Role of Attention in Balance and Mobility in Autism Spectrum Disorders

摘要 自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的症状超出了传统的社交三联症诊断 认知缺陷、沟通障碍和有限的兴趣/重复行为。融合 有证据支持在姿势控制领域存在运动异常，包括平衡和 步态。对这些损伤的理解是有限的。我们团队的长期目标是确定 ASD患者运动和姿势损害的机制进一步了解 ASD.拟议中的项目是旨在发现潜力的研究计划的第一步。 ASD患者运动和姿势损害的潜在机制。更具体地说，这里我们关注的是链接 在姿势/运动控制和认知之间(特别是自上而下地调节对有限的 行动控制的过程，或‘对行动的注意’)。我们的主要假设是姿势控制 自闭症的困难是由于注意相关过程中的问题，然后引发了行动控制 这会暂时抑制行动，减缓适当的姿势调整。我们将通过以下方式验证这一假设 使用将信息处理(IP)任务和具有挑战性的姿势/运动相结合的双任务范例 任务。这些任务增加了对动作的额外要求，从而探测动作控制的能力 进程。30名被诊断为自闭症的年轻人(21-45岁)和30名年龄、性别和智商匹配的年轻人 将对控制进行测试。双重任务范例将包括IP任务(简单反应时间任务和选择反应时间任务) 同时出现站立和行走任务，需要对感觉运动进行重新加权。简单反应 时间任务对行为控制的挑战最小，而选择反应时间任务则在 可供选择的行动，因此比简单的反应时间任务更挑战行动控制。潜在的发现 拟议的项目将加深我们对运动障碍和功能障碍的病因的了解。 ASD平衡困难的后果，这两者都可能有助于小说和 更有效的治疗方法。

Summary Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) extend beyond the traditional diagnostic triad of social cognition deficits, communication impairments, and limited interests / repetitive behaviors. Converging evidence supports the presence of motor abnormalities in the domain of postural control, including balance and gait. The understanding of these impairments is limited. The long-term goal of our team is to identify mechanisms underlying motor and postural impairments in ASD to further the understanding of the bases of ASD. The proposed project represents an initial step in a program of research designed to identify potential mechanisms underlying motor and postural impairments in ASD. More specifically, here we focus on links between postural/locomotor control and cognition (specifically the top-down regulation of access to the limited process of action control, or `attention for action') in ASD. Our main hypothesis is that postural control difficulties in ASD are due to problems in attention-related processes, which then elicit action control that transiently inhibits action, slowing appropriate postural adjustment. We will test this hypothesis by using dual-task paradigms that combine information-processing (IP) tasks and challenging posture/locomotor tasks. These tasks add an additional requirement for action and thus probe the capacity of the action control process. Thirty young adults diagnosed with ASD (21-45 years old) and 30 age-, gender- and IQ- matched controls will be tested. The dual-task paradigms will include IP tasks (simple and choice reaction time tasks) concurrently presented with standing and walking tasks requiring sensorimotor re-weighting. Simple reaction time tasks minimally challenge action control, while choice reaction time tasks probe decision-making between alternative actions, thus challenging action control more than simple reaction time tasks. Potential findings of the proposed project will enhance our understanding of the etiology of motor impairments and functional consequences of balance difficulties in ASD, both of which may contribute to the development of novel and more effective therapeutic approaches.