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

Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2026 Sep 1;81:101810. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101810. Online ahead of print.

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.

PMID:42700499 | DOI:10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101810