Social inference brain networks in autistic adults during movie-viewing: functional specialization and heterogeneity.
Theory-of-Mind brain networks in autistic adults are specialized but more variable, pointing to neural diversity rather than uniform deficit.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Turner et al. (2025) scanned autistic and neurotypical adults while they watched a movie. The team looked at two brain networks: the Theory-of-Mind network that tracks why people do things, and the Pain network that reacts to hurt.
They wanted to know if these networks turn on the same way in autistic adults.
What they found
The networks still worked, but they were more scattered. Autistic adults showed the same basic pattern, yet each person’s brain map looked more unique.
Group differences were small. The main story is variability, not loss.
How this fits with other research
Oomen et al. (2023) used EEG and also saw intact early social recognition. Turner’s fMRI goes one step further: it shows the later, deeper networks are specialized but less uniform.
Pecukonis et al. (2025) found right TPJ differences in preschoolers during live speech. Turner finds similar areas in adults watching movies, linking childhood and adult data.
Lim et al. (2016) reported reduced medial frontal activation. Turner sees weakly positive findings instead. The gap likely comes from task type: K used quick emotion flashes; Turner used slow, rich movie scenes that give autistic adults time to process.
Why it matters
Stop assuming one ‘autistic brain profile.’ Turner tells us to expect variety in social brain responses. In practice, test each client: some may need extra wait time, others may need different cues. Use natural, long social clips during social-skills training and watch for individual peaks, not group norms.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Start sessions with a 30-second movie clip, then ask open ‘why’ questions and note each client’s unique response style.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Difficulty in social inferences is a core feature in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). On the behavioral level, it remains unclear whether reasoning about others’ mental states (Theory of Mind, ToM) and empathic responses to others’ physical states may be similarly or differentially affected in autism. On the neural level, these inferences typically engage distinct brain networks (ToM versus Pain networks), but their functional specialization remains not well understood in autism. This study aimed to investigate the functional specialization, heterogeneity, and brain-behavior relationships of the ToM and Pain networks in autistic compared to neurotypical (NT) participants. We hypothesized differential functional network specialization (i.e., functional connectivity), increased heterogeneity, and less typical network responses specifically in the ToM network, with relatively similar responses in the Pain network in ASD. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated neural responses in 107 adults (autistic: 34 (female = 11), NT: 73 (female = 23); matched for age, intellectual functioning, sex, motion) while they passively watched a short, animated movie including events that evoke reasoning about characters’ mental states and bodily sensations. Preregistered analyses included regression models to assess inter-region correlation of within- and across-network connectivity, inter-subject correlation to quantify similarity to the average neurotypical, as well as to within- and across-group timecourse responses, and brain-behavior relationships relevant for social inferences. Functional specialization of ToM and Pain networks were overall intact, with distinct network responses in both groups. The autistic group showed differential ToM network responses and reduced similarity to the average typical response for both networks. Network responses were more idiosyncratic and heterogenous in the autistic group. Brain-behavior relationships differed between groups for ToM behavior only. Effects between groups were overall small. Samples were acquired across two sites, yet the sample size restricts subgroup analyses that may further inform autistic heterogeneity and limits generalizability. We found weak evidence for greater differential responses in brain networks underlying ToM inferences than those involved in empathic responses in autism, consistent with a prior empathy imbalance hypothesis. We outline suggestions for replicating, generalizing and extending these results in future research. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13229-025-00669-x.
Molecular Autism, 2025 · doi:10.1186/s13229-025-00669-x