Altered alpha-band regulation during naturalistic theory of mind processing in autistic children

Abstract

Background Theory of Mind (ToM) deficits are a core feature of autism, yet the neural dynamics associated with social-cognitive processing in naturalistic contexts remain unclear. Alpha-band oscillations have been implicated in the regulation of internal attention and may be involved in supporting mentalizing during real-world social interactions. Methods Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded from 41 autistic children and 34 typically developing (TD) children aged 3–10 years while they passively viewed a nonverbal animated film. Alpha power (6–9 Hz) in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) was examined during Theory of Mind–related scenes and baseline scenes. Results TD children showed increased alpha-band activity during ToM-related scenes relative to baseline, whereas autistic children showed no clear context-dependent alpha-band modulation. Exploratory ROI-level analyses further suggested associations between rTPJ alpha modulation and individual differences in ToMI-2 and Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) scores, although these associations did not survive FDR correction. Conclusions These findings suggest that typical ToM-related processing involves context-sensitive alpha-band modulation supporting social cognition. In autism, reduced modulation may reflect altered neural regulation during social-cognitive processing rather than diminished regional engagement. Naturalistic EEG paradigms may help identify neural indices of individual differences in social-cognitive functioning, pending further validation.