Distinct social behavior and inter-brain connectivity in Dyads with autistic individuals

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined by distinctive socio-cognitive behaviors that deviate from typical patterns.Notably, social imitation skills appear to be particularly impacted, manifesting early on in development.This paper compared the behavior and inter-brain dynamics of dyads made up of two typically developing (TD) participants with mixed dyads made up of ASD and TD participants during social imitation tasks.By combining kinematics and EEG-hyperscanning, we show that individuals with ASD exhibited a preference for the follower rather than the lead role in imitating scenarios.Moreover, the study revealed inter-brain synchrony differences, with low-alpha inter-brain synchrony differentiating control and mixed dyads.The study's findings suggest the importance of studying interpersonal phenomena in dynamic and ecological settings and using hyperscanning methods to capture inter-brain dynamics during actual social interactions.