LECTURE 11 Flashcards
Briefly describe the three broad systems for social information processing and their neural correlates (cf. Yang et al., 2015), and discuss to what extent they may be impaired in autism spectrum disorder. Situate the frequency-tagging EEG findings of Van der Donck, Vettori and colleagues within this framework.
Social perception: FPG, AMY OFC
infants attend less to social cues, such as faces and voices
Action observation: IPL, IFG
Deficit in imitation? * Deficit in automatic mirroring of actions? But mixed results
Theory of mind: TPJ, MPFC, PCC, ATL
Impaired theory of mind
Frequency-tagging EEG findings in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) provide insights into atypical neural processing of social information.
Describe the main behavioural and neural findings of the social touch observation study of Lee Masson (2019) in adults with and without autism spectrum disorder. Demonstrate how it relates to the social information processing framework of Yang et al. (2015
Behaviourally: slightly less positive towards experiencing and offering social touch
Neural: Generally, highly similar neural processing
Similar neural processing of actual touch
Similar neural processing of social vs non-social touch contrast
Similar fine-grained neurocognitive representations of affective meaning of touch in TPJ
Lacking bodily representations of affective meaning of touch in the mirror-somatosensory system
There is empirical evidence that individuals with autism spectrum disorder are less sensitive to visual illusions, show superior performance on the Embedded Figure Test and show inferior performance on a Fragmented Object Outline task or a Coherent Motion task. How can these findings be understood (what theoretical framework)? How can the predictive coding framework contribute to a neural explanation of these observations?
These finding can be understood in the weak central coherence framework this frame work states that people with autism don’t have a global processing deficit but have a local bias. So they use a different perceptual cognitive style.
The predictive coding framework can contribute to finding a neural explanation. By emphasizing the role of predictive coding processes and their potential alterations in ASD. It guides researchers in exploring how disruptions in the balance between top-down predictions and bottom-up sensory inputs may manifest at the neural level.
