Increases in the autistic trait of attention to detail are associated with decreased multisensory temporal adaptation

Abstract

Recent empirical evidence suggests that autistic individuals perceive the world differently than their typically-developed peers. One theoretical account, the predictive coding hypothesis, posits that autistic individuals show a decreased reliance on previous perceptual experiences, which may relate to autism symptomatology. We tested this through a well-characterized, audiovisual statistical-learning paradigm in which typically-developed participants were first adapted to consistent temporal relationships between audiovisual stimulus pairs (audio-leading, synchronous, visual-leading) and then performed a simultaneity judgement task with audiovisual stimulus pairs varying in temporal offset from auditory-leading to visual-leading. Following exposure to the visual-leading adaptation phase, participants’ perception of synchrony was biased towards visual-leading presentations, reflecting the statistical regularities of their previously experienced environment. Importantly, the strength of adaptation was significantly related to the level of autistic traits that the participant exhibited, measured by the Autism Quotient (AQ). This was specific to the Attention to Detail subscale of the AQ that assesses the perceptual propensity to focus on fine-grain aspects of sensory input at the expense of more integrative perceptions. More severe Attention to Detail was related to weaker adaptation. These results support the predictive coding framework, and suggest that changes in sensory perception commonly reported in autism may contribute to autistic symptomatology.

Audiovisual temporal integration and rapid temporal recalibration in adolescents and adults: Age‐related changes and its correlation with autistic traits

“…The two groups could incorporate recent sensory history to a similar degree to represent current audiovisual speech information. This ability, which involves statistical learning of temporal regularities in the environment, allows for real‐time interactions between incoming sensory inputs and prior sensory representations [Stevenson, Toulmin, et al, ]. However, only adults in our study could recalibrate rapidly for non‐speech stimuli, and no such effect was observed in adolescents.…”

“…Compared with the width of the TBW, relatively few studies have examined temporal adaptation in clinical settings. Two pioneer studies have found that individuals with ASD and high levels of autistic traits (especially the “attention to detail” subtrait) rely more on current sensory inputs are less influenced by prior exposure, and thus show weaker temporal recalibration [Noel, De Niear, Stevenson, Alais, & Wallace, ; Stevenson et al, ]. All the abovementioned research supports the important roles played by audiovisual TBW and temporal recalibration in neurodevelopmental disorders.…”

“…As for temporal adaptation, two previous studies have found that individuals with ASD [Noel et al, ] or elevated levels of “attention to detail” traits [Stevenson, Toulmin, et al, ] recalibrate to a less degree. Both authors explained their results under a framework of “attenuated Bayesian priors, impaired statistical learning and predictive coding in ASD,” where autism is thought to be characterized by overweighing incoming sensory information and attenuated internal representations based on the past experience.…”

Atypical audiovisual temporal function in autism and schizophrenia: similar phenotype, different cause

“…An interesting area of investigation the current results apply to is that of perceptual learning within psychopathology and the potential clinical utility of perceptual learning as a tool in remediation. In fact, multisensory temporal function has been shown to be highly plastic and work has shown that multisensory temporal acuity can be improved via perceptual training (Powers et al ., , ; Stevenson et al ., , ; Schlesinger et al ., ; De Niear et al ., ). Clinically, this approach may hold promise in strengthening sensory and perceptual representations, which may cascade into higher‐order benefits, such as enhanced speech comprehension.…”

“…In concert with the adaptive value ascribed to possessing extended windows of time over which sensory information is bound, findings suggest that the TBW is highly plastic (Powers et al ., ; Stevenson et al ., , ; Schlesinger et al ., ; De Niear et al ., ), dependent upon stimulus structure and complexity (Stevenson et al ., ), and perhaps most importantly, TBWs are anomalous in psychopathology. Indeed, while the general characterization of multisensory processes—and their temporal profile—in psychopathological conditions such as ASD and SZ populations has yield conflicting results, in the case of SZ for instance, stronger (Stone et al ., ), similar (Wynn et al ., ; Zvyagintsev et al ., ), and weaker (Williams et al ., ) multisensory facilitation vs. controls has been reported, the reports regarding multisensory TBWs in psychopathology are largely congruent—inclusively across the distinct pathologies (see Zhou et al ., ; for a recent review and meta‐analysis of multisensory temporal function in ASD and SZ).…”