Abstract:
Could atypical shaping of perception by sensory history explain neurodevelopmental pathologies? We studied neurotypical, dyslexic and autistic individuals using a simple delayed discrimination task. The performance of neurotypical individuals was biased by both recent stimuli and by the detailed longer-term stimulus statistics. Dyslexics approximated neurotypicality in their use of recent history, but deemphasized longer-term information. By contrast, autistic individuals neglected the short-term past, but showed neurotypical use of longer-term statistics. These unique profiles of integration are consistent with general behavioral strengths and weaknesses: dyslexics are fast to adapt, but form impoverished longer-term representations; individuals with autism adapt slowly but form detailed representations of longer-term statistics. Our results suggest that differences in the dynamics of perceptual inference may underlie core behavioral characteristics across populations.
Sponsored by the NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science at NYU Shanghai