Electrophysiological Evidence of Atypical Spatial Attention in Those with a High Level of Self-reported Autistic Traits

Abstract

Selective attention is atypical in individuals with autism spectrum conditions. Evidence suggests this is also the case for those with high levels of autistic traits. Here we investigated the neural basis of spatial attention in those with high and low levels of self-reported autistic traits via analysis of ERP deflections associated with covert attention, target selection and distractor suppression (the N2pc, N T and P D ). Larger N2pc and smaller P D amplitude was observed in those with high levels of autistic traits. These data provide neural evidence for differences in spatial attention, specifically, reduced distractor suppression in those with high levels of autistic traits, and may provide insight into the experience of perceptual overload often reported by individuals on the autism spectrum.

Reduced distractor interference in neurotypical adults with high expression of autistic traits irrespective of stimulus type

“…In contrast to the findings, we report here, previous research in ASD and the BAP has also pointed to increased distractor interference or increased sensitivity to salience seen in this population in certain conditions [Leader et al, ]. For instance, in a recent study using EEG to record brain potentials, Dunn, Freeth, and Milne [] identified reduced Pd (which is thought to represent distractor suppression) in individuals with high autistic traits compared to those with low autistic traits. This also fits with other finding suggesting a failure of participants with ASD to suppress a salient distractor [e.g., Russell et al, ] or examples where behavior is dominated by the salient stimulus in ASD [e.g., Leader et al, ].…”

“…Indeed, previous research has shown that when encouraged to use such control strategy—for instance when given full instruction in terms of which part of a face to attend, atypicalities in face processing in ASD can be overcome [Kikuchi et al, ; Kikuchi et al, ]. Similarly, in Dunn et al [] the reported smaller Pd amplitude associated with reduced distractor suppression was evidenced later in the process—after stimuli presentation, which may point to reactive suppression rather than a preparatory one. It is therefore plausible to speculate that increased distractor suppression (as we report here) in the BAP is associated with enhanced preparatory top‐down control.…”

Diametric effects of autism tendencies and psychosis proneness on attention control irrespective of task demands

“…We suggest that the dual mechanisms theory of proactive and reactive cognitive control 39 may provide a framework to understand the contrasting effects of autism and psychosis traits we observed in neurotypical individuals, and by extension, the inconsistencies in the literature on attention atypicalities in ASD and SSD 5 , 6 , 13 , 40 , 41 . In proactive control, individuals bias attention by maintaining goal-relevant information and preventing interference in an anticipatory manner even before the onset of the stimulus.…”

“…In SSD, the effect of salient distractors on target selection has been associated with both interference 2 – 5 , and lack of interference, and even benefit (when attention is guided by bottom-up information) 5 , 6 . Similarly, in ASD, there is evidence for both reduced typical levels of interference 7 – 9 , as well as increased processing cost 10 – 13 in the presence of salient distractors. Thus, the contexts under which ASD and SSD and their expressions in neurotypicals yield beneficial or detrimental effects is currently unclear, not least because it is uncommon for these expressions to be assessed in the same participants.…”

“…This benefit was expected as the perceptually salient item was not itself the target, but provided contextual information that could be used to reorient attention toward the target more rapidly 31 . This task was chosen for two reasons: (1) unlike the morphed face-discrimination task, the influence of a salient non-target item in the display would be to improve performance, and (2) there is evidence showing that under conditions similar to the visual search task, higher levels of autism traits were associated with poorer performance and a reduced signal of distractor suppression 13 . If the diametric model is correct, we hypothesize that higher autism traits would be associated with worse performance in this task, whilst higher psychosis traits would be associated with better performance.…”