medicine for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) hinges on developing neuroscience-informed individualized interventions. Taking an important step in this direction, we investigated neuroplasticity in response to an ecologically-valid, computer-based social-cognitive training (SCOTT). METHODS: In an active control group design, 48 adults with ASD were randomly assigned to a 3-month SCOTT or non-social computer training. Participants completed behavioral tasks, a functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging session before and after the training period. RESULTS: The SCOTT group showed social-cognitive improvements on close and distant generalization tasks. The improvements scaled with reductions in functional activity and increases in cortical thickness in prefrontal regions. CONCLUSION: In sum, we provide evidence for the sensitivity of neuroscientific methods to reflect training-induced social-cognitive improvements in adults with ASD. These results encourage the use of neuroimaging data to describe and quantify treatment-related changes more broadly.