title: Context sensitivity in action decreases along the autism spectrum: a predictive processing perspective.
abstract: Recent predictive processing accounts of perception and action point towards a key challenge for the nervous system in dynamically optimizing the balance between incoming sensory information and existing expectations regarding the state of the environment. Here, we report differences in the influence of the preceding sensory context on motor function, varying with respect to both clinical and subclinical features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Reach-to-grasp movements were recorded subsequent to an inactive period in which illusory ownership of a prosthetic limb was induced. We analysed the sub-components of reach trajectories derived using a minimum-jerk fitting procedure. Non-clinical adults low in autistic features showed disrupted movement execution following the illusion compared to a control condition. By contrast, individuals higher in autistic features (both those with ASD and non-clinical individuals high in autistic traits) showed reduced sensitivity to the presence of the illusion in their reaching movements while still exhibiting the typical perceptual effects of the illusion. Clinical individuals were distinct from non-clinical individuals scoring high in autistic features, however, in the early stages of movement. These results suggest that the influence of high-level representations of the environment differs between individuals, contributing to clinical and subclinical differences in motor performance that manifest in a contextual manner. As high-level representations of context help to explain fluctuations in sensory input over relatively longer time scales, more circumscribed sensitivity to prior or contextual information in autistic sensory processing could contribute more generally to reduced social comprehension, sensory impairments and a stronger desire for predictability and routine.
authors: Cognition and Philosophy Lab, Department of Philosophy, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia colin.palmer@monash.edu.
authors: Colin J
authors: CJ
authors: Palmer
authors: Cognition and Philosophy Lab, Department of Philosophy, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
authors: Bryan
authors: B
authors: Paton
authors: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia.
authors: Melissa
authors: M
authors: Kirkovski
authors: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia.
authors: Peter G
authors: PG
authors: Enticott
authors: Cognition and Philosophy Lab, Department of Philosophy, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
authors: Jakob
authors: J
authors: Hohwy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D020886:Somatosensory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: autism; autistic traits; movement; predictive coding; rubber-hand illusion
references: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2003 May;60(5):524-30
references: 12742874
references: Autism. 2011 May;15(3):263-83
references: 21478224
references: PLoS One. 2010;5(2):e9416
references: 20195378
references: J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2006 Feb;47(2):167-75
references: 16423148
references: Front Neuroinform. 2014 Feb 14;8:9
references: 24592235
references: Neuron. 2012 Sep 20;75(6):981-91
references: 22998867
references: Psychol Rev. 2014 Oct;121(4):649-75
references: 25347312
references: Autism Res. 2010 Jun;3(3):113-9
references: 20575110
references: Exp Neurol. 1997 Jul;146(1):159-70
references: 9225749
references: Cogn Process. 2013 Nov;14(4):411-27
references: 23744445
references: Neuropsychologia. 2009 Jan;47(1):204-11
references: 18762203
references: J Autism Dev Disord. 2013 Feb;43(2):323-44
references: 22723127
references: J Autism Dev Disord. 2015 May;45(5):1291-301
references: 25337855
references: Trends Neurosci. 2013 Dec;36(12):706-16
references: 24157198
references: Neuropsychologia. 2011 Apr;49(5):1287-93
references: 21320514
references: Nature. 1998 Feb 19;391(6669):756
references: 9486643
references: Front Psychol. 2013 Jan 28;4:19
references: 23372559
references: J Autism Dev Disord. 2011 Oct;41(10):1352-61
references: 21165765
references: Front Hum Neurosci. 2010 Dec 02;4:215
references: 21160551
references: Neuropsychologia. 2013 Aug;51(10):1942-51
references: 23811293
references: J Autism Dev Disord. 2006 Jan;36(1):27-43
references: 16453071
references: Autism. 2015 Apr;19(3):301-7
references: 24523412
references: Vision Res. 2009 Nov;49(22):2705-39
references: 19682485
references: Brain. 2004 Aug;127(Pt 8):1811-21
references: 15215213
references: Trends Cogn Sci. 2012 Oct;16(10):504-10
references: 22959875
references: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2005 Apr 29;360(1456):815-36
references: 15937014
references: J Autism Dev Disord. 2010 Oct;40(10):1227-40
references: 20195737
references: Dev Med Child Neurol. 2009 Oct;51(10):787-91
references: 19416338
references: Lancet. 2014 Mar 8;383(9920):896-910
references: 24074734
references: J Autism Dev Disord. 2012 Sep;42(9):1870-83
references: 22189963
references: Brain Struct Funct. 2013 May;218(3):611-43
references: 23129312
references: Exp Brain Res. 2003 Jul;151(2):249-61
references: 12783145
references: Front Hum Neurosci. 2014 May 14;8:302
references: 24860482
references: J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2005 Feb;31(1):80-91
references: 15709864
references: J Autism Dev Disord. 2001 Feb;31(1):5-17
references: 11439754
references: Dev Med Child Neurol. 2006 Apr;48(4):272-7
references: 16542514
references: J Autism Dev Disord. 2006 Jan;36(1):5-25
references: 16450045
references: Trends Cogn Sci. 2009 Jul;13(7):293-301
references: 19559644
references: Trends Cogn Sci. 2012 Dec;16(12):573-4; author reply 574-5
references: 23123383
references: Front Psychol. 2013 Apr 23;4:209
references: 23630514
references: J Cogn Neurosci. 2009 Jul;21(7):1311-20
references: 18752397