Neurobehavioral and Hemodynamic Evaluation of Cognitive Shifting in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Akira Yasumura, Naomi Kokubo, Hisako Yamamoto, Yukiko Yasumura, Yusuke Moriguchi, Eiji Nakagawa, Masumi Inagaki, Kazuo Hiraki

Department of Child Neurology, NCNP Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Children, Saitama Jyunshin College, Saitama, Japan.
Department of Developmental Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), Tokyo, Japan.
Department of School Education, Joetsu University of Education, Niigata, Japan.
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/jbbs.2012.24054                

Abstract

The restrictive, stereotyped behavior in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is considered to be related to deficits in execu- tive function. In particular, cognitive shifting in executive function is deeply related to stereotyped behavior in ASD. Previous investigations have clarified that the lateral prefrontal cortex is involved in cognitive shifting when flexible changes in attention were needed. However, a few studies have revealed a direct association between cognitive shifting tasks and lateral prefrontal cortex activity in children with ASD. We examined cognitive shifting in 7- to 12-year-old children with ASD and typically developing children using the dimensional change card sort task. In addition, using near-infrared spectroscopy, we examined prefrontal brain activity in conjunction with cognitive shifting. The autistic children provided fewer correct answers and slower reaction times in the task than typically developing children. Fur- thermore, the autistic children displayed a decline in right lateral prefrontal cortex activity during the task compared with typically developing children. In addition, a negative correlation was observed between the severity of autism and brain activity during the task. These results suggest that the activity and physiological indices used in this study may be useful for identifying the symptoms of ASD and discriminating ASD from other disabilities.

Keywords

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Executive Function; Cognitive Shifting; Frontal Lobe Function; Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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