Investigating how Explicit Contextual Cues Affect Predictive Sensorimotor Control in Autistic Adults

Arthur, Tom; Brosnan, Mark; Harris, David; Buckingham, Gavin; Wilson, Mark R.; Williams, Genevieve; Vine, Sam

doi:10.1007/s10803-022-05718-5

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…We did, however, observe weaker expectations about 'normal' ball bounce profiles in autistic individuals during the more dynamic interceptive task (Expt 2) and weaker priors have been reported in other settings (e.g., Karaminis et al, 2016;Skewes & Gebauer, 2016). These context-dependent results support the generally inconsistent study findings in the field (see Cannon et al, 2021;Palmer et al, 2017 for reviews) and align with our previous observations (Arthur et al, 2019(Arthur et al, , 2020(Arthur et al, , 2022.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…autistic individuals during interceptive motor tasks, their visual sampling behaviours are still strongly driven by prior expectations and are sensitive to explicit cues about likely ball bounciness (Arthur et al, 2022). Hence, there is growing evidence that diminished use of priors is not a satisfactory explanation for the totality of autistic perceptual and motor behaviours.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Testing predictive coding theories of autism spectrum disorder using models of active inference

Arthur¹,

Vine²,

Buckingham³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Several competing neuro-computational theories of autism have emerged from predictive coding models of the brain. These accounts have a common focus on the relationship between prior beliefs and sensory inputs as a mechanism for explaining key features of autism, yet they differ in exactly how they characterise atypicalities in perception and action. We tested these competing predictions using computational modelling of two datasets that allowed us to probe both visual and motor aspects of active inference: manual gripping forces during object lifting and anticipatory eye movements during a naturalistic interception task. We compared estimated belief trajectories between autistic and neurotypical individuals to determine the underlying differences in active inference. We found no evidence of chronic deficits in the use of priors or weighting of sensory information during object lifting. Differences in prior beliefs, rates of belief updating, and the precision weighting of prediction errors were, however, observed for anticipatory eye movements. Notably, we observed autism-related difficulties in flexibly adapting learning rates in response to environmental change (i.e., volatility). These findings suggest that aberrant encoding of precision and context-sensitive adjustments provide a better explanation of autistic perception than generic attenuation of priors or persistently high precision prediction errors.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing predictive coding theories of autism spectrum disorder using models of active inference

Arthur¹,

Vine²,

Buckingham³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…We adapted the virtual reality racquetball task described in Arthur et al ( , 2022. In the original task, a ball is projected from the front wall of a squash court, bounces, and the participant then has to return it towards the front wall.…”

Section: Functionalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In previous work we have used a tennis-like interception task to study how expectations shape interception Harris et al, 2022), as well as how predictive mechanisms underpinning eye movements are disrupted in neurodevelopmental disorders (Arthur et al, , 2022. In this work, participants had to intercept bouncing balls that had varying levels of elasticity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The design and development of a virtual environment to measure eye movement indicators of prediction: Report on pilot testing

Harris¹,

Vine²,

Wilson³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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This report describes the results of the design, development, and pilot testing of a virtual reality interception task. The task was designed to measure anticipatory eye movements as a way to index the evolution of probabilistic beliefs about the environment. We sought to validate the task as a way to measure predictions by manipulating statistics of the environment and determining whether eye movements tracked the changes in probability. During the task, the player was placed in a virtual squash court, where a ball was projected from one of two locations on the front wall. The player simply has to intercept the ball. We created conditions with a 90/10, 70/30, and 50/50 left/right probability split to examine whether the horizontal position of the eye just before the ball was released tracked these probabilities. Results indicated that anticipatory eye position was adjusted in response to these probabilities, but the effect was relatively weak. These results partially validate the task but also indicate that additional challenge or uncertainty may be needed to create a greater demand on correct prediction.

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“…With the recent addition of eye trackers in the IVR headsets, unique research is being pursued. There is rising interest and research being undertaken to explore IVR as an interventional tool in children and adults with ASD [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gaze Fixation and Visual Searching Behaviors during an Immersive Virtual Reality Social Skills Training Experience for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study

2022

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Children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) display difficulties recognizing and interacting with behavioral expressions of emotion, a deficit that makes social interaction problematic. Social skills training is foundational to the treatment of ASD, yet this intervention is costly, time-consuming, lacks objectivity, and is difficult to deliver in real-world settings. This pilot project investigated the use of an immersive virtual reality (IVR) headset to simulate real-world social interactions for children/youth with ASD. The primary objective was to describe gaze fixation and visual search behaviors during the simulated activity. Ten participants were enrolled and completed one social-skills training session in the IVR. The results demonstrate differential patterns between participants with mild, moderate, and severe ASD in the location and duration of gaze fixation as well as the patterns of visual searching. Although the results are preliminary, these differences may shed light on phenotypes within the continuum of ASD. Additionally, there may be value in quantifying gaze and visual search behaviors as an objective metric of interventional effectiveness for social-skills training therapy.

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Investigating how Explicit Contextual Cues Affect Predictive Sensorimotor Control in Autistic Adults

Cited by 10 publications

References 83 publications

Testing predictive coding theories of autism spectrum disorder using models of active inference

Testing predictive coding theories of autism spectrum disorder using models of active inference

The design and development of a virtual environment to measure eye movement indicators of prediction: Report on pilot testing

Gaze Fixation and Visual Searching Behaviors during an Immersive Virtual Reality Social Skills Training Experience for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study

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