Perceptual inference and autistic traits
Abstract
Autistic people are better at perceiving details. Major theories explain this in terms of bottom-up sensory mechanisms or in terms of top-down cognitive biases. Recently, it has become possible to link these theories within a common framework. This framework assumes that perception is implicit neural inference, combining sensory evidence with prior perceptual knowledge. Within this framework, perceptual differences may occur because of enhanced precision in how sensory evidence is represented or because sensory evidence is weighted much higher than prior perceptual knowledge. In this preliminary study, we compared these models using groups with high and low autistic trait scores (Autism-Spectrum Quotient). We found evidence supporting the cognitive bias model and no evidence for the enhanced sensory precision model.
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Much of the phenomenology of autism has been cast in terms of false inference resulting from a loss of prior precision relative to sensory precision.
“Recently, much of the phenomenology of autism has been cast in terms of false inference that results from a loss of prior precision, relative to sensory precision [74,76,77].”
From Active interoceptive inference and the emotional brain (2016) · cites this paper as [76]
Cites
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“We used the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) questionnaire to measure self-reported autistic traits (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001) and to define a group of neurotypical participants into low AQ and high AQ subgroups.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialEnhanced Perceptual Functioning in Autism: An Update, and Eight Principles of Autistic Perception
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Friston, K. J., Lawson, R., & Frith, C. D. (2013) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2012.11.003 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
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Active interoceptive inference and the emotional brain
Seth, A. K., & Friston, K. J. (2016) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0007 · Cited by 945 · see citing works
An aberrant precision account of autism
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Computational psychiatry: the brain as a phantastic organ
Friston, K. J., Stephan, K. E., Montague, R., & Dolan, R. J. (2014) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(14)70275-5 · Cited by 531 · see citing works
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Hohwy, J., & Seth, A. (2020) · Philosophy and the Mind Sciences · doi:10.33735/phimisci.2020.ii.64 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Palmer, C. J., Seth, A. K., & Hohwy, J. (2015) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2015.04.007 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
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Palmer, C. J., Paton, B., Kirkovski, M., Enticott, P. G., & Hohwy, J. (2015) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.1557 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Sensory Prediction Errors Are Less Modulated by Global Context in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Goris, J., Braem, S., Nijhof, A. D., Rigoni, D., Deschrijver, E., Van de Cruys, S., Wiersema, J. R., & Brass, M. (2018) · Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging · doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.02.003 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
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Self-citationAllenmark, F., Shi, Z., Pistorius, R. L., Theisinger, L. A., Koutsouleris, N., Falkai, P., Müller, H. J., & Falter-Wagner, C. M. (2021) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04828-2 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Reduced Context Updating but Intact Visual Priors in Autism
Randeniya, R., Vilares, I., Mattingley, J. B., & Garrido, M. I. (2021) · Computational Psychiatry · doi:10.5334/cpsy.69 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
- Authors
- Skewes, J. C., Jegindø, E.-M., & Gebauer, L.
- Affiliations
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Venue
- Autism
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-02-12
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 301-307
- ISSN
- 1362-3613 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7005
- OpenAlex
- W2116913173
- Cited by
- 71
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 4.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Autism (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Keywords
- autistic traits, perceptual inference, sensory precision, cognitive biases, bottom-up processing, top-down processing, Autism Spectrum Quotient
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Autistic Disorder, Cognition, Female, Humans, Male, Perception, Phenotype, Task Performance and Analysis, Young Adult
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