Is Visual Prediction Impaired in Adolescents with Autism spectrum Disorder? Event-Related Potentials in a Cued Visual...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with atypical visual processing, evidenced by altered early visual event-related potentials (ERPs) like P1 and P2.
• This visual processing difference is hypothesized to stem from a failure in Bayesian inference, specifically hypo-activation of top-down predictive mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the hypothesis of impaired Bayesian inference in ASD by examining visual negativity (vN), an ERP component reflecting visual preparation and predictive activity.
• To compare ERPs between adolescents with ASD and typically developing (TD) controls in a cued visual GO/NOGO task.

Main Methods:

• Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to record ERPs in 63 adolescents with ASD (IQ > 70, no ADHD) and 60 age- and sex-matched TD controls.
• Participants completed a cued visual GO/NOGO task to assess behavioral performance and ERP components related to visual processing and cognitive control.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found between ASD and TD groups in behavioral measures (omissions, commissions, reaction time, reaction time variability) or cognitive control-related ERPs (contingent negative variation, P3 GO, P3 NOGO, N2 NOGO).
• Significant group differences emerged in visually based ERPs, with the visual negativity (vN) component showing the largest effect size (d = 0.74) between groups.
• P1 and P2 ERP components also differed between the ASD and TD groups.

Conclusions:

• The findings support the hypothesis that Bayesian hypo-prediction contributes to the unique perceptual experiences observed in individuals with ASD.
• This hypo-prediction may result in a reduced influence of contextual cues, prior experiences, and expectations on perception in ASD.
• The visual negativity (vN) ERP component serves as a sensitive neural marker for altered predictive processing in autism spectrum disorder.