A computational psychiatric approach to understanding category representation in autism spectrum disorder

• Applicant: Dr. Janine Bayer
• Subject Area: Clinical Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Term: from 2019 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 421512236

Categorization is a vital cognitive skill that allows us to structure the world, transfer previously acquired knowledge to new situations and interact quickly with the environment. To decide whether a stimulus belongs to a given category, the item can be either compared to stored category exemplars or to the abstract average of the category (the prototype). Importantly, individuals have to choose flexibly between the two strategies, as the optimal representational strategy is dependent on the particular categorization problem, Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to focus on details and to pay less attention to contextual information. Despite intact performance in many categorization tasks, early evidence suggests that the detail-focused style leads to specific difficulties in the abstraction of prototypes, which could be a precursor to social difficulties. However, it is unclear whether these difficulties are compensated by a bias towards exemplar-based category representation.The planned project will employ a highly sensitive, well-established approach to differentiate exemplar- and prototype-based category representation by the combination of cognitive modeling with multivariate neuroimaging analyses. This approach will enable to disentangle categorization strategies on the individual level. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses will be used to investigate whether formal ASD diagnosis and the degree of autistic traits make independent contributions to the choice of categorization style and whether these effects are robust against group differences in depression and anxiety. Results will be related to performance in a social category learning task and clinical measures (i.e. social functioning, repetitive behavior/restricted interests, quality of life).The efficient acquisition of category knowledge is also facilitated by top-down influences on sensory areas, such that prior category knowledge is used to guide perceptual processing. In individuals with ASD and neurotypical persons high in autistic traits, sensory processing is often less modulated by prior experience in (‘hypo-prior’-theory). Indirect evidence suggests that this phenomenon extends to category learning and could explain why category knowledge acquisition in ASD is sometimes slowed down. The planned project will therefore employ a well-established paradigm suitable to uncover the modulation of sensory category representation of dot-patterns by top-down influences of abstract category knowledge. Results will be related to measures of hypo-priors in a social category learning task and clinical measures.The proposed project seeks to advance the understanding of basic cognitive processes in ASD and how they related to classical ASD symptoms. Potential clinical implications include the identification of neuronal biomarkers for ASD diagnosis and suggestions for adaptations of (social skills) trainings for individuals with ASD.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants