A two-component event-related brain potential consisting of an error-related negativity (ERN/Ne) and positivity (Pe) has been associated with response monitoring and error detection. Both the ERN and Pe have been source-localized to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)Fa frontal structure implicated in both cognitive and affective processing, as well as autonomic nervous system (ANS) modulation. The current study sought to examine the relationships among the ERN, the Pe, two autonomic measures, and behavior. Electroencephalogram (EEG), heart rate (HR), and skin conductance (SC) were recorded while subjects performed a two-choice reaction-time task. In addition to the characteristic ERN-Pe complex, errors were associated with larger SCRs and greater HR deceleration. The ERN correlated with the number of errors, but was unrelated to ANS activity and compensatory behavior. Pe, on the other hand, was correlated significantly with SCR, and both SCR and Pe were significantly correlated with post-error slowing.Descriptors: Error-related negativity (ERN), Event-related brain potential (ERP), Error processing, Heart rate (HR), Skin conductance response (SCR)

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We examined early signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in infants with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), approximately 50% of whom will meet criteria for ASD by age 3. Infants with TSC and ASD showed deficits in social communication behaviors by 9 months of age that were clearly distinguishable from behaviors in infants with TSC who do not develop ASD and low risk infants. Results support the importance of early ASD screening and intervention for infants with TSC.

Clinical anxiety disorders in youth are common and associated with interpersonal behaviors including reliance on parents for family accommodation, or changes that parents make to their own behaviors to help the youth avoid anxiety related distress. The neuropeptide oxytocin is associated with the regulation of anxiety and of close interpersonal behavior leading to the hypothesis that oxytocinergic functioning plays a role in youth anxiety and its disorders, and the resulting family accommodation. To test this hypothesis salivary OT from 50 youth with primary DSM-5 anxiety disorders was assayed. A multi-source/multi-method anxiety assessment including semistructured interviews with youth and mothers, rating scales, and behavioral observations was used to assess anxiety disorders and symptoms, and family accommodation. Youth with separation anxiety disorder had significantly lower salivary OT levels than clinically anxious youth not diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder. Salivary OT levels were significantly negatively correlated with separation anxiety symptoms based on both youth- and mother-ratings. Anxious behavior displayed by youth during interactions with their mothers was associated with lower salivary OT levels in youth. Maternal ratings of family accommodation were negatively associated with salivary OT levels in youth. Results support the role of the oxytocinergic system in youth anxiety and its disorders and in parental involvement in youth anxiety through family accommodation. OT may be particularly important for diagnoses and symptoms of separation anxiety, which is inherently interpersonal in nature. Findings have potentially important implications for assessment and treatment of anxiety in youth.

Empathy deficits represent an important social impairment in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but little is known about the early development of empathy prior to diagnosis. This study examined empathic responding to parental distress in toddlers at risk for an ASD. Children later diagnosed with an ASD engaged in less empathic responding at 24 and 30 months than children with no later diagnosis. Lower empathic responding was associated with higher autism symptomatology at 30 months. This is the first study to examine empathy deficits in response to parental distress in toddlers prior to ASD diagnosis. Early empathic responding may represent a unique developing social skill that indexes the overall severity of later ASD symptomatology in at-risk children.

Interest in telehealth assessment for autism has increased due to COVID-19 and subsequent expansion of remote psychological services, though options that are easy for clinicians to adopt and available through the lifespan are limited. The Brief Observation of Symptoms of Autism (BOSA) provides a social context with standardized materials and activities that can be coded by clinicians trained in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. The current project examined psychometric properties to determine optimal use for each BOSA version. Three hundred and seven participants with 453 BOSAs were included to determine best performing items for algorithms, validity, sensitivity, specificity, recommended cut-offs, and proposed ranges of concern. While preliminary, the BOSA provides a promising new option for telehealth-administered assessment for autism.

Typically developing infants rapidly acquire a sophisticated array of social skills within the first year of life. These social skills are largely learned within the context of day-to-day interactions with caregivers. While social neuroscience has made great gains in our knowledge of the underlying neural circuitry of social cognition and behavior, much of this work has focused on experiments that sacrifice ecological validity for experimental control. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a promising methodology for measuring brain activity in the context of naturalistic social interactions. Here, we review what we have learned from fNIRS studies that have used traditional experimental stimuli to study social development during infancy. We then discuss recent infant fNIRS studies that have utilized more naturalistic social stimuli, followed by a discussion of applications of this methodology to the study of atypical social development, with a focus on infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder. We end with recommendations for applying fNIRS to studies of typically developing and at-risk infants in naturalistic social situations.