Attention allocation as a computational mechanism for altered sensory processing in autism

项目总结/摘要 自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种复杂的大脑发育障碍，其特征是在发育过程中存在困难。 社会互动和沟通以及限制和重复行为的存在， 伴随着感官和知觉处理的中断。改变的感觉和知觉处理 导致一系列的个人体验，包括增强和减弱的感官反应， 深刻影响生活质量。尽管ASD的感觉和知觉症状突出， 没有统一的解释其病因。这一建议的中心前提是，感官和 ASD中出现的感知处理差异源自注意力的差异。具体来说，我们将 测试的假设，即空间和功能为基础的注意力是更狭窄的重点和快速 注意力的振荡在患有ASD的人中以较慢的速率发生。我们的建议采用计算模型 结合心理物理和脑成像测量， 应答总的来说，我们的研究结果将大大推进对神经和计算基础的理解。 ASD的感觉和知觉变化。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex disorder of brain development characterized by difficulties in social interaction and communication and the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors and is often accompanied by disruptions of sensory and perceptual processing. Altered sensory and perceptual processing leads to a range of individual experiences including heightened and dampened sensory reactions that can profoundly affect quality of life. Despite the prominence of sensory and perceptual symptoms in ASD there is no unifying explanation for their etiology. The central premise of this proposal is that the sensory and perceptual processing differences that occur in ASD derive from differences in attention. Specifically, we will test the hypothesis that spatial- and feature-based attention is more narrowly focused and that rapid oscillations of attention occur at a slower rate in people with ASD. Our proposal employs computational models of visual cortical responses in combination with psychophysical and brain imaging measures of neural responses. Overall, our results will significantly advance understanding of the neural and computational basis of sensory and perceptual changes in ASD.