Background: The brain has specific areas that help you think about rewards, such as reward anticipation or outcomes from receiving an award. This is called reward processing. Previous studies have shown that reward processing is different in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). But it’s not clear if this is due to ASD alone, or conditions that sometimes occur with ASD. For example, nearly 40% of people with ASD also have anxiety.

What’s new: A new study published on June 28, 2016, suggests that ASD and anxiety share some regions of the brain associated with reward processing. Researchers looked at brain activity from 70 teenagers with high ASD traits and 1402 teenagers with low ASD traits. They found a unique pattern of activation in reward-related areas of the brain in those with high ASD traits combined with anxiety. But not all neuroimaging findings were shared when ASD traits and anxiety were present on their own.

Why it’s important: The results of this study point to patterns of brain activity related to reward processing that might link ASD with anxiety. If reproducible, these findings may allow doctors to use the patterns seen during neuroimaging to help diagnose specific subgroups of ASD, such as ASD with co-occurring conditions.

Autism Profile

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