Sep 26, 2021

Do shapes have feelings? Social attribution in children with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Translational psychiatry
Marlee M Vandewouw, Kristina Safar, Sarah I Mossad, Julie Lu, Jason P Lerch, Evdokia Anagnostou, Margot J Taylor
Theory of mind (ToM) deficits are common in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which contribute to their social and cognitive difficulties. The social attribution task (SAT) involves geometrical shapes moving in patterns that depict social interactions and is known to recruit brain regions from the classic ToM network. To better understand ToM in ASD and ADHD children, we examined the...