Larger extrastriate population receptive fields in autism spectrum disorders
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Previous behavioral research suggests enhanced local visual processing in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Here we used functional MRI and population receptive field (pRF) analysis to test whether the response selectivity of human visual cortex is atypical in individuals with high-functioning ASDs compared with neurotypical, demographically matched controls. For each voxel, we fitted a pRF model to fMRI signals measured while participants viewed flickering bar stimuli traversing the visual field. In most extrastriate regions, perifoveal pRFs were larger in the ASD group than in controls. We observed no differences in V1 or V3A. Differences in the hemodynamic response function, eye movements, or increased measurement noise could not account for these results; individuals with ASDs showed stronger, more reliable responses to visual stimulation. Interestingly, pRF sizes also correlated with individual differences in autistic traits but there were no correlations with behavioral measures of visual processing. Our findings thus suggest that visual cortex in ASDs is not characterized by sharper spatial selectivity. Instead, we speculate that visual cortical function in ASDs may be characterized by extrastriate cortical hyperexcitability or differential attentional deployment.
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Receptive fields in extrastriate cortex (V2, V3, V4) appear larger in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
“However, receptive fields in extrastriate cortex (V2, V3, and V4) appear to be larger in individuals with ASD (Schwarzkopf et al., 2014).”
From Behavioral, Perceptual, and Neural Alterations in Sensory and Multisensory Function in Autism Spectrum Disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Schwarzkopf et al., 2014
In this study, receptive field size positively correlated with autistic traits but not with orientation and direction discrimination.
“Intriguingly, in this study the size of the receptive fields were positively correlated with autistic traits (as measured by the Autism Quotient questionnaire), but not with behavioral measures like orientation and direction discrimination.”
From Behavioral, Perceptual, and Neural Alterations in Sensory and Multisensory Function in Autism Spectrum Disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Schwarzkopf et al., 2014
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- Authors
- Schwarzkopf, D. S., Anderson, E. J., de Haas, B., White, S. J., & Rees, G.
- Affiliations
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2014-02-12
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 2713-2724
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC3921434
- OpenAlex
- W2043014431
- Cited by
- 138
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 7
- FWCI
- 9.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- ResearchSpace (University of Auckland) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (091593, 100227, 091593/Z/10/Z, 100227/Z/12/Z)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, population receptive field, extrastriate cortex, high-functioning autism, visual processing, cortical hyperexcitability, attentional deployment, autistic traits, individual differences
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain Mapping, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Female, Humans, Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Photic Stimulation, Visual Cortex, Young Adult
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