Action and social spaces in typical development and in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Research in neuroscience reveals that the brain constructs multiple representation of space. Here, we primarily focus on interpersonal representation, i.e., the region of space immediately surrounding our body, in which we interact with other people, in individuals with a deficit of social interaction, such as autism. We review results from several studies, revealing that autism affects the interpersonal space regulation, influencing both its size (permeability) and its changes depending on social interaction (plasticity). Indeed, individuals with autism prefer larger or shorter interpersonal space compared to healthy controls, thereby indicating a deficit of interpersonal space permeability. Furthermore, individual with autism fail to modify their interpersonal space following a brief cooperative interaction with an unfamiliar adult, suggesting a deficit in interpersonal space plasticity. Interestingly, the deficit observed in interpersonal space plasticity depends on person’s perspective and reflects the severity of social impairment. Finally, the link between social competence, action and space is addressed, showing that autism affects social-interpersonal space, but not action-peripersonal space.