Atypical cognitive training-induced learning and brain plasticity and their relation to insistence on sameness in children with autism

Abstract

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often display atypical learning styles, however little is known regarding learning-related brain plasticity and its relation to clinical phenotypic features. Here, we investigate cognitive learning and neural plasticity using functional brain imaging and a novel numerical problem-solving training protocol. Children with ASD showed comparable learning relative to typically developing children but were less likely to shift from rule-based to memory-based strategy. Critically, while learning gains in typically developing children were associated with greater plasticity of neural representations in the medial temporal lobe and intraparietal sulcus, learning in children with ASD was associated with more stable neural representations. Crucially, the relation between learning and plasticity of neural representations was moderated by insistence on sameness, a core phenotypic feature of ASD. Our study uncovers atypical cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying learning in children with ASD, and informs pedagogical strategies for nurturing cognitive abilities in childhood autism.

Integrated number sense tutoring remediates aberrant neural representations in children with mathematical disabilities

“…A key aspect of our analytic approach was the focus on NRS analysis to characterize how neural connections between nonsymbolic and symbolic number formats evolve with learning. This multivariate neural pattern analysis allowed us to examine if INS tutoring could normalize neural representations of numbers in children with MD, offering a more nuanced understanding than traditional univariate analyses (Chen et al, 2021; Liu et al, 2023; Sheng et al, 2023). By uncovering the underlying neural mechanisms of the remediation of weak number sense in children with MD, our study provides essential insights into effective interventions that address the unique learning needs of these children.…”

“…Third, NRS analysis can identify subtle yet significant shifts in neural representations at a fine spatial scale (Haxby et al, 2014; Hebart & Baker, 2018; Kriegeskorte & Kievit, 2013; Kriegeskorte et al, 2008a). This approach has the potential to uncover critical information about associations between multivoxel patterns of brain activity associated with stimuli or tasks beyond the capabilities of single-voxel univariate analyses (Ashkenazi et al, 2012; Chang et al, 2019; Chen et al, 2021; Iuculano et al, 2015; Liu et al, 2023; Sheng et al, 2023). Analysis of cross-sectional data by Schwartz and colleagues has demonstrated developmental variations in neural mapping between the two number formats, showing a clear link in with arithmetic skills (Schwartz et al, 2021).…”

Topography and Ensemble Activity in the Auditory Cortex of a Mouse Model of Fragile X Syndrome

“…Cortical circuits are known to undergo representational drift, with neurons changing their response properties to stimuli while keeping overall representation of the stimuli constant to a large degree (Pérez-Ortega et al, 2021;Aschauer et al, 2022;Chambers et al, 2022). ASD is often associated with preservative thinking and repetitive behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 2022) and in children with ASD, learning is associated with more stable rather than plastic neural representation (Liu et al, 2023). Thus, investigating representational drift in FMR1 KO mice is a promising endeavor to uncover the underlying causes on a circuitry level.…”

Contributions of dysfunctional plasticity mechanisms to the development of atypical perceptual processing

“…Altered perceptual processes can disrupt an individual's interactions with their environment, and with others, which may result in altered conceptual representations unique to their own experiences, leading to cascades of idiosyncratic effects (Kiefer et al., 2007; Mercado et al., 2020; Vogelsang et al., 2024). Neuroimaging studies show that children with ASD have atypical plasticity in neural representations during problem‐solving tasks compared with TD children (Liu et al., 2023). How specifically variations in somatosensory reactivity and plasticity contribute to the diverse social and cognitive symptoms associated with NDDs remains uncertain.…”