Neurotherapy to Promote Emotion Recognition in Autism
| Status: | Recruiting |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Neurology, Psychiatric, Autism |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Neurology, Psychiatry / Psychology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 16 - 29 |
| Updated: | 3/8/2019 |
| Start Date: | September 2016 |
| End Date: | May 2019 |
| Contact: | John Richey, PhD |
| Email: | richey@vt.edu |
| Phone: | 540-231-1423 |
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, more prevalent than
previously thought and heterogeneous in expression, though uniformly characterized by severe
social disability. The social disability that defines ASD pervades other areas of adaptive
behavior, is predictive of secondary mental health problems, and adversely affects long-term
outcome. Although ASD is a chronic condition, there has been little research on interventions
for adults with ASD. This study proposes to first establish the neural plasticity of specific
brain mechanisms underlying difficulties with facial emotion recognition, a core deficit
believed to be pivotal in the behavioral expression of ASD-social disability. The
investigators will then develop a novel, computer-based intervention using real-time
feedback, to the user, to ameliorate emotion recognition deficits.
previously thought and heterogeneous in expression, though uniformly characterized by severe
social disability. The social disability that defines ASD pervades other areas of adaptive
behavior, is predictive of secondary mental health problems, and adversely affects long-term
outcome. Although ASD is a chronic condition, there has been little research on interventions
for adults with ASD. This study proposes to first establish the neural plasticity of specific
brain mechanisms underlying difficulties with facial emotion recognition, a core deficit
believed to be pivotal in the behavioral expression of ASD-social disability. The
investigators will then develop a novel, computer-based intervention using real-time
feedback, to the user, to ameliorate emotion recognition deficits.
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known to have difficulty in the
recognition of facial emotion. Such deficits in facial emotion recognition (FER) are thought
to cause or exacerbate social disability in ASD by preventing 1) accurate detection of
social/emotional information conveyed through the face and, subsequently 2) the deployment of
emotionally appropriate responses. Consistent with this model, FER deficits are correlated
with social disability in ASD and confer morbidity above and beyond core symptoms.
The long-term goal is to understand how FER networks can be manipulated for therapeutic and
preventative purposes. In this trial, investigators are testing the feasibility of an
intervention that capitalizes on our previously developed brain-computer interface (BCI) to
promote FER in a mixed virtual reality world. The new "FER Assistant" tool (deployed on a
tablet - iPad) is intended to aid users in detecting emotions and intents of 'avatars'
inhabiting a virtual world, and will provide users with a highly realistic testbed for
practicing FER skills in concert with BCI.
recognition of facial emotion. Such deficits in facial emotion recognition (FER) are thought
to cause or exacerbate social disability in ASD by preventing 1) accurate detection of
social/emotional information conveyed through the face and, subsequently 2) the deployment of
emotionally appropriate responses. Consistent with this model, FER deficits are correlated
with social disability in ASD and confer morbidity above and beyond core symptoms.
The long-term goal is to understand how FER networks can be manipulated for therapeutic and
preventative purposes. In this trial, investigators are testing the feasibility of an
intervention that capitalizes on our previously developed brain-computer interface (BCI) to
promote FER in a mixed virtual reality world. The new "FER Assistant" tool (deployed on a
tablet - iPad) is intended to aid users in detecting emotions and intents of 'avatars'
inhabiting a virtual world, and will provide users with a highly realistic testbed for
practicing FER skills in concert with BCI.
Inclusion Criteria:
- diagnosis of ASD
Exclusion Criteria:
- No severe psychopathology which warrants other immediate treatment
We found this trial at
1
site
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