The impact of atypical sensory processing on social impairments in autism spectrum disorder

In the paper

“Thus, there is behavioral, neurophysiological and anecdotal evidence of sensory impairment as a prevalent characteristic feature of ASD.”

In the paper

“new theoretical and empirical evidence suggests a stronger relationship between the two than previously thought (Ronconi et al., 2016).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Ronconi et al., 2016 source

In the paper

“We conclude that there are multiple mechanisms through which early sensory dysregulation in ASD could cascade into social deficits across development.”

In the paper

“Differences in vision have also emerged as one of the earliest stable markers of ASD, with saccade duration in 7-month olds reliably distinguishing children later diagnosed with ASD (Wass et al., 2015).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Wass et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“These differences may play a role in social impairments in ASD, as perception of social cues drives visual attention patterns, and thus is crucial in social development and interpersonal interactions.”

In the paper

“Thus, an atypical behavioral or neural outcome can reflect a breakdown at any point within this adopted hierarchy.”

In the paper

“Thus, the relationship between social and sensory features in ASD may be bidirectional and inter-dependent.”

In the paper

“Further, children with visual impairments often have social deficits due to difficulties in social learning through visual cues, modeling, or feedback (Kekelis, 1992, McGaha and Farran, 2001).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Kekelis, 1992
• Not checked yetcites McGaha and Farran, 2001

In the paper

“However, others have found ASD individuals to be less accurate in judging the intent behind both direct and averted gaze, particularly in more ambiguous situations (Senju et al., 2003, Ashwin et al., 2009, Forgeot d'Arc et al., 2016).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Senju et al., 2003 source
• Not checked yetcites Ashwin et al., 2009 source
• Not checked yetcites Forgeot d'Arc et al., 2016

In the paper

“Thus, difficulties perceiving gaze cues may contribute to joint attention difficulties in individuals with ASD.”

In the paper

“At the neurobiological level, a failure to shift from the magnocellular to parvocellular pathway in ASD early in life (Mundy et al., 2009, McCleery et al., 2007) could underlie delayed gaze detection abilities, since these pathways coordinate distinct patterns of visual preference.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Mundy et al., 2009 source
• Not checked yetcites McCleery et al., 2007 source

In the paper

“At the neural level, individuals with ASD show hypo-activation in the fusiform face area (FFA), superior temporal sulcus (STS), and the occipital face area (Schultz et al., 2000, Humphreys et al., 2008).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Schultz et al., 2000 source
• Not checked yetcites Humphreys et al., 2008 source

In the paper

“These studies suggest that impairments perceiving certain visual characteristics (i.e., complexity, higher frequency, higher distortion, fast-moving) contribute to face processing and emotion recognition difficulties in ASD.”

In the paper

“Studies using point-light displays, which allow motion perception without the confound of form, reveal that children with ASD fail to preferentially attend to biological over non-social motion (Klin et al., 2009, Blake et al., 2003, Annaz et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Klin et al., 2009 source
• Not checked yetcites Blake et al., 2003 source
• Not checked yetcites Annaz et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“Interestingly, such alterations in visual processing may precede quantifiable differences in social functioning.”

In the paper

“Prospective studies of infants at high risk for ASD suggest atypical visual processing is present within the first year of life.”

In the paper

“Thus, atypical visual processing in early development in ASD could have cascading deleterious effects on subsequent social and cognitive development through the ongoing process of experience-dependent learning.”

In the paper

“Sensory level deficits within the central auditory nervous system and relevant auditory pathways in ASD have been reported using auditory brainstem response (ABR) paradigms (Kwon et al., 2007); and this delayed response distinguishes ASD from other neurodevelopmental disorders (Källstrand et al., 2010).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Kwon et al., 2007 source
• Not checked yetcites Källstrand et al., 2010

In the paper

“In contrast to typically developing peers, infants with autism do not preferentially attend to mother’s speech or child-directed speech (Dawson et al., 1998, Klin, 1991, Paul et al., 2007).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Dawson et al., 1998 source
• Not checked yetcites Klin, 1991 source
• Not checked yetcites Paul et al., 2007 source

In the paper

“Children with ASD who do not preferentially orient to child-directed speech have poor sound discrimination, highlighting the role of basic sensory impairment in social behavior (Kuhl et al., 2005).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Kuhl et al., 2005 source

In the paper

“These findings collectively indicate that change in pitch, accompanied by increased complexity of auditory stimuli, is an area of significant deficit in ASD.”

In the paper

“Children with ASD display oversensitivity to local changes in auditory information such as pitch at the expense of global auditory information such as speech (Foster et al., 2016).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Foster et al., 2016 source

In the paper

“Recent findings suggest that touch also promotes the development and connectivity of brain areas (Brauer et al., 2016; Björnsdotter et al., 2014) associated with social cognition and the “social brain” (Adolphs, 2009, Brothers, 2002, Frith, 2007).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Brauer et al., 2016 source
• Not checked yetcites Björnsdotter et al., 2014 source
• Not checked yetcites Adolphs, 2009 source

In the paper

“Therefore, problems in evaluating affect from auditory stimuli in individuals with ASD can directly impact social reciprocity by limiting their ability to extract socially relevant information from voices and respond appropriately.”

In the paper

“There is evidence to suggest that irregularities in touch and tactile perception may be associated with broad levels of social dysfunction in ASD.”

In the paper

“Atypical touch during infancy can develop into critical deficits later in life, specifically in regards to attachment.”

In the paper

“Further, several studies suggest that maternal touch in early infancy critically influences a secure attachment later (Weiss et al., 2000).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Weiss et al., 2000 source

In the paper

“the behavioral and neural effects of oxytocin were negatively correlated with autistic-like traits”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Scheele et al., 2014 source

In the paper

“This may lead to a limited seeking of touch in the interpersonal interactions of individuals with ASD.”

In the paper

“Atypical tactile perception around the face and mouth could disrupt tactile stimulation of the orienting reflex, reducing face-to-face orienting and the positive social attention associated with it (Sokolov, 1963).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Sokolov, 1963 source

In the paper

“Positive tactile stimuli (touch, warmth, odors) can release oxytocin (Uvnäs-Moberg, 1998)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Uvnäs-Moberg, 1998 source

In the paper

“Therefore, a lack of social touch early in development can have important social and interpersonal implications.”

In the paper

“suggesting these effects to be blunted in individuals with autistic-traits”

In the paper

“In addition to finding a relationship between overall severity of sensory abnormalities and the severity of ASD symptoms”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Silva et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“in ASD, there is a relationship between OI and ratings of initiation, maintenance, and social interchange during conversation (Bennetto et al., 2007)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Bennetto et al., 2007 source

In the paper

“when the researchers included all questions regarding failure to orient, 91% of the ASD population was correctly identified”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Silva et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“five questions related to touch/pain responses on the face and mouth correctly identified 83% of the ASD population from typically developing controls”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Silva et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“their selective food preferences have been related to patterns of restricted and repetitive behaviors and olfactory functioning (Bennetto et al., 2012, Wiggins et al., 2009)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Bennetto et al., 2012
• Not checked yetcites Wiggins et al., 2009 source

In the paper

“Zou et al. (2016) reported a positive relationship between olfactory sensitivity and the extent of TD individuals’ social network.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Zou et al., 2016

In the paper

“Even if the perception of each individual sense is intact, the integration of these senses into a perceptual whole may fail (Iarocci and McDonald, 2006)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Iarocci and McDonald, 2006 source

In the paper

“The integration of multisensory stimuli is essential for the perception of complex social information.”

In the paper

“Alterations in basic sensory integration have been reported in ASD (Waterhouse et al., 1996)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Waterhouse et al., 1996 source

In the paper

“In the BD population, there are relationships between OI and affect recognition and theory of mind”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Lahera et al., 2016 source

In the paper

“the integration affords more information than the sum of its components (Stein and Stanford, 2008)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Stein and Stanford, 2008

In the paper

“show decreased multisensory facilitation to audiovisual inputs (Brandwein et al., 2013)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Brandwein et al., 2013 source

In the paper

“ASD individuals are less susceptible to visual-tactile illusions (Cascio et al., 2012, Greenfield et al., 2015)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Cascio et al., 2012 source
• Not checked yetcites Greenfield et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“exhibit altered cortical recruitment during simultaneous audio-visual stimuli presentation (Russo et al., 2010).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Russo et al., 2010 source

In the paper

“There is evidence of a relationship between ASD symptoms and a bias to perceive auditory stimuli that occur before visual stimuli as concurrent (Donohue et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Donohue et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“Individuals with ASD benefit less from the addition of auditory information to a visual search task (Collignon et al., 2013)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Collignon et al., 2013 source

In the paper

“struggle to integrate visual stimuli into motor planning and execution (Dowd et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Dowd et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“social communication in ASD has been associated with abnormal upregulation of visual regions during auditory processing (Jao Keehn et al., 2016)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Jao Keehn et al., 2016

In the paper

“impairments in perceptual-motor integration also have been associated with communication and social deficits in ASD (Linkenauger et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Linkenauger et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“In TD individuals, information about a speaker’s facial movements and gestures facilitates speech comprehension (Rosenblum, 2008, MacLeod and Summerfield, 1987, Butcher et al., 2000.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Rosenblum, 2008 source
• Not checked yetcites MacLeod and Summerfield, 1987
• Not checked yetcites Butcher et al., 2000 source

In the paper

“a recent study found the ERP response associated with multisensory integration to be reduced as a function of ASD symptom severity (Brandwein et al., 2015).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Brandwein et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“While listening to auditory speech, individuals with ASD struggle to integrate previous exposure to speaker-specific facial information to optimize auditory speech recognition (Schelinski et al., 2014).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Schelinski et al., 2014 source

In the paper

“do not properly synchronize gestures with their own speech to aid comprehension (de Marchena and Eigsti, 2010).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites de Marchena and Eigsti, 2010

In the paper

“individuals with ASD do not benefit from the addition of gestures to auditory speech (Silverman et al., 2010)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Silverman et al., 2010 source

In the paper

“There is also evidence of impaired lip-reading ability in ASD (Foxe et al., 2015)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Foxe et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“There is evidence of an altered temporal phase response to paired fearful faces and voices (Magnée et al., 2008)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Magnée et al., 2008 source

In the paper

“adults with ASD struggle to discriminate whether faces and voices have congruent or incongruent emotion (O'Connor, 2007)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites O'Connor, 2007 source

In the paper

“Several studies have indicated that individuals with ASD do not appropriately integrate multisensory information in the context of emotion recognition.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites O'Connor, 2007 source
• Not checked yetcites Charbonneau et al., 2013 source
• Not checked yetcites Xavier et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“While not all studies have found TD-ASD differences in multimodal processing of emotion (Vannetzel et al., 2011, Magnée et al., 2007)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Vannetzel et al., 2011 source
• Not checked yetcites Magnée et al., 2007 source

In the paper

“Individuals with ASD recruit alternate brain regions in the parietofrontal network during the audio-visual integration of emotion cues, compared to controls, which recruit regions in frontal and temporal association cortices (Doyle-Thomas et al., 2013a).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Doyle-Thomas et al., 2013a

In the paper

“receive less benefit from bimodal (audio-visual) information when differentiating fear and disgust (Charbonneau et al., 2013) or identifying other emotions (Xavier et al., 2015).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Charbonneau et al., 2013 source
• Not checked yetcites Xavier et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“overall, there is great evidence that deficits in multisensory integration may hinder emotion recognition in ASD.”

In the paper

“Alterations in the ability to integrate proprioceptive cues with visual inputs could greatly impact imitation, which is crucial for the development of many social functions.”

In the paper

“Among non-clinical adults, increased ASD traits have been associated with decreased susceptibility to the rubber-hand illusion (Palmer et al., 2013).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Palmer et al., 2013 source

In the paper

“ASD symptom severity has been negatively associated with imitation abilities (Edwards, 2014).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Edwards, 2014 source

In the paper

“may rely more on proprioceptive inputs than visual cues (Paton et al., 2012, Izawa et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Paton et al., 2012 source
• Not checked yetcites Izawa et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“These deficits in imitation could potentially be influenced by weaknesses in integrating external inputs with one’s own proprioceptive behavior.”

In the paper

“are less sensitive to aspects of the illusion (Paton et al., 2012)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Paton et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“The real impact of a deficit in multisensory integration likely lies in its cascading effects on the ability to detect and focus on salient social information throughout development.”

In the paper

“Many studies have observed imitation deficits in ASD (Williams et al., 2004a, Williams et al., 2004b, Edwards, 2014)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Williams et al., 2004a
• Not checked yetcites Williams et al., 2004b
• Not checked yetcites Edwards, 2014 source

In the paper

“There is converging evidence that infants can detect amodal information − such as space, time, and intensity − at very young ages (Lewkowicz, 2000, Lewkowicz, 2010, Bahrick and Pickens, 1994)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Lewkowicz, 2000 source
• Not checked yetcites Lewkowicz, 2010 source
• Not checked yetcites Bahrick and Pickens, 1994

In the paper

“find stimuli particularly salient when amodal information is synchronously available to multiple senses [known as inter-sensory redundancy] (Bahrick and Lickliter, 2000, Bahrick et al., 2004).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Bahrick and Lickliter, 2000 source
• Not checked yetcites Bahrick et al., 2004 source

In the paper

“Individuals with ASD also take longer to show the effects of the illusion (Cascio et al., 2012)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Cascio et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“Among individuals with ASD, decreased sensitivity to the illusion has been associated with low levels of empathy (Cascio et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Cascio et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“A longer temporal binding window could create a “fuzzier”, unpredictable sensory environment (Wallace and Stevenson, 2014), as unrelated stimuli become bound together.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Wallace and Stevenson, 2014

In the paper

“there is evidence that these preferences are altered in ASD (Swettenham et al., 1998).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Swettenham et al., 1998 source

In the paper

“Poor recruitment of these regions in individuals with ASD may underlie their failure to adopt the bodily-anchored psychological and communicative stance of another person (Hobson and Meyer, 2005).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Hobson and Meyer, 2005

In the paper

“Throughout development, important social cues may fail to become integrated or salient.”

In the paper

“There is evidence of altered stimulus-reward associations in ASD (Dawson et al., 2001, Dawson et al., 2002, Zalla et al., 2009, Kohls et al., 2011).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Dawson et al., 2001 source
• Not checked yetcites Dawson et al., 2002 source
• Not checked yetcites Zalla et al., 2009 source

In the paper

“Predictive coding, hypo-priors, Weak Central Coherence, and Enhanced Perceptual Functioning accounts characterize perception in ASD as under-utilizing top-down processes (context, prior knowledge, or global coherence) or over-functioning of bottom-up sensory processes (Pellicano and Burr, 2012, Van Boxtel and Lu, 2013, Van de Cruys et al., 2012, Lawson et al., 2014, Frith, 1989, Happe and Frith, 2”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Pellicano and Burr, 2012 source
• Not checked yetcites Van Boxtel and Lu, 2013 source
• Not checked yetcites Van de Cruys et al., 2012

In the paper

“Atypical hierarchical information processing may hinder sensory and social functioning in individuals with ASD.”

In the paper

“Thus, an extended temporal binding window could negatively impact social behavior in ASD through altered binding of social cues.”

In the paper

“Thus, the thalamus may be an important structure in the pathobiology of autism, specifically in sensory and social differences.”

In the paper

“It should be noted that some of these findings, such as lower levels of metabolites, were also associated with higher levels of sensory abnormalities (Hardan et al., 2008).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Hardan et al., 2008

In the paper

“Thus, over-functioning of bottom-up sensory processing coupled with under-utilizing top-down perception in ASD could explain both enhanced sensory processing and inefficient social functioning in this population.”

In the paper

“This information processing profile may hamper social functioning, as the interpersonal world demands strong central coherence, integration of context, and utilization of prior knowledge.”

In the paper

“This is supported by evidence that local processing biases and enhanced perceptual abilities negatively predict social skills (Meaux et al., 2011, Russell-Smith et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Meaux et al., 2011 source
• Not checked yetcites Russell-Smith et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“These areas are also involved in interoceptive awareness (Craig, 2003).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Craig, 2003 source

In the paper

“Thus, the critical role of the STC in perceptual and social functioning in ASD makes it an important candidate for understanding the complex symptomatology of autism.”

In the paper

“An overarching description is that the cerebellum is a “co-processor”, modulating diverse regions and functions of the brain through feedback loops (Wolpert et al., 1998, D'Angelo and Casali, 2012)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Wolpert et al., 1998 source
• Not checked yetcites D'Angelo and Casali, 2012

In the paper

“The cerebellum, consistently implicated in ASD neuropathology (Fatemi et al., 2012), perhaps explains the co-occurrence of sensory and social deficits in ASD.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Fatemi et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“The STC also underlies many non-social sensory and perceptual functions, including conscious perception of visual motion, listening to both meaningful and non-meaningful sounds, and multisensory integration (Becker et al., 2013, Lewis et al., 2004, Lapenta et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Becker et al., 2013 source
• Not checked yetcites Lewis et al., 2004 source
• Not checked yetcites Lapenta et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“These findings suggest the role of ACC and insula in both the sensory and social impairments observed in ASD.”

In the paper

“Reduced STC activity or connectivity has also been documented in non-social sensory processing in ASD, including listening to tones and perceptual integration (Samson et al., 2011, Edgar et al., 2014, Peiker et al., 2015).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Samson et al., 2011 source
• Not checked yetcites Edgar et al., 2014 source
• Not checked yetcites Peiker et al., 2015

In the paper

“Further, the functional connectivity difference in STC has been found to predict emotion recognition and other social difficulties in ASD (Chien et al., 2015, Alaerts et al., 2014).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Chien et al., 2015 source
• Not checked yetcites Alaerts et al., 2014 source

In the paper

“Relationships between the ACC and insula activation and social interaction in ASD have also been reported (Schmitz et al., 2008, Doyle-Thomas et al., 2013b).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Schmitz et al., 2008 source
• Not checked yetcites Doyle-Thomas et al., 2013b

In the paper

“Abnormal cerebellar-SC connectivity could lead to altered eye contact and orientation to stimuli, functions controlled by the SC (Kern, 2002, Quaia et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Kern, 2002 source
• Not checked yetcites Quaia et al., 2012

In the paper

“The cerebellum also has an important role in timing, prediction, and learning (Ivry and Keele, 1989, Baumann et al., 2015).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Ivry and Keele, 1989
• Not checked yetcites Baumann et al., 2015 source

In the paper

“Thus, extensive connections of the cerebellum with brain regions and networks primarily associated with sensory and social processing could allow it to simultaneously modulate behaviors within each domain.”

In the paper

“Specifically, the interaction of the cerebellum with higher-order intrinsic connectivity networks (Habas et al., 2009, Krienen and Buckner, 2009) could similarly modulate executive function, mentalizing, and salience detection − functions critical for social cognition and social interaction (Menon, 2011).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Habas et al., 2009
• Not checked yetcites Krienen and Buckner, 2009 source
• Not checked yetcites Menon, 2011 source

In the paper

“Such abnormalities in timing are apparent in the extended temporal binding window in ASD (Foss-Feig et al., 2010).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Foss-Feig et al., 2010 source

In the paper

“Abnormal sensory sensitivity in ASD has significant clinical and social implications.”

In the paper

“Functional and anatomical differences seen in the thalamus of individuals with ASD may be central to this considering the role of thalamus as a relay station for most senses.”

In the paper

“Early intervention is instrumental in altering the developmental progression of ASD (see Reichow, 2012)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Reichow, 2012 source

In the paper

“There are several cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms through which sensory processing abnormalities might either cause or exacerbate many of the social impairments seen in autism.”

In the paper

“Furthermore, abnormalities found in regions such as the ACC, insula and STC in ASD also point to a network of regions at the intersection of sensory processing and social cognition.”

In the paper

“In this way, the cerebellum utilizes internal models to dynamically coordinate behavior during social interactions in a way similar to motor control (Wolpert et al., 2003, Ito, 2008, D'Angelo and Casali, 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Wolpert et al., 2003 source
• Not checked yetcites Ito, 2008 source
• Not checked yetcites D'Angelo and Casali, 2012

In the paper

“Sensory abnormalities are one of the earliest emerging markers of infants later diagnosed with ASD, with differences noted as early as 6-months of age (Clifford et al., 2013).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Clifford et al., 2013 source

In the paper

“Despite these inconsistencies, dysregulated sensory processing can be considered universal in ASD.”