Binocular rivalry in children on the autism spectrum

Abstract

When different images are presented to the eyes, the brain is faced with ambiguity, causing perceptual bistability: visual perception continuously alternates between the monocular images, a phenomenon called binocular rivalry. Many models of rivalry suggest that its temporal dynamics depend on mutual inhibition among neurons representing competing images. These models predict that rivalry should be different in autism, which has been proposed to present an atypical ratio of excitation and inhibition [the E/I imbalance hypothesis; Rubenstein & Merzenich, 2003]. In line with this prediction, some recent studies have provided evidence for atypical binocular rivalry dynamics in autistic adults. In this study, we examined if these findings generalize to autistic children. We developed a child‐friendly binocular rivalry paradigm, which included two types of stimuli, low‐ and high‐complexity, and compared rivalry dynamics in groups of autistic and age‐ and intellectual ability‐matched typical children. Unexpectedly, the two groups of children presented the same number of perceptual transitions and the same mean phase durations (times perceiving one of the two stimuli). Yet autistic children reported mixed percepts for a shorter proportion of time (a difference which was in the opposite direction to previous adult studies), while elevated autistic symptomatology was associated with shorter mixed perception periods. Rivalry in the two groups was affected similarly by stimulus type, and consistent with previous findings. Our results suggest that rivalry dynamics are differentially affected in adults and developing autistic children and could be accounted for by hierarchical models of binocular rivalry, including both inhibition and top‐down influences. Autism Res 2017. ©2017 The Authors Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Autism Research Autism Res 2017, 10: 1096–1106. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Vision in children with autism spectrum disorder: a critical review

“…In a recent study, Karaminis et al investigated binocular rivalry in ASD. Binocular rivalry occurs when the two eyes are presented with images that are not compatible, and to avoid confusion of this percept, visual perception oscillates between the two images from each eye, and may amalgamate for brief periods of time.…”

“…Inhibition of visual information is required for binocular rivalry to occur, and some studies have reported that cortical inhibition is atypical in ASD, due to altered release and signalling of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters . Therefore Karaminis et al hypothesised that if there were an imbalance in the excitation/inhibition neural mechanisms in ASD, then binocular rivalry would be altered. They investigated this in 16 children with ASD aged 7–14 years and typically developing age‐ and IQ‐matched controls and reported that while there was no difference in the number of transitions of fixation between the ASD and control participants, children with ASD showed shorter durations of mixed percepts.…”

Rivalry Onset in and around the Fovea: The Role of Visual Field Location and Eye Dominance on Perceptual Dominance Bias

“…Because mixed percepts have such a high likelihood in the fovea, an understanding of dominance effects in this area must include an examination of the mixed report as well. Indeed, recent studies have suggested that the mixed percept is itself worthy of investigation, with this phase of rivalry being highlighted as being uniquely altered within clinical populations [27][28][29][30] and correlated with certain personality traits [31]. In the current study, therefore, we will track such percepts and include them in an understanding of onset dominance in rivalry.…”

The effect of stimulus strength on binocular rivalry rate in healthy individuals: Implications for genetic, clinical and individual differences studies

“…Following Pettigrew and Miller's [68] original study on BD, other clinical psychiatric conditions have been examined including schizophrenia and major depression [39,53], autism spectrum conditions [4,26,42,[71][72][73], attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (e.g., [3,6]), and generalized social anxiety disorder [5]. Although some researchers (e.g., [82]) have attempted to use the same testing protocol as that of Pettigrew and Miller [68], so that data may be directly compared between clinical studies, other researchers have employed different test protocols (e.g., shorter viewing durations, different stimulus characteristics, different response options), making comparisons difficult.…”