Proactive control as a double-edged sword in autism spectrum disorder

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Proactive control is crucial for goal-directed behavior by representing contextual information.
• Previous research suggests potential impairments in proactive control within autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
• The specific links between proactive control and ASD symptoms require further clarification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between proactive control and clinical symptoms in children with ASD.
• To compare proactive control abilities between children with ASD and typically developing children.
• To explore the nuanced role of proactive control in the cognitive profile of ASD.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a child-friendly version of the AX Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT).
• Administered gold-standard clinical assessments to participants.
• Included children diagnosed with ASD (N=34) and typically developing children (TYP; N=45).
• Controlled for Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) in the analysis.

Main Results:

• Proactive control measures were comparable between ASD and TYP groups after controlling for FSIQ.
• Within the ASD group, increased proactive control reliance correlated with fewer attention problems.
• Conversely, greater proactive control use in ASD was linked to increased restricted and repetitive behaviors.
• This suggests a dual role of proactive control in ASD.

Conclusions:

• Proactive control may offer benefits for attention in ASD but at the expense of behavioral flexibility.
• This finding provides a novel characterization of cognitive control in ASD, linking laboratory measures to clinical symptoms.
• Highlights the complex interplay between cognitive processes and behavioral characteristics in autism spectrum disorder.