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Poole D, Grange JA, Milne E. Putting the Spotlight Back Onto the Flanker Task in Autism: Autistic Adults Show Increased Interference from Foils Compared with Non-autistic Adults. J Cogn 2024; 7:46. [PMID: 38799080 PMCID: PMC11122699 DOI: 10.5334/joc.369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Autistic people may have a less focused spotlight of spatial selective attention than non-autistic people, meaning that distracting stimuli are less effectively suppressed. Previous studies using the flanker task have supported this suggestion with observations of increased congruency effects in autistic participants. However, findings across studies have been mixed, mainly based on research in children and on response time measures, which may be influenced by differences in response strategy between autistic and non-autistic people rather than differences in selective attention. In this pre-registered study, 153 autistic and 147 non-autistic adults completed an online flanker task. The aims of this study were to test whether increased congruency effects replicate in autistic adults and to extend previous work by fitting a computational model of spatial selective attention on the flanker task to the data. Congruency effects were increased in the autistic group. The modelling revealed that the interference time from the foils was increased in the autistic group. This suggests that the activation of the foils was increased, meaning suppression was less effective for autistic participants. There were also differences in non-interference parameters between the groups. The estimate of response caution was increased in the autistic group and the estimate of perceptual efficiency was decreased. Together these findings suggest inefficient suppression, response strategy and perceptual processing all contribute to differences in performance on the flanker task between autistic and non-autistic people.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Poole
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, UK
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2
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Do motor plans affect sensorimotor state estimates during temporal decision-making with crossed vs. uncrossed hands? Failure to replicate the dynamic crossed-hand effect. Exp Brain Res 2022; 240:1529-1545. [PMID: 35332358 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-022-06349-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Hermosillo et al. (J Neurosci 31: 10019-10022, 2011) have suggested that action planning of hand movements impacts decisions about the temporal order judgments regarding vibrotactile stimulation of the hands. Specifically, these authors reported that the crossed-hand effect, a confusion about which hand is which when held in a crossed posture, gradually reverses some 320 ms before the arms begin to move from an uncrossed to a crossed posture or vice versa, such that the crossed-hand is reversed at the time of movement onset in anticipation of the movement's end position. However, to date, no other study has attempted to replicate this dynamic crossed-hand effect. Therefore, in the present study, we conducted four experiments to revisit the question whether preparing uncrossed-to-crossed or crossed-to-uncrossed movements affects the temporo-spatial perception of tactile stimulation of the hands. We used a temporal order judgement (TOJ) task at different time stages during action planning to test whether TOJs are more difficult with crossed than uncrossed hands ("static crossed-hand effect") and, crucially, whether planning to cross or uncross the hands shows the opposite pattern of difficulties ("dynamic crossed-hand effect"). As expected, our results confirmed the static crossed-hand effect. However, the dynamic crossed-hand effect could not be replicated. In addition, we observed that participants delayed their movements with late somatosensory stimulation from the TOJ task, even when the stimulations were meaningless, suggesting that the TOJ task resulted in cross-modal distractions. Whereas the current findings are not inconsistent with a contribution of motor signals to posture perception, they cast doubt on observations that motor signals impact state estimates well before movement onset.
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Shifting attention between modalities: Revisiting the modality-shift effect in autism. Atten Percept Psychophys 2021; 83:2498-2509. [PMID: 33939157 PMCID: PMC8302542 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-021-02302-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/14/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Selective attention to a sensory modality has been observed experimentally in studies of the modality-shift effect – a relative performance benefit for targets preceded by a target in the same modality, compared to a different modality. Differences in selective attention are commonly observed in autism and we investigated whether exogenous (automatic) shift costs between modalities are increased. Autistic adults and neurotypical controls made speeded discrimination responses to simple visual, tactile and auditory targets. Shift costs were observed for each target modality in participant response times and were largest for auditory targets, reflective of fast responses on auditory repeat trials. Critically, shift costs were similar between the groups. However, integrating speed and accuracy data using drift-diffusion modelling revealed that shift costs in drift rates (reflecting the quality of information extracted from the stimulus) were reduced for autistic participants compared with neurotypicals. It may be that, unlike neurotypicals, there is little difference between attention within and between sensory modalities for autistic people. This finding also highlights the benefit of combining reaction time and accuracy data using decision models to better characterise selective attention in autism.
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Abstract
The present study examined the relationship between multisensory integration and the temporal binding window (TBW) for multisensory processing in adults with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The ASD group was less likely than the typically developing group to perceive an illusory flash induced by multisensory integration during a sound-induced flash illusion (SIFI) task. Although both groups showed comparable TBWs during the multisensory temporal order judgment task, correlation analyses and Bayes factors provided moderate evidence that the reduced SIFI susceptibility was associated with the narrow TBW in the ASD group. These results suggest that the individuals with ASD exhibited atypical multisensory integration and that individual differences in the efficacy of this process might be affected by the temporal processing of multisensory information.
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Noel JP, Failla MD, Quinde-Zlibut JM, Williams ZJ, Gerdes M, Tracy JM, Zoltowski AR, Foss-Feig JH, Nichols H, Armstrong K, Heckers SH, Blake RR, Wallace MT, Park S, Cascio CJ. Visual-Tactile Spatial Multisensory Interaction in Adults With Autism and Schizophrenia. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:578401. [PMID: 33192716 PMCID: PMC7644602 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.578401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SZ) exhibit multisensory processing difficulties and social impairments, with growing evidence that the former contributes to the latter. However, this work has largely reported on separate cohorts, introducing method variance as a barrier to drawing broad conclusions across studies. Further, very few studies have addressed touch, resulting in sparse knowledge about how these two clinical groups may integrate somatic information with other senses. Methods: In this study, we compared adults with ASD (n = 29), SZ (n = 24), and typical developmental histories (TD, n = 37) on two tasks requiring visual-tactile spatial multisensory processing. In the first task (crossmodal congruency), participants judged the location of a tactile stimulus in the presence or absence of simultaneous visual input that was either spatially congruent or incongruent, with poorer performance for incongruence an index of spatial multisensory interaction. In the second task, participants reacted to touch in the presence or absence of dynamic visual stimuli that appeared to approach or recede from the body. Within a certain radius around the body, defined as peripersonal space (PPS), an approaching visual or auditory stimulus reliably speeds reaction times (RT) to touch; outside of this radius, in extrapersonal space (EPS), there is no multisensory effect. PPS can be defined both by its size (radius) and slope (sharpness of the PPS-EPS boundary). Clinical measures were administered to explore relations with visual-tactile processing. Results: Neither clinical group differed from controls on the crossmodal congruency task. The ASD group had significantly smaller and more sharply-defined PPSs compared to the other two groups. Small PPS size was related to social symptom severity across groups, but was largely driven by the TD group, without significant effects in either clinical group. Conclusions: These results suggest that: (1) spatially static visual-tactile facilitation is intact in adults with ASD and SZ, (2) spatially dynamic visual-tactile facilitation impacting perception of the body boundary is affected in ASD but not SZ, and (3) body boundary perception is related to social-emotional function, but not in a way that maps on to clinical status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Paul Noel
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Michelle D. Failla
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | | | - Zachary J. Williams
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Madison Gerdes
- School of Criminology and Justice Policty, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Alisa R. Zoltowski
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Jennifer H. Foss-Feig
- Department of Psychiatry and Seaver Center for Autism Research, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, United States
| | - Heathman Nichols
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Kristan Armstrong
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Stephan H. Heckers
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Randolph R. Blake
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Mark T. Wallace
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Sohee Park
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Carissa J. Cascio
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Nashville, TN, United States
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Wada M, Ikeda H, Kumagaya S. Atypical Effects of Visual Interference on Tactile Temporal Order Judgment in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Multisens Res 2020; 34:129-151. [PMID: 33706272 DOI: 10.1163/22134808-bja10033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 07/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Visual distractors interfere with tactile temporal order judgment (TOJ) at moderately short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) in typically developing participants. Presentation of a rubber hand in a forward direction to the participant's hand enhances this effect, while that in an inverted direction weakens the effect. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have atypical multisensory processing; however, effects of interferences on atypical multisensory processing in ASD remain unclear. In this study, we examined the effects of visual interference on tactile TOJ in individuals with ASD. Two successive tactile stimuli were delivered to the index and ring fingers of a participant's right hand in an opaque box. A rubber hand was placed on the box in a forward or inverted direction. Concurrently, visual stimuli provided by light-emitting diodes on the fingers of the rubber hand were delivered in a congruent or incongruent order. Participants were required to judge the temporal order of the tactile stimuli regardless of visual distractors. In the absence of a visual stimulus, participants with ASD tended to judge the simultaneous stimuli as the ring finger being stimulated first during tactile TOJ compared with typically developing (TD) controls, and congruent visual stimuli eliminated the bias. When incongruent visual stimuli were delivered, judgment was notably reversed in participants with ASD, regardless of the direction of the rubber hand. The findings demonstrate that there are considerable effects of visual interferences on tactile TOJ in individuals with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makoto Wada
- 1Developmental Disorders Section, Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan.,2Faculty of Informatics, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 432-8011, Japan
| | - Hanako Ikeda
- 1Developmental Disorders Section, Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan
| | - Shinichiro Kumagaya
- 3Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan
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Abstract
Although impairment in sensory integration is suggested in the autism spectrum (AS), empirical evidences remain equivocal. We assessed the integration of low-level visual and tactile information within and across modalities in AS and typically developing (TD) individuals. TD individuals demonstrated increased redundancy gain for cross-modal relative to double tactile or visual stimulation, while AS individuals showed similar redundancy gain between cross-modal and double tactile conditions. We further observed that violation of the race model inequality for cross-modal conditions was observed over a wider proportion of the reaction times distribution in TD than AS individuals. Importantly, the reduced cross-modal integration in AS individuals was not related to atypical attentional shift between modalities. We conclude that AS individuals displays selective decrease of cross-modal integration of low-level information.
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Casassus M, Poliakoff E, Gowen E, Poole D, Jones LA. Time perception and autistic spectrum condition: A systematic review. Autism Res 2019; 12:1440-1462. [PMID: 31336032 PMCID: PMC6852160 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2017] [Accepted: 05/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Problems with timing and time perception have been suggested as key characteristics of autism spectrum condition (ASC). Studies and personal accounts from clinicians, parents, caregivers, and self‐reports from autistic people themselves often refer to problems with time. Although a number of empirical studies have examined aspects relating to time in autistic individuals, there remains no clear consensus on whether or how timing mechanisms may be affected in autism. A key reason for this lack of clarity is the wide range of timing processes that exist and subsequently the wide range of methodologies, research paradigms, and samples that time‐based studies have used with autism populations. In order to summarize and organize the available literature on this issue, a systematic review was conducted. Five electronic databases were consulted. From an initial 597 records (after duplicates were removed), 45 papers were selected and reviewed. The studies are reviewed within different sections based on the different types of timing ability that have been explored in the neurotypical (NT) population: time sensitivity, interval timing, and higher‐order time perception. Within each section cognitive models, methodologies, possible clinical implications, and research results are discussed. The results show different consistency across studies between the three types of timing ability. The highest consistency of results showing atypical time perception abilities is found in high‐level time perception studies. It remains unclear if autism is characterized by a fundamental time perception impairment. Suggestions for future research are discussed. Autism Res 2019, 12: 1440–1462. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay Summary This systematic review examines the different types of timing and time perception behavior that have been investigated in autism. Overall, there are a number of studies that show differences between autistic and non‐autistic individuals, but some studies do not find such differences. Group differences are more consistent across studies using complex tasks rather than simpler more fundamental timing tasks. We suggest that experiments across a range of timing tasks would be fruitful to address gaps in our knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Casassus
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Ellen Poliakoff
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Emma Gowen
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel Poole
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Luke Anthony Jones
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
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Hidaka S, Suzuishi Y, Ide M, Wada M. Effects of spatial consistency and individual difference on touch-induced visual suppression effect. Sci Rep 2018; 8:17018. [PMID: 30451910 PMCID: PMC6242815 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-35302-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2018] [Accepted: 10/31/2018] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Crossmodal studies have reported not only facilitatory but also inhibitory perceptual interactions. For instance, tactile stimulation to the index finger of a hand leads to the degradation of visual discrimination performance (touch-induced visual suppression, TIVS). It has been suggested that the magnitude of TIVS depends on the spatial congruency of visuo-tactile stimuli and on individual differences in task performance. We performed a detailed investigation of the effects of spatial consistency and individual differences on the occurrence of TIVS. The visual target and tactile stimulus were presented at co-localized, ipsilateral but not co-localized, or contralateral positions. The degree of autistic traits has been reported to be well variable among the general population and to reflect differences in sensory processing. Therefore, we assessed the magnitude of autistic traits using the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) as an index of individual differences. TIVS occurred particularly at the ipsilateral but not co-localized position. In contrast, the magnitude of the TIVS was positively correlated with the AQ score when the stimuli were presented at the co-localized position. These findings suggest that the occurrence of TIVS can be modulated both by the spatial relationship between the visual and tactile stimuli and by individual differences in autistic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Souta Hidaka
- Department of Psychology, Rikkyo University, 1-2-26, Kitano, Niiza-shi, Saitama, 352-8558, Japan.
| | - Yosuke Suzuishi
- Department of Psychology, Rikkyo University, 1-2-26, Kitano, Niiza-shi, Saitama, 352-8558, Japan
| | - Masakazu Ide
- Developmental Disorders Section, Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 4-1, Namiki, Tokorozawa-shi, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan
| | - Makoto Wada
- Developmental Disorders Section, Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 4-1, Namiki, Tokorozawa-shi, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan.
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Couth S, Gowen E, Poliakoff E. Using Race Model Violation to Explore Multisensory Responses in Older Adults: Enhanced Multisensory Integration or Slower Unisensory Processing? Multisens Res 2018; 31:151-174. [DOI: 10.1163/22134808-00002588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2017] [Accepted: 06/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Older adults exhibit greater multisensory reaction time (RT) facilitation than young adults. Since older adults exhibit greater violation of the race model (i.e., cumulative distribution functions for multisensory RTs are greater than that of the summed unisensory RTs), this has been attributed to enhanced multisensory integration. Here we explored whether (a) individual differences in RT distributions within each age group might drive this effect, and (b) the race model is more likely to be violated if unisensory RTs are slower. Young () and older adults () made speeded responses to visual, auditory or tactile stimuli, or any combination of these (bi-/tri-modal). The test of the race model suggested greater audiovisual integration for older adults, but only when accounting for individual differences in RT distributions. Moreover, correlations in both age groups showed that slower unisensory RTs were associated with a greater degree of race model violation. Therefore, greater race model violation may be due to greater ‘room for improvement’ from unisensory responses in older adults compared to young adults, and thus could falsely give the impression of enhanced multisensory integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Couth
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Emma Gowen
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Ellen Poliakoff
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
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Costantini M, Migliorati D, Donno B, Sirota M, Ferri F. Expected but omitted stimuli affect crossmodal interaction. Cognition 2017; 171:52-64. [PMID: 29107888 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.10.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2016] [Revised: 10/19/2017] [Accepted: 10/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
One of the most important ability of our brain is to integrate input from different sensory modalities to create a coherent representation of the environment. Does expectation affect such multisensory integration? In this paper, we tackled this issue by taking advantage from the crossmodal congruency effect (CCE). Participants made elevation judgments to visual target while ignoring tactile distractors. We manipulated the expectation of the tactile distractor by pairing the tactile stimulus to the index finger with a high-frequency tone and the tactile stimulus to the thumb with a low-frequency tone in 80% of the trials. In the remaining trials we delivered the tone and the visual target, but the tactile distractor was omitted (Study 1). Results fully replicated the basic crossmodal congruency effect. Strikingly, the CCE was observed, though at a lesser degree, also when the tactile distractor was not presented but merely expected. The contingencies between tones and tactile distractors were reversed in a follow-up study (Study 2), and the effect was further tested in two conceptual replications using different combinations of stimuli (Studies 5 and 6). Two control studies ruled out alternative explanations of the observed effect that would not involve a role for tactile distractors (Studies 3, 4). Two additional control studies unequivocally proved the dependency of the CCE on the spatial and temporal expectation of the distractors (Study 7, 8). An internal small-scale meta-analysis showed that the crossmodal congruency effect with predicted distractors is a robust medium size effect. Our findings reveal that multisensory integration, one of the most basic and ubiquitous mechanisms to encode external events, benefits from expectation of sensory input.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcello Costantini
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK; Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, Foundation University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy.
| | - Daniele Migliorati
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, Foundation University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
| | - Brunella Donno
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, Foundation University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
| | - Miroslav Sirota
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Francesca Ferri
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK.
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Brief Report: Which Came First? Exploring Crossmodal Temporal Order Judgements and Their Relationship with Sensory Reactivity in Autism and Neurotypicals. J Autism Dev Disord 2017; 47:215-223. [PMID: 27704294 PMCID: PMC5222899 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2925-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies have indicated that visual-auditory temporal acuity is reduced in children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) in comparison to neurotypicals. In the present study we investigated temporal acuity for all possible bimodal pairings of visual, tactile and auditory information in adults with ASC (n = 18) and a matched control group (n = 18). No group differences in temporal acuity for crossmodal stimuli were observed, suggesting that this may be typical in adults with ASC. However, visual-tactile temporal acuity and bias towards vision when presented with visual-auditory information were both predictors of self-reported sensory reactivity. This suggests that reduced multisensory temporal acuity and/or attention towards vision may contribute to atypical sensory reactivity.
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Abstract
High hypnotizability is associated with left-sided cerebral asymmetry, which could influence measurement of the Peripersonal Space (PPS). Right-handed participants with high (highs, n = 20), medium (mediums, n = 9), and low hypnotizability scores (lows, n = 20) performed the line bisection test on a computer screen automatically displaced at distances of 30, 60, and 90 cm from the subjects' eyes. Highs' results showed rightward bias of the bisection (Relative Error, RE) for all presentation distances. In contrast, in lows RE was displaced leftward at 30 cm and exhibited a progressive rightward shift at 60 and 90 cm, as occurs in the general population. Mediums' RE values were intermediate between highs' and lows' values. Bisection Times (BT) were significantly longer in highs/mediums than in lows. Findings indicate that the highs' bisection identifies PPS as if it was extrapersonal, but further studies should assess its functional characteristics. The highs/mediums longer BT suggest less efficient sensorimotor performance.
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Poole D, Poliakoff E, Gowen E, Couth S, Champion R, Warren P. Similarities in Autistic and Neurotypical Visual–Haptic Perception When Making Judgements About Conflicting Sensory Stimuli. Multisens Res 2017; 30:509-536. [DOI: 10.1163/22134808-00002551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2016] [Accepted: 02/07/2017] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
A number of studies have shown that multisensory performance is well predicted by a statistically optimal maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) model. Under this model unisensory estimates are combined additively and weighted according to relative reliability. Recent theories have proposed that atypical sensation and perception commonly reported in autism spectrum condition (ASC) may result from differences in the use of reliability information. Furthermore, experimental studies have indicated that multisensory processing is less effective in those with the condition in comparison to neurotypical (NT) controls. In the present study, adults with ASC () and a matched NT group () completed a visual–haptic size judgement task (cf. Gori et al., 2008) in which participants compared the height of wooden blocks using either vision or haptics, and in a dual modality condition in which visual–haptic stimuli were presented in size conflict. Participants with ASC tended to produce more reliable estimates than the NT group. However, dual modality performance was not well predicted by the MLE model for either group. Performance was subsequently compared to alternative models in which the participant either switched between modalities trial to trial (rather than integrating) and a model of non-optimal integration. Performance of both groups was statistically comparable to the cue-switching model. These findings suggest that adults with ASC adopted a similar strategy to NTs when processing conflicting visual–haptic information. Findings are discussed in relation to multisensory perception in ASC and methodological considerations associated with multisensory conflict paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Poole
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M139PL, UK
| | - Ellen Poliakoff
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M139PL, UK
| | - Emma Gowen
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M139PL, UK
| | - Samuel Couth
- Division of Human Communication, Development and Hearing, University of Manchester, UK
| | - Rebecca A. Champion
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M139PL, UK
| | - Paul A. Warren
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M139PL, UK
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Abstract
Autism is characterised by a range of perceptual and sensorimotor deficits, which might be related to abnormalities in how autistic individuals use prior knowledge. We investigated this proposition in a large non-clinical population in the context of the size-weight illusion, where individual’s expectations about object weight influence their perceptions of heaviness and fingertip forces. Although there was no relationship between autistic traits and the magnitude of the illusion, we observed an inverse relationship between AQ scores and how expectations influenced initial fingertip force application. These findings provide a novel dissociation between how perceptual and sensorimotor processes are related to autistic traits, and suggest that, autistic traits might explain some of the variance surrounding how individuals grip and lift objects.
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Azmitia EC, Saccomano ZT, Alzoobaee MF, Boldrini M, Whitaker-Azmitia PM. Persistent Angiogenesis in the Autism Brain: An Immunocytochemical Study of Postmortem Cortex, Brainstem and Cerebellum. J Autism Dev Disord 2016; 46:1307-18. [PMID: 26667147 PMCID: PMC4836621 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-015-2672-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
In the current work, we conducted an immunocytochemical search for markers of ongoing neurogenesis (e.g. nestin) in auditory cortex from postmortem sections of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and age-matched control donors. We found nestin labeling in cells of the vascular system, indicating blood vessels plasticity. Evidence of angiogenesis was seen throughout superior temporal cortex (primary auditory cortex), fusiform cortex (face recognition center), pons/midbrain and cerebellum in postmortem brains from ASD patients but not control brains. We found significant increases in both nestin and CD34, which are markers of angiogenesis localized to pericyte cells and endothelial cells, respectively. This labeling profile is indicative of splitting (intussusceptive), rather than sprouting, angiogenesis indicating the blood vessels are in constant flux rather than continually expanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- E C Azmitia
- Departments of Biology and Psychiatry, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
| | - Z T Saccomano
- Departments of Biology and Psychiatry, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - M F Alzoobaee
- Departments of Biology and Psychiatry, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - M Boldrini
- Division of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - P M Whitaker-Azmitia
- Departments of Psychology Program in Integrative Neuroscience, and Psychiatry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
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