Sensory Prediction Errors Are Less Modulated by Global Context in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Goris, Judith; Braem, Senne; Nijhof, Annabel D.; Rigoni, Davide; Deschrijver, Eliane; Cruys, Sander Van de; Wiersema, Jan R.; Braß, Marcel

doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.02.003

Cited by 54 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Taken together, these results extend previous findings of reduced context-sensitivity of prediction errors in autism (Goris et al, 2018;Lawson et al, 2017;Palmer et al, 2015;Skewes et al, 2014) to not only support the hypothesis of a context-insensitive but also generally higher weighting of sensory prediction errors in autism (Lawson et al, 2014;Van de Cruys et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The diagnoses were verified with the Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule 2 (ADOS-2) (Lord et al, 2000) Module 4 by a trained researcher using the revised scoring algorithm (Hus & Lord, 2014). In line with earlier autism studies (Deschrijver et al, 2016(Deschrijver et al, , 2017Goris et al, 2018;Magnée et al, 2008), participants with autism were screened to have an ADOS-2 total score of 1 point below the cutoff or higher. Importantly, the results did not change in a statistically significant way when we used the ADOS-2 total score cutoff as the exclusion criterion, which resulted in the exclusion of only one participant.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the MMN for the 60ms tone in the slow blocks was created by subtracting the waveform for the 60ms tone when it was a standard in the slow blocks from the waveform for the 60ms when it was a deviant in the slow blocks (Jacobsen & Schröger, 2003). For statistical analyses, MMN amplitudes were then defined as the mean amplitude (± 20ms) surrounding the peak negativity between 100 and 220ms after stimulus onset in the difference waveforms, for each participant, electrode, and condition separately (similar to Goris et al, 2018). Based on earlier studies and the topography across groups, we included data of 3 frontocentral electrodes (F3, Fz and F4) (Baldeweg & Hirsch, 2015;Shaikh et al, 2012).…”

Section: Eeg Recordings and Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Faster model updating in autism during early sensory processing

Goris

Braem

Herck

et al. 2020

Preprint

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BackgroundRecent theories of autism propose that a core deficit in autism would be a less context-sensitive weighting of prediction errors. There is also first support for this hypothesis on an early sensory level. However, an open question is whether this decreased context-sensitivity is caused by faster updating of one’s model of the world (i.e. higher weighting of new information), proposed by predictive coding theories, or slower model updating. Here, we differentiated between these two hypotheses by investigating how first impressions shape the mismatch negativity (MMN), reflecting early sensory prediction error processing.MethodsAn autism and matched control group (both n=27) were compared on the multi-timescale MMN paradigm, in which tones were presented that were either standard (frequently occurring) or deviant (rare), and these roles reversed every block. A well-replicated observation is that the initial model (i.e. the standard and deviant sound in the first block) influences MMN amplitudes in later blocks. If autism is characterized by faster model updating, we hypothesized that their MMN amplitudes would be less influenced by the initial context.ResultsWe found that MMN responses in the autism group did not differ between the initial deviant and initial standard sounds as they did in the control group.ConclusionsThese results show that individuals with autism are less influenced by initial contexts, confirming that autism is characterized by faster updating of sensory models, as proposed by predictive coding accounts of autism.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Eeg Recordings and Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Faster model updating in autism during early sensory processing

Goris

Braem

Herck

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…However, to date, the evidence for this hypothesis has been mixed. On the one hand, the results of some of the studies support the hypo‐priors account, for example, Goris et al [] found that individuals with ASD are less flexible in modulating their predictions, while Molesworth et al [] reported decreased effect of prior experience in the form of sequence effects on categorization. Similarly, Turi et al [] found reduced adaptation to numbers, which the authors explain in terms of decreased use of past experience on current perceptual decisions.…”

Section: Decreased Use Of Prior Knowledge In Perception In Autismmentioning

confidence: 94%

The world as we know it and the world as it is: Eye‐movement patterns reveal decreased use of prior knowledge in individuals with autism

Król

2019

Autism Research

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We used a perceptual closure task with Mooney images as stimuli to record eye-movement patterns in response to the same degraded image before and after perceptual learning in 21 adolescents and young adults with ASD and 23 sex-, age-, and IQ-matched typically developing individuals. In the control group, we observed changes in the eye-movement patterns between the first and the last presentation of the degraded stimulus, reflecting top-down optimization of eyemovement patterns, that is, a decrease in the number of fixations and interfixation distance, coupled with an increase in the duration of fixations. This effect was attenuated in individuals with autism, pointing to a decreased rate of perceptual learning. We also found that participants with autism displayed decreased scanpath stability, that is, a lower recurrence of fixation locations between different presentations of the same image, which may suggests a lower rate of perceptual learning or decreased predictability in the eye-movement patterns. These results provide evidence for decreased use of prior knowledge in perceptual decisions in autism.Lay Summary: We showed autistic and typically developing participants some degraded images that were difficult to recognize for the first time, but once you knew what they represent, you could see it easily. We found that the eyemovement patterns of persons with autism did not change as much after learning what the pictures represented as in the case of typically developing participants. This means that previous experiences and knowledge change the way people with autism perceive things to a smaller extent.

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“…While different theories put forward different mechanisms for this alteration (weaker predictions, Pellicano & Burr, 2012; attenuated prior precision, Lawson et al, 2014; overall high precision of sensory prediction errors, Van de Cruys et al, 2014), they converge on the idea that individuals with ASD have difficulties with distinguishing between more important and less important surprise signals. A recent study found support for this hypothesis, by showing that early sensory prediction error signals in the brain are less modulated by context in an ASD group, compared to a control group (Goris et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Autistic traits are related to worse performance in a volatile reward learning task despite adaptive learning rates

Goris

Silvetti

Verguts

et al. 2020

Autism

Self Cite

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Recent theories propose that autism is characterized by an impairment in determining when to learn and when not. We investigated this by estimating learning rate in environments varying in volatility and uncertainty. Specifically, we correlated autistic traits (in 163 neurotypical participants) with modelled learning behaviour during probabilistic reward learning under the following three conditions: a Stationary Low Noise condition with stable reward contingencies, a Volatile condition with changing reward contingencies and a Stationary High Noise condition where reward probabilities for all options were 60%, resulting in an uncertain, noisy environment. Consistent with earlier findings, we found less optimal decision-making in the Volatile condition for participants with more autistic traits. However, we observed no correlations between underlying adjustments in learning rates and autistic traits, suggesting no impairment in updating learning rates in response to volatile versus noisy environments. Exploratory analyses indicated that impaired performance in the Volatile condition in participants with more autistic traits, was specific to trials with reward contingencies opposite to those initially learned, suggesting a primacy bias. We conclude that performance in volatile environments is lower in participants with more autistic traits, but this cannot be unambiguously attributed to difficulties with adjusting learning rates. Lay abstract Recent theories propose that autism is characterized by an impairment in determining when to learn and when not. Here, we investigated this hypothesis by estimating learning rates (i.e. the speed with which one learns) in three different environments that differed in rule stability and uncertainty. We found that neurotypical participants with more autistic traits performed worse in a volatile environment (with unstable rules), as they chose less often for the most rewarding option. Exploratory analyses indicated that performance was specifically worse when reward rules were opposite to those initially learned for participants with more autistic traits. However, there were no differences in the adjustment of learning rates between participants with more versus less autistic traits. Together, these results suggest that performance in volatile environments is lower in participants with more autistic traits, but that this performance difference cannot be unambiguously explained by an impairment in adjusting learning rates.

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Sensory Prediction Errors Are Less Modulated by Global Context in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Cited by 54 publications

References 53 publications

Faster model updating in autism during early sensory processing

Faster model updating in autism during early sensory processing

The world as we know it and the world as it is: Eye‐movement patterns reveal decreased use of prior knowledge in individuals with autism

Autistic traits are related to worse performance in a volatile reward learning task despite adaptive learning rates

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