Exploring Perceptual Learning Abnormalities in High Functioning Children with Autism

探索高功能自闭症儿童的感知学习异常

基本信息

批准号：
9808924
负责人：
Barbara Ann Church
金额：
$ 25.83万
依托单位：
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2019-09-01 至 2021-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9808924
关键词：
Address Adult Affect Attention Auditory Behavioral Brain Buffaloes Categories Child Church Clinical Research Cognitive Complex Corpus striatum structure Data Development Discrimination Discrimination Learning Educational Models Environment Exposure to Face Facial Expression Family Feedback Foundations Future Gestures Image Impairment Individual Individual Differences Institutes Intervention Joints Laboratories Language Language Disorders Lead Learning Learning Disorders Medical Mentors Methodology Modality Modeling Movement Nature Neural Network Simulation Neural Pathways Neuronal Plasticity Perceptual learning Performance Play Process Protocols documentation Psychological reinforcement Publishing Regimen Research Research Assistant Research Personnel Resources Role Sensory Shapes Solid Speech Sound Stimulus Structure System Targeted Research Testing Training Universities Variant Vision Visual Visual Cortex Work autism spectrum disorder autistic children behavior measurement college design experience experimental study graduate student individual variation learning ability models and simulation novel predictive modeling relating to nervous system simulation social social deficits social skills theories undergraduate research visual stimulus

项目摘要

Project Summary Individuals suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show accelerated learning in some perceptual tasks, but deficits in perceptual learning and the ability to generalize learning to novel situations. Perceptual deficits likely reflect abnormalities in cortical structure and function in individuals with ASD, and they may underlie (or exacerbate) many of the social and communicative deficits that define ASD. In particular, the abilities to perceptually categorize facial expressions, speech sounds, prosody, and gestural movements that children acquire during development are a prerequisite for normal language and social skills to emerge. Therefore, understanding the perceptual learning deficits associated with ASD may help us better understand and ameliorate communicative and social impairments. However, the research so far directly examining categorization and perceptual learning in ASD individuals has produced mixed findings and shows strong indications of important effects of individual differences. Recent simulations with connectionist models of visual cortical processing and pilot data comparing learning with and without feedback suggest a way to explain the diverse findings across studies and individuals. Specifically, these models and data suggest that deficits in basic neural plasticity mechanisms (experience dependent changes in cortical neural connections) particularly under conditions of learning from attentive exposure can account for atypical perceptual category learning shown by high functioning (HF) children and adults with ASD. There are two general aims of this project. They are designed to lay a solid foundation for future work that could fully develop neurally-grounded cognitive processing theories of ASD, and translational training protocols to help facilitate learning by children with ASD. The first is to explore perceptual learning when learning from exposure versus learning with feedback and to determine whether abnormalities found when learning complex visual perceptual categories also extend to perceptual learning of basic perceptual discriminations and to the auditory modality. The second aim is to examine whether progressive typicality ordering of stimuli affects learning in either or both learning conditions and whether that is true for all levels and modalities studied. Four experiments will be conducted using variants of a basic perceptual learning methodology comparing learning from exposure versus with direct training. Two experiments will use visual stimuli and two auditory. Two will look at family resemblance category learning and two will examine perceptual discrimination learning. These experiments will test the following hypotheses derived from past simulations and experiments: unlike typically developing children, (1) training regimens involving feedback will produce much greater learning than learning from exposure in HF children with ASD; (2) HF children with ASD will show an advantage of progressive ordering only with direct training; and (3) HF children with ASD will show abnormalities in perceptual learning from exposure in both perceptual category learning and discrimination tasks and in both the visual and auditory modalities.

项目概要患有自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的人在某些知觉方面表现出加速学习能力任务，但感知学习和将学习推广到新情况的能力存在缺陷。感性的缺陷可能反映了自闭症谱系障碍患者皮质结构和功能的异常，并且可能造成（或加剧）许多定义自闭症谱系障碍的社交和沟通缺陷。特别是，感知分类面部表情、语音、韵律和手势动作的能力儿童在发展过程中获得的技能是正常语言和社交技能出现的先决条件。因此，了解与自闭症谱系障碍相关的知觉学习缺陷可能有助于我们更好地理解并改善沟通和社交障碍。然而，迄今为止的研究直接检验自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 个体的分类和感知学习产生了不同的结果，并显示出很强的个体差异的重要影响的迹象。最近用联结主义模型进行的模拟视觉皮层处理和试验数据比较有反馈和无反馈的学习提出了一种方法解释不同研究和个人的不同发现。具体来说，这些模型和数据表明基本神经可塑性机制的缺陷（皮质神经连接的经验依赖性变化）特别是在从专注的接触中学习的条件下，可以解释非典型的知觉类别患有 ASD 的高功能 (HF) 儿童和成人表现出学习能力。这样做有两个总体目标项目。它们旨在为未来的工作打下坚实的基础，可以充分发展神经基础自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的认知处理理论，以及帮助促进儿童学习的转化训练方案患有自闭症谱系障碍。第一个是探索从接触中学习与从接触中学习时的感知学习反馈并确定在学习复杂的视觉感知类别时是否发现异常还扩展到基本知觉辨别的知觉学习和听觉模态。第二个目的是检查刺激的渐进典型性排序是否影响其中一个或两个学习中的学习条件以及这是否适用于所研究的所有级别和模式。将进行四个实验使用基本感知学习方法的变体，比较暴露学习与直接学习训练。两个实验将使用视觉刺激，另外两个实验将使用听觉刺激。二会看家族相似度类别学习和两个将检查知觉辨别学习。这些实验将测试以下假设源自过去的模拟和实验：与正常发育的儿童不同，(1) 涉及反馈的训练方案将比从心力衰竭中学习产生更多的学习效果患有自闭症谱系障碍的儿童； (2) 患有自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的心力衰竭儿童仅在直接指导下才会表现出渐进式订购的优势训练; (3) 患有自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的心力衰竭儿童在暴露于两种环境的知觉学习中都会表现出异常。知觉类别学习和辨别任务以及视觉和听觉方式。