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Neuropsychological Mechanisms of Visual Motion Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Bojanek, Erin K
Bojanek, Erin K
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Abstract
Background: Sensory issues are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and impact multiple developmental abilities, but treatments remain insufficient due, at least in part, to limited understanding of physiological and brain mechanisms of core symptoms. The goal of this study was to develop a more mechanistic understanding of sensory issues as they relate to motor abilities in ASD. Methods: Fifty-nine individuals with ASD (10-33 years) and 44 typically developing (TD) age-matched controls completed laboratory studies of visuomotor behavior and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of visual motion perception. During the laboratory study, participants completed a visuomotor task in which they pressed force transducers with their index finger and thumb while receiving visual feedback across different visual gain levels. The gain level was manipulated by changing the visual angle of feedback, or the vertical distance that the force bar moved in response to changes in force output. We examined the variability (coefficient of variation) and complexity (approximate entropy) of the force output. During the fMRI task, we examined brain activation and connectivity in key visual motion regions (V1, V3, and V5) during visual motion processing in contrast to rest. Results: We found that individuals with ASD showed decreased force complexity relative to TD controls during lower visual gain conditions. There were no differences in brain activation or connectivity in visual motion networks. Individuals with ASD showed increased caudate activation compared to TD controls during visual motion processing. Decreased force complexity was associated with more severe social communication difficulties in ASD. We also found that greater changes in force complexity across gain conditions were associated with more severe sensory sensitivity in ASD. Conclusions: Our findings of reduced force complexity during lower gain conditions demonstrate that individuals with ASD show an overreliance on visual feedback to carry out precision motor behaviors. Visual motion processing networks functioned similarly in ASD and TD controls, though increased caudate activation in ASD suggests a greater reliance on subcortical networks to inhibit planned motor behaviors during passive viewing of motion. These findings indicate that differences in visually guided motor behaviors reflect dysfunctions of visuomotor brain networks rather than alterations in basic visual processing networks. We also found associations between visuomotor behaviors and core sensory and clinical symptoms implicating shared neural mechanisms underlying visual motor integration impairments and core ASD symptoms.
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Date
2022-08-31
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University of Kansas
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Keywords
Clinical psychology, Neurosciences, Cognitive psychology, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Neuroimaging, Sensory Processing, Visual Motion, Visuomotor Behavior