title: Abnormal brain activity in social reward learning in children with autism spectrum disorder: an fMRI study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to determine whether Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) would show neural abnormality of the social reward system using functional MRI (fMRI).
  
  
  METHODS
  27 ASDs and 12 typically developing controls (TDCs) participated in this study. The social reward task was developed, and all participants performed the task during fMRI scanning.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ASDs and TDCs with a social reward learning effect were selected on the basis of behavior data. We found significant differences in brain activation between the ASDs and TDCs showing a social reward learning effect. Compared with the TDCs, the ASDs showed reduced activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right orbitofrontal cortex, right parietal lobe, and occipital lobe; however, they showed increased activity in the right parahippocampal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that there might be neural abnormality of the social reward learning system of ASDs. Although this study has several potential limitations, it presents novel findings in the different neural mechanisms of social reward learning in children with ASD and a possible useful biomarker of high-functioning ASDs.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Uk-Su
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei Autism Laboratory, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei Autism Laboratory, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeon Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei Autism Laboratory, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seo-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung-Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Joon-Sup
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei Autism Laboratory, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyeong In
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Seol
authors.affiliation: Department of Art Therapy, Daegu Cyber University, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo-Woon
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyungun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jhung
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei Autism Laboratory, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jee-In
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei Autism Laboratory, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. kacheon@yuhs.ac.
authors.forename: Keun-Ah
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Cheon
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012201:Reward; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: ASDs; fMRI; social reward leaning
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