title: Electrophysiological abnormalities of spatial attention in adults with autism during the gap overlap task.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by attentional disengagement in individuals with autism.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen adults with autism, 17 adults with mental retardation and 14 healthy adults participated in this study. We recorded the pre-saccade positive ERPs during the gap overlap task under which a peripheral stimulus was presented subsequent to a stimulus in the central visual field. Under the overlap condition, the central stimulus remained during the presentation of the peripheral stimulus and therefore participants need to disengage their attention intentionally in order to execute the saccade to the peripheral stimulus due to the preservation of the central stimulus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The autism group elicited significantly higher pre-saccadic positivity during a period of 100-70 ms prior to the saccade onset than the other groups only under the overlap condition. The higher amplitude of pre-saccadic positivity in the overlap condition was significantly correlated with more severe clinical symptoms within the autism group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrate electrophysiological abnormalities of disengagement during visuospatial attention in adults with autism which cannot be attributed to their IQs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We suggest that adults with autism have deficits in attentional disengagement and the physiological substrates underlying deficits in autism and mental retardation are different.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Tokyo, Japan. yukik-tky@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawakubo
authors.forename: Kiyoto
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kasai
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okazaki
authors.forename: Miyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hosokawa-Kakurai
authors.forename: Kei-Ichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuwabara
authors.forename: Michiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishijima
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamasue
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iwanami
authors.forename: Nobumasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Hisao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maekawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*