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In the last twenty years, many attempts have been made to provide neurobiological models of autism. Functional, structural and connectivity analyses have highlighted reduced responses in key social areas, such as amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, and superior temporal sulcus. However, these studies present discrepant results and some of them have been questioned for methodological limitations. The aim of this research topic is to present advanced neuroimaging methods able to capture the complexity of the neural deficits displayed in autism. This special issue presents new studies using structural and functional MRI, as well as magnetoencephalography, and novel protocols to analyze data (Analysis of Cluster Variability, Noise Reduction Strategies, Source-based Morphometry, Functional Connectivity Density, Restriction Spectrum Imaging and the others). We believe it is time to integrate data provided by different techniques and methodologies in order to have a better understanding of autism.

magnetic resonance imaging --- biomarkers --- social deficits --- autism spectrum disorder --- magnetoencephalography

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The eyes represent an important social cue and they typically play key roles within key part of typical non-verbal communication. When people view the faces of other people, they typically spend the most time looking at the eyes compared to other features of the face. Attending to the eyes facilitates social interactions because they can be used to indicate interest by someone else, and during conversations the eyes help to indicate turn-taking or disapproval etc. Since people tend to gaze in the direction of items in their environment that they are most interested in, perceiving the direction and target of others’ gaze can help inform about the focus of people's current mental and emotional state, including their interests, beliefs and desires. The gaze of others is so powerful that when people shift their attention, this also tends to shift observers' own attention in the same direction. This effect happens even when we know that the shift of attention by someone else is not informative, or is even misleading. Gaze also helps us to interpret other types of social signals in others. For example, different directions of gaze help to facilitate specific emotional expressions that are linked to those gaze directions, over the processing of other emotions. Our understanding about the normal mechanisms underlying the processing of gaze has also been informed by research and theory involving people with disorders involving differences in gaze processing, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). There are commonly reported difficulties in reading mental states from the eyes of others in ASD, which are associated with differences in brain activity in regions associated with the processing of gaze. However, while people with ASD have difficulties reading mental states from the eyes, they often show typical effects of reflexive gaze from the gaze shifts of others. Unfortunately, little is currently known about the underlying mechanisms for the pattern of intact and atypical processing of gaze in ASD at cognitive and neural levels. There is currently a need for further theoretical development and understanding at both the cognitive and neural level of functioning. While there are regions of the brain associated with gaze processing, how the neurons in these different regions exactly code for different gaze directions is still not well known, nor how we integrate cues from different aspects of the eyes, head and context to perceive the gaze of others. Similarly, little is known about inhibiting gaze information when it is task irrelevant, or is even detrimental for performance. The aim of this Research Topic collects articles on different types of methodologies and on the processing of gaze. This includes the effects of others' gaze on our cognitive, behavioural and neural processes, and the use of gaze in understanding other people etc.

eyes --- gaze processing --- gaze direction --- mental states --- attention --- autism spectrum disorder

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Autism Spectrum Disorder --- Intellectual Disability --- Child --- Parenting --- Parents of autistic children. --- Autistic children --- Care.

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Professionals who provide services based on the principles of behavior are required to use evidence-based practices and to make data-based decisions regarding assessments and interventions. Doing so requires statistical literacy: competence in collecting, analyzing, interpreting and presenting aggregate quantitative data within or between subjects. Without statistical literacy, behavior analysts cannot take advantage of, or intelligently discuss, ongoing scientific developments around interventions for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Statistics for Applied Behavior Analysis Practitioners and Researchers provides practical and useful content for individuals who work directly with, or supervise those who work directly with, individuals with ASD. This book introduces core concepts and principles of modern statistical analysis that behavior analysts will need to deliver and consume the larger scientific literature. The organization of the book follows the common sequence of decisions for collecting, describing and analyzing data associated with behavior analytic service delivery and research. By the end of the book, readers should be able to understand and accurately incorporate statistics in their assessment and intervention effects using statistics.

Autism spectrum disorders --- Behavior analysts. --- Autism Spectrum Disorder --- Applied Behavior Analysis --- Statistics as Topic --- Statistics. --- methods --- Behavior analysts

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Brain oscillations, or neural rhythms, reflect widespread functional connections between large-scale neural networks, as well as within cortical networks. As such they have been related to many aspects of human behaviour. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated the role of brain oscillations at distinct frequency bands in cognitive, sensory and motor tasks. Consequentially, those rhythms also affect diverse aspects of human communication. On the one hand, this comprises verbal communication; a field where the understanding of neural mechanisms has seen huge advances in recent years. Speech is inherently organised in a rhythmic manner. For example, time scales of phonemes and syllables, but also formal prosodic aspects such as intonation and stress, fall into distinct frequency bands. Likewise, neural rhythms in the brain play a role in speech segmentation and coding of continuous speech at multiple time scales, as well as in the production of speech. On the other hand, human communication involves widespread and diverse nonverbal aspects where the role of neural rhythms is far less understood. This can be the enhancement of speech processing through visual signals, thought to be guided via brain oscillations, or the conveying of emotion, which results in differential rhythmic modulations in the observer. Additionally, body movements and gestures often have a communicative purpose and are known to modulate sensorimotor rhythms in the observer. This Research Topic of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience highlights the diverse aspects of human communication that are shaped by rhythmic activity in the brain. Relevant contributions are presented from various fields including cognitive and social neuroscience, neuropsychiatry, and methodology. As such they provide important new insights into verbal and non-verbal communication, pathological changes, and methodological innovations.

neurobiology of language --- nonverbal communication --- brain rhythms --- tACS --- speech comprehension --- communication disorders --- speech production --- EEG/MEG --- autism spectrum disorder