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

项目摘要/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 社会互动和交流以及受限和重复行为的存在，通常是 伴随着感觉和知觉处理的中断。感觉和知觉加工的改变 导致一系列个人体验，包括感觉反应增强和抑制，这可能 深刻地影响着生活质量。尽管ASD的感觉和知觉症状突出，但 对于它们的病因没有统一的解释。这一提议的中心前提是感官和 自闭症患者的知觉加工差异源于注意力的差异。具体来说，我们将 测试基于空间和特征的注意力更集中且速度更快的假设 在患有自闭症的人中，注意力摆动的速度较慢。我们的提案采用了计算模型 视觉皮质反应与神经的心理物理和脑成像测量相结合 回应。总体而言，我们的结果将大大促进对神经和计算基础的理解 自闭症的感觉和知觉变化。

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.