Conceptual and Perceptual Set-shifting executive abilities in young adults with Asperger's syndrome

• Individuals with AS experience difficulties with extradimensional/conceptual shifts (between categories, sets, or rules).
• The dissociation between intra- and extradimensional shifting in AS suggests selective frontal-striatal deficits.
• Preliminary evidence supports a particular type of executive dysfunction and specifically, set-shifting difficulties in AS.

Neuropsychological models of frontal lobe functioning have led to a greater appreciation of the dissociations among various aspects of executive functions. Theories of executive function have been proposed to account, at least in part, for the unique social and emotional difficulties experienced by individuals with Asperger's syndrome (AS). Given the paucity of research regarding the neural correlates of executive function in AS, this investigation research involves an examination of a well-established measure of executive, fronto-striatal function in young adults with AS. Findings provide preliminary evidence to support a specific type of executive dysfunction and in particular, extradimensional or conceptual set-shifting difficulties in individuals with AS that implicates prefrontal cortex and frontal-striatal function.