Neural networks for attention to internal and external sensory cues in ASD

描述（由申请人提供）：对基本感觉输入的反应性改变是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）中一个尚未得到充分研究的症状，尽管这些影响尚未得到很好的理解，但可能对发育有深远的影响。虽然“感觉”一词通常意味着身体外部的刺激，但身体内部也有丰富的感觉信息，包括内脏和本体感觉信号。对外部感觉刺激的低反应性与核心临床症状有很强的相关性，比高反应性更能将ASD与其他发育障碍区分开来。本项目中描述的实验旨在调查这种反应不足的可能机制，并试图将这些与越来越多的证据相协调，这些证据表明，ASD患者在与外部线索竞争时，对内部感觉信号的依赖程度增强。我们预测，在ASD中，内部（内感受）和外部感觉线索的基本感觉感知不会有差异，但预计整合这些信号并比较竞争信号以分配注意力的高阶神经网络存在差异。该项目将强调突出网络，包括前岛皮质和前扣带皮质，它们将内部和外部线索与边缘输入结合起来，以确定它们的相对情感意义。我们假设这个系统与ASD中过度关注内部感官线索有关，而牺牲了外部输入。我们进一步预测，相对于外部感觉输入，对内部感觉输入的注意增强与ASD的社交缺陷和感觉低反应性呈正相关。如果这些预测得到支持，突出网络中的神经差异可以作为ASD的新生物标志物，行为差异可以被利用到改进的治疗方法中，包括基于正念的治疗方法，可以利用现有的力量来关注内部感觉线索。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Altered responsiveness to basic sensory input is an under-studied symptom in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that likely has far-reaching effects on development, although these effects are not well understood. While the term "sensory" typically connotes stimuli external to the body, there is copious sensory information within the body as well, including visceral and proprioceptive signals. Hypo-responsiveness to external sensory stimuli shows very strong association with core clinical symptoms, and differentiates ASD from other developmental disorders better than hyper-responsiveness. The experiments described in this project are designed to investigate possible mechanisms for this under-responsiveness, and attempts to reconcile these with growing evidence that individuals with ASD show enhanced reliance on internal sensory signals when they are in competition with external cues. We predict that basic sensory perception of internal (interoceptive) and external sensory cues will not differ in ASD, but expect differences in higher order neural networks that integrate these signals and compare competing signals for salience in order to allocate attention. The project will emphasize the salience network, comprising anterior insular and anterior cingulate cortices, which integrate both internal and external cues with limbic input to determine their relative affective significance. We hypothesize that this system is involved in excessive focus on internal sensory cues, at the expense of external input, in ASD. We further predict that the neural and behavioral correlates of enhanced attention to internal sensory input relative to external will positively relate to social deficits and sensory hypo-responsiveness in ASD. If these predictions are supported, neural differences in the salience network could serve as novel biomarkers for ASD and behavioral differences could be parlayed into improved therapeutic approaches, including mindfulness-based therapies that could capitalize on an existing strength in attending to internal sensory cues.