Ricerc@Sapienza

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by deficits in social communication and interaction and repetitive behaviour or restricted interests (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Recent findings have implicated the cerebellum in this syndrome. Post-mortem studies showed a cerebellar Purkinje cells loss in ASD patients and neuroimaging data evidenced cerebellar gray and white matter alterations in these patients (Amaral et al. 2008; Scott et al. 2009; Olivito et al, 2017; 2018). The ASD diagnosis is based on a pervasive social interaction disorder (World Health Organization 1993) and its main behavioral hallmark is an impairment in Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to recognize and attribute mental states to others to explain and predict their behaviour (Baron-Cohen 1995).
Intriguingly, ToM alterations have been reported in patients with cerebellar degenerative diseases (CDD) (Sokolovsky et al. 2010; D'Agata et al. 2011; Clausi et al., 2019; Van Overwalle et al, 2019) and neuroimaging studies have shown a cerebellar activation during tasks implying social cognitive abilities (Habel et al. 2005; see Clausi et al, 2017 for a review).
These evidences, supported by cerebellar connections with limbic and associative areas (Schmahmann, Pandya, 1997), suggest a role of cerebellum in ASD mentalizing impairment.
In the present study, ToM profile and neuro-anatomical substrate of CDD and ASD patients will be directly compared. It will allow to elucidate the cerebellar involvement in specific ToM aspects (Coricelli, 2005) and clarify the role of cerebello-cerebral circuits in ASD pathogenesis, opening new perspectives on ASD treatment.