#Autism is characterized by social difficulties (e.g., perceiving, interpreting and responding to the intentions and #behaviors of others) and non-social difficulties (e.g., sensory and motor atypicalities). Understanding the #relationship between social and non-social difficulties in ASD is a major challenge for researchers: Do these #difficulties equally contribute to the condition or is one a primary cause? Are these relationships present across the #autism spectrum? Do they share the same pathogenesis or do different causes drive them?

#Studying the sense of smell in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) represents a promising tool to answer #these questions. Indeed, smelling is a byproduct of involuntary breathing which often occurs outside of conscious #awareness, making it a tool usable across the spectrum. For instance, my research demonstrates that body odors #continuously transfer a wealth of social information among individuals (see Body #Odors for more details), and that odor-driven actions can positively impact #social behavior [through automatic imitation] #(http://127.0.0.1:4321/publication/journal-article/8_parma-et-al.-2013/).

#Additionally, investigating the development and the multisensory features of body ownership in ASD (see my work on the #numbness illusion allows to determine how #atypical self-other interactions are initiated and navigated.

#My research in this area investigates the neurobiological basis of social cognition and sensory perception in individuals #with ASD using behavioral, psychophysiological and neurophysiological techniques.