PreCoASD · Assessing the predictive coding accounts of autism spectrum disorders

Assessing the predictive coding accounts of autism spectrum disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects more than seven million individuals in the European Union. Yet, this neurodevelopmental condition remains poorly understood. ASD is defined by persistent deficits in social interactions and communication, and by restricted interests and repetitive patterns of behaviors. Recent theories offer potential accounts of ASD. These theories are cast in the predictive coding framework, which assumes that the brain constantly generates predictions about its environment. These predictions, or priors, constitute a kind of internal representation of our environment. Using priors, we know what to expect and we can more easily infer the meaning of stimuli or anticipate. Our perception does not only depend on the sensory information, but also on prior knowledge. The relative contributions of priors and sensory inputs depend on their precisions (i.e., weight). A suboptimal balance of prior and sensory precisions could be at the core of ASD. Predictive coding theories suggested that ASD might be characterized by a low prior precision, a high sensory precision and/or an inflexible ratio of precisions. The main goal of this research project was to test these theories. Specifically, we aimed at a better understanding of how autistic individuals learn and adjust their priors and at characterizing their underlying neural mechanisms. We also aimed at determining whether sensory prevision is atypical in ASD, at the self-reported, behavioral and neural levels. Finally, we aimed at determining whether atypical predictive mechanisms could underlie the autistic symptoms and co-occurring problems. Altogether, our main objective was to refine the predictive coding theories of ASD and to contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the symptomatology of ASD. The main conclusions of the project indicate that predictive mechanisms are sometimes atypical in ASD, but autistic individuals are able to learn a prior. Sensory precision tends to be higher in ASD for certain visual features. Difficulties in adjusting predictions and atypical sensory sensitivity were associated with the number of autistic traits and with some other symptoms of ASD.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union