Attentional Influences on Neural Processing of Biological Motion in Typically Developing Children and Those on the Autism Spectrum
| Autor: | Emily J. Knight, John J. Foxe, Aaron I. Krakowski, Edward G. Freedman, Sophie Molholm, John S. Butler |
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| Přispěvatelé: | U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH RO1 MH065350 and MH085322), City University of New York, University of Rochester Medical Center Department of Pediatrics Chair Fellow Award, Kyle Family Fellowship, UR Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (UR-IDDRC), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD P50 HD103536), F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (RFK-IDDRC), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD U54 HD090260). |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Adolescent
Autism Spectrum Disorder Computer science Social Skills Typically developing Developmental Neuroscience ASD Event-related potentials Medicine and Health Sciences medicine Humans Autistic Disorder Child Molecular Biology Visual evoked potential Electroencephalography medicine.disease Social cognition Psychiatry and Mental health Cross-Sectional Studies VEP Biological motion Neural processing Autism Neuroscience ERP Developmental Biology Biological motion |
| Zdroj: | Articles |
| Popis: | Background Biological motion imparts rich information related to the movement, actions, intentions and affective state of others, which can provide foundational support for various aspects of social cognition and behavior. Given that atypical social communication and cognition are hallmark symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), many have theorized that a potential source of this deficit may lie in dysfunctional neural mechanisms of biological motion processing. Synthesis of existing literature provides some support for biological motion processing deficits in autism spectrum disorder, although high study heterogeneity and inconsistent findings complicate interpretation. Here, we attempted to reconcile some of this residual controversy by investigating a possible modulating role for attention in biological motion processing in ASD. Methods We employed high-density electroencephalographic recordings while participants observed point-light displays of upright, inverted and scrambled biological motion under two task conditions to explore spatiotemporal dynamics of intentional and unintentional biological motion processing in children and adolescents with ASD (n = 27), comparing them to a control cohort of neurotypical (NT) participants (n = 35). Results Behaviorally, ASD participants were able to discriminate biological motion with similar accuracy to NT controls. However, electrophysiologic investigation revealed reduced automatic selective processing of upright biologic versus scrambled motion stimuli in ASD relative to NT individuals, which was ameliorated when task demands required explicit attention to biological motion. Additionally, we observed distinctive patterns of covariance between visual potentials evoked by biological motion and functional social ability, such that Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale-Socialization domain scores were differentially associated with biological motion processing in the N1 period in the ASD but not the NT group. Limitations The cross-sectional design of this study does not allow us to definitively answer the question of whether developmental differences in attention to biological motion cause disruption in social communication, and the sample was limited to children with average or above cognitive ability. Conclusions Together, these data suggest that individuals with ASD are able to discriminate, with explicit attention, biological from non-biological motion but demonstrate diminished automatic neural specificity for biological motion processing, which may have cascading implications for the development of higher-order social cognition. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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