Dataset Information

Cognitive mechanisms of inhibitory control deficits in autism spectrum disorder.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Inhibitory control deficits are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and associated with more severe repetitive behaviors. Inhibitory control deficits may reflect slower execution of stopping processes, or a reduced ability to delay the onset of behavioral responses in contexts of uncertainty. Previous studies have documented relatively spared stopping processes in ASD, but whether inhibitory control deficits in ASD reflect failures to delay response onset has not been systematically assessed. Further, while improvements in stopping abilities and response slowing are seen through adolescence/early adulthood in health, their development in ASD is less clear. METHODS:A stop-signal test (SST) was administered to 121 individuals with ASD and 76 age and IQ-matched healthy controls (ages 5-28). This test included 'GO trials' in which participants pressed a button when a peripheral target appeared and interleaved 'STOP trials' in which they were cued to inhibit button-presses when a stop-signal appeared at variable times following the GO cue. STOP trial accuracy, RT of the stopping process (SSRT), and reaction time (RT) slowing during GO trials were examined. RESULTS:Relative to controls, individuals with ASD had reduced accuracy on STOP trials. SSRTs were similar across control and ASD participants, but RT slowing was reduced in patients compared to controls. Age-related increases in stopping ability and RT slowing were attenuated in ASD. Reduced stopping accuracy and RT slowing were associated with more severe repetitive behaviors in ASD. DISCUSSION:Our findings show that inhibitory control deficits in ASD involve failures to strategically delay behavioral response onset. These results suggest that reduced preparatory behavioral control may underpin inhibitory control deficits as well as repetitive behaviors in ASD. Typical age-related improvements in inhibitory control during late childhood/early adolescence are reduced in ASD, highlighting an important developmental window during which treatments may mitigate cognitive alterations contributing to repetitive behaviors.

SUBMITTER: Schmitt LM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5906199 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cognitive mechanisms of inhibitory control deficits in autism spectrum disorder.

Schmitt Lauren M LM White Stormi P SP Cook Edwin H EH Sweeney John A JA Mosconi Matthew W MW

Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines 20171020 5

<h4>Background</h4>Inhibitory control deficits are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and associated with more severe repetitive behaviors. Inhibitory control deficits may reflect slower execution of stopping processes, or a reduced ability to delay the onset of behavioral responses in contexts of uncertainty. Previous studies have documented relatively spared stopping processes in ASD, but whether inhibitory control deficits in ASD reflect failures to delay response onset has not been sys ...[more]

PMID: 29052841

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Project description:BackgroundIndividuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often report difficulties with inhibition in everyday life. During inhibition tasks, adults with ASD show reduced activation of and connectivity between brain areas implicated in inhibition, suggesting impairments in inhibitory control at the neural level. Our study further investigated these differences by using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to examine the frequency band(s) in which functional connectivity underlying response inhibition occurs, as brain functions are frequency specific, and whether connectivity in certain frequency bands differs between adults with and without ASD.MethodsWe analysed MEG data from 40 adults with ASD (27 males; 26.94 ± 6.08 years old) and 39 control adults (27 males; 27.29 ± 5.94 years old) who performed a Go/No-go task. The task involved two blocks with different proportions of No-go trials: Inhibition (25% No-go) and Vigilance (75% No-go). We compared whole-brain connectivity in the two groups during correct No-go trials in the Inhibition vs. Vigilance blocks between 0 and 400 ms.ResultsDespite comparable performance on the Go/No-go task, adults with ASD showed reduced connectivity compared to controls in the alpha band (8-14 Hz) in a network with a main hub in the right inferior frontal gyrus. Decreased connectivity in this network predicted more self-reported difficulties on a measure of inhibition in everyday life.LimitationsMeasures of everyday inhibitory control were not available for all participants, so this relationship between reduced network connectivity and inhibitory control abilities may not be necessarily representative of all adults with ASD or the larger ASD population. Further research with independent samples of adults with ASD, including those with a wider range of cognitive abilities, would be valuable.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate reduced functional brain connectivity during response inhibition in adults with ASD. As alpha-band synchrony has been linked to top-down control mechanisms, we propose that the lack of alpha synchrony observed in our ASD group may reflect difficulties in suppressing task-irrelevant information, interfering with inhibition in real-life situations.

Dataset Information

Cognitive mechanisms of inhibitory control deficits in autism spectrum disorder.

Publications

Cognitive mechanisms of inhibitory control deficits in autism spectrum disorder.

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