Selective impairment of causal inference across sensory modalities in autism spectrum disorder

题目：Selective impairment of causal inference across sensory modalities in autism spectrum disorder

报告人：Dora Angelaki教授

日期：2019-12-12

时间: 9:00

地点：长安校区格物楼3135会议室

报告内容简介：

In recent years statistical inference has been proposed to be abnormal in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here we used multiplse sensory modalities to test causal inference in ASD. First, we used audio-visual localization: the auditory and visual stimuli were presented at congruent and incongurent locations and at different levels of relative cue reliability and conflict (i.e., spatial disparity between visual and auditory stimuli) to test three predictions of statistical inference: improved reliability of multisensory spatial localization, down-weighting less reliable cues and decreasing frequency of common source perception at large spatial disaprity and poor cue reliability. Second, we used self-motion in the presence of independently moving objects to test similar properties. Across sensory modalities, we found a striking dichotomy in the pattern of ASD behavior. In the absence of conflict or at small conflicts below perceptual awareness, spatial localization in ASD participants was similar to controls and consistent with the predictions of optimal cue integration. However, at large conflicts, ASD participants reported a common source less frequenty than control participants. In contrast, they continued to integrate the cues despite the large conflict. These results suggest that instead of a generalized deficit in multisensory integration, tasks that require causal inference can differentially modulate ASD behavior even with identical stimuli.

报告人简介：

Dora Angelaki教授，美国科学院院士，美国人文与科学院院士。美国纽约大学神经科学中心教授。曾任美国贝勒医学院神经科学系主任，Journal of neuroscience主编。主要从事认知及系统神经生物学方面的研究，在Nature，Natature Neuroscience,neuron等杂志发表论文200余篇。