Atypical neural substrates of embedded figures task performance in children with autism spectrum disorder
Open accessAbstract
Superior performance on the Embedded Figures Task (EFT) has been attributed to weak central coherence in perceptual processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural basis of EFT performance in 7- to 12-year-old ASD children and age- and IQ-matched controls. ASD children activated only a subset of the distributed network of regions activated in controls. In frontal cortex, control children activated left dorsolateral, medial and dorsal premotor regions whereas ASD children only activated the dorsal premotor region. In parietal and occipital cortices, activation was bilateral in control children but unilateral (left superior parietal and right occipital) in ASD children. Further, extensive bilateral ventral temporal activation was observed in control, but not ASD children. ASD children performed the EFT at the same level as controls but with reduced cortical involvement, suggesting that disembedded visual processing is accomplished parsimoniously by ASD relative to typically developing brains.
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Manjaly et al. (2007) and Lee et al. (2007) have also reported unusual brain activations in ASD groups whilst they performed the EFT, or an analogue thereof.
“Manjaly et al. (2007) and Lee et al. (2007) have also reported unusual brain activations in ASD groups whilst they performed the EFT, or an analogue thereof.”
From Vision in autism spectrum disorders (2009) · cites this paper as Lee et al. (2007)
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- Authors
- Lee, P. S., Foss-Feig, J., Henderson, J. G., Kenworthy, L. E., Gilotty, L., Gaillard, W. D., & Vaidya, C. J.
- Affiliations
- Georgetown University (US)
- Children's National (US)
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Vaidya, Chandan J.
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2007-10
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 184-193
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2084060
- OpenAlex
- W2067494936
- Cited by
- 89
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 2.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH065395)
- National Center for Research Resources (M01RR020359)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, weak central coherence, neural correlates, dorsal premotor cortex, superior parietal cortex, occipital cortex, ventral temporal cortex, frontal cortex, children, brain activation patterns
- MeSH terms
- Autistic Disorder, Brain, Brain Mapping, Child, Cognition Disorders, Evoked Potentials, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Task Performance and Analysis, In Vitro Techniques
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