Effects of nonsocial and circumscribed interest images on neural mechanisms of emotion regulation in autistic adults.

Introduction: Emotion dysregulation is commonly reported among autistic individuals. Prior work investigating the neurofunctional mechanisms of emotion regulation (ER) in autistic adults has illustrated alterations in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activity, as well as concurrent atypical patterns of activation in subcortical regions related to affect during cognitive reappraisal of social images. Whereas most research examining ER in autism has focused on regulation of negative emotions, the effects of regulating positive emotions has been generally understudied.

Comprehensive Assessment of Visual Perceptual Skills in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The purpose of the current study was to assess meaningful variability in visual-perceptual skills using a standardized assessment of visual perception, the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS), across children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In addition to assessing overall accuracy across subtests of the TVPS, we also assessed response variability at the item-level, and the linear relationship between quantitative measures of ASD symptoms, task performance, and item-level variance. We report a significant linear relationship between ASD features and performance on the TVPS Figure Ground subtest.

Resting and Functional Pupil Response Metrics Indicate Features of Reward Sensitivity and ASD in Children.

The current study examined the relationship between quantitative measures of reward and punishment sensitivity, features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and resting and functional pupil response metrics across a clinically heterogeneous sample. Scores on a parent-report measure of punishment and reward sensitivity were correlated with ASD features. We also assessed whether pupil measurements could be used as a physiologic correlate of reward sensitivity and predictor of ASD diagnosis.

Brief Report: Pupillometry, Visual Perception, and ASD Features in a Task-Switching Paradigm.

We assessed the association between dynamic changes in pupil response in the context of visual perception and quantitative measures of the autism phenotype in healthy adults. Using Navon stimuli in a task-switching paradigm, participants were instructed to identify global or local information based on a cue. Multiple pupil response trajectories across conditions were identified.

Brief Report: Visual Perception, Task-Induced Pupil Response Trajectories and ASD Features in Children.

We applied a trajectory-based analysis to eye tracking data in order to quantify individualized patterns of pupil response in the context of global-local processing that may be associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) features. Multiple pupil response trajectories across both global and local conditions were identified. Using the combined trajectory patterns for global and local conditions for each individual, we were able to identify three groups based on trajectory group membership that were thought to reflect perceptual strategy.

Task-induced pupil response and visual perception in adults.

We assessed whether there are differences in pupil response that underlie the selection of local vs. global parts of a stimulus array in healthy adults. We designed a Navon Figures eyetracking paradigm (i.

The Broader Autism Phenotype and Visual Perception in Children.

Atypical visual perception has increasingly been described in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and linked to quantitative, autism-like features that are present in children and adults without ASD. We investigated whether individual differences in visual processing skills were related to quantitative measures of autism traits in a pediatric sample with a range of clinical features. Visual processing was comprehensively characterized using the test of visual perceptual skills (TVPS), a standardized test of visual perception with seven subtests that capture a range of visual processing abilities.

Pupil adaptation corresponds to quantitative measures of autism traits in children.

The pupil is known to reflect a range of psychological and physiological variables, including cognitive effort, arousal, attention, and even learning. Within autism spectrum disorder (ASD), some work has used pupil physiology to successfully classify patients with or without autism. As we have come to understand the heterogeneity of ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders, the relationship between quantitative traits and physiological markers has become increasingly more important, as this may lead us closer to the underlying biological basis for atypical responses and behaviors.

Brief Report: Autism-like Traits are Associated With Enhanced Ability to Disembed Visual Forms.

Atypical visual perceptual skills are thought to underlie unusual visual attention in autism spectrum disorders. We assessed whether individual differences in visual processing skills scaled with quantitative traits associated with the broader autism phenotype (BAP). Visual perception was assessed using the Figure-ground subtest of the Test of visual perceptual skills-3rd Edition (TVPS).

Late Positive Potential ERP Responses to Social and Nonsocial Stimuli in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

We examined the late positive potential (LPP) event related potential in response to social and nonsocial stimuli from youths 9 to 19 years old with (n = 35) and without (n = 34) ASD. Social stimuli were faces with positive expressions and nonsocial stimuli were related to common restricted interests in ASD (e.g.

Brief Report: Cognitive Control of Social and Nonsocial Visual Attention in Autism.

Prosaccade and antisaccade errors in the context of social and nonsocial stimuli were investigated in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 19) a matched control sample (n = 19), and a small sample of youth with obsessive compulsive disorder (n = 9). Groups did not differ in error rates in the prosaccade condition for any stimulus category. In the antisaccade condition, the ASD group demonstrated more errors than the control group for nonsocial stimuli related to circumscribed interests, but not for other nonsocial stimuli or for social stimuli.