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Published on: December 7, 2018
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Autistic and nonautistic adolescents do not differ in adaptation to gaze direction
Emma K Ward1,2, Jan K Buitelaar1,3, Sabine Hunnius1
1Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Summary
This study found no difference in how autistic adolescents and their peers process prediction errors, challenging theories that autism involves altered expectation biases. Findings suggest similar precision-weighting mechanisms in both groups.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Predictive processing theories suggest autism involves reduced expectation bias due to altered precision-weighting of prediction errors.
- This implies domain-general differences in information processing between autistic and nonautistic individuals.
- Such differences should manifest in both behavioral and neural responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if autistic adolescents exhibit smaller adaptation after-effects compared to nonautistic peers, indicating increased precision-weighting of prediction errors.
- To examine behavioral and electroencephalography (EEG) responses during a gaze-direction adaptation task.
- To test the domain-general predictive processing account of autism.
Main Methods:
- Utilized EEG, behavioral responses, and eye-tracking during a gaze-direction adaptation paradigm.
- Employed multilevel modeling to analyze behavioral data.
- Applied cluster-based permutation testing on event-related potential (ERP) responses.
Main Results:
- Behavioral adaptation was observed in both autistic and nonautistic adolescents.
- Bayesian statistics strongly supported the absence of a group difference in behavioral adaptation.
- No significant group difference in adaptation after-effects was found in EEG responses, though habituation occurred.
Conclusions:
- The findings challenge the predictive processing account of autism by showing no evidence for altered precision-weighting of prediction errors.
- Results suggest that differences in expectation processing may not be a fundamental, domain-general characteristic of autism.
- Further research is needed to understand the nuances of predictive processing in autism spectrum disorder.
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