Neural and behavioral suppression of interfering flankers by children with and without autism spectrum disorder.
Electrophysiological responses, accuracy and reaction time were recorded while 7-11-year-olds with typical development (TYP; N=30) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD; N=19) inhibited conflicting information. Relative to the TYP group, children with ASD had larger decrements in accuracy for incongruent trials and were slower. In terms of neural responses, N2 mean amplitude was greater overall for children with ASD relative to TYP children. N2 neural responses related to a behavioral measure of inhibition and cognitive flexibility for TYP children, whereas it related to suppression of interfering information and maintenance of accurate responding for the children with ASD. Results suggest children with ASD recruit more neural resources and perform worse when inhibiting conflicting information relative to TYP peers.
Boston Children's Hospital, Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1 Autumn Street, Boston, MA, 02215, USA; Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: Susan.Faja@childrens.harvard.edu.
Susan
S
Faja
Boston Children's Hospital, Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1 Autumn Street, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
Tessa
T
Clarkson
University of Washington Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 356560, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1900 99thth Ave, Seattle, WA 98101, USA.
Sara Jane
SJ
Webb
D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011930:Reaction Time
Autism; Event related potential; Executive control; Executive function; Inhibition; N2