Impairments of Social Motor Synchrony Evident in Autism Spectrum Disorder

TLDR

Social interactions rely on body movements that become synchronized over time, yet the role of temporal aspects of social motor synchrony in social dysfunction remains poorly understood. The study employed a pendulum coordination paradigm to evaluate dynamic, process‑oriented measures of social motor synchrony in adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder. Adolescents with ASD exhibited reduced synchronization in both spontaneous and intentional coordination, with coupled‑oscillator modeling revealing weaker coupling strength and lower sensitivity to others’ movements, suggesting a distinct social synchronization deficit that could serve as an objective biomarker.

Abstract

Social interactions typically involve movements of the body that become synchronized over time and both intentional and spontaneous interactional synchrony have been found to be an essential part of successful human interaction. However, our understanding of the importance of temporal dimensions of social motor synchrony in social dysfunction is limited. Here, we used a pendulum coordination paradigm to assess dynamic, process-oriented measures of social motor synchrony in adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Our data indicate that adolescents with ASD demonstrate less synchronization in both spontaneous and intentional interpersonal coordination. Coupled oscillator modeling suggests that ASD participants assembled a synchronization dynamic with a weaker coupling strength, which corresponds to a lower sensitivity and decreased attention to the movements of the other person, but do not demonstrate evidence of a delay in information transmission. The implication of these findings for isolating an ASD-specific social synchronization deficit that could serve as an objective, bio-behavioral marker is discussed.