Dataset Information

Overestimation of volatility in schizophrenia and autism? A comparative study using a probabilistic reasoning task.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objectives

A plethora of studies has investigated and compared social cognition in autism and schizophrenia ever since both conditions were first described in conjunction more than a century ago. Recent computational theories have proposed similar mechanistic explanations for various symptoms beyond social cognition. They are grounded in the idea of a general misestimation of uncertainty but so far, almost no studies have directly compared both conditions regarding uncertainty processing. The current study aimed to do so with a particular focus on estimation of volatility, i.e. the probability for the environment to change.

Methods

A probabilistic decision-making task and a visual working (meta-)memory task were administered to a sample of 86 participants (19 with a diagnosis of high-functioning autism, 21 with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and 46 neurotypically developing individuals).

Results

While persons with schizophrenia showed lower visual working memory accuracy than neurotypical individuals, no significant group differences were found for metamemory or any of the probabilistic decision-making task variables. Nevertheless, exploratory analyses suggest that there may be an overestimation of volatility in subgroups of participants with autism and schizophrenia. Correlations revealed relationships between different variables reflecting (mis)estimation of uncertainty, visual working memory accuracy and metamemory.

Limitations

Limitations include the comparably small sample sizes of the autism and the schizophrenia group as well as the lack of cognitive ability and clinical symptom measures.

Conclusions

The results of the current study provide partial support for the notion of a general uncertainty misestimation account of autism and schizophrenia.

SUBMITTER: Kreis I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7790240 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Overestimation of volatility in schizophrenia and autism? A comparative study using a probabilistic reasoning task.

Kreis Isabel I Biegler Robert R Tjelmeland Håkon H Mittner Matthias M Klæbo Reitan Solveig S Pfuhl Gerit G

PloS one 20210107 1

<h4>Background and objectives</h4>A plethora of studies has investigated and compared social cognition in autism and schizophrenia ever since both conditions were first described in conjunction more than a century ago. Recent computational theories have proposed similar mechanistic explanations for various symptoms beyond social cognition. They are grounded in the idea of a general misestimation of uncertainty but so far, almost no studies have directly compared both conditions regarding uncerta ...[more]

PMID: 33411712

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Project description:UnlabelledBackgroundAutism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are a set of pervasive neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by a wide range of lifelong signs and symptoms. Recent explanatory models of autism propose abnormal neural connectivity and are supported by studies showing decreased interhemispheric coherence in individuals with ASC. The first aim of this study was to test the hypothesis of reduced interhemispheric coherence in ASC, and secondly to investigate specific effects of task performance on interhemispheric coherence in ASC.MethodsWe analyzed electroencephalography (EEG) data from 15 participants with ASC and 15 typical controls, using Wavelet Transform Coherence (WTC) to calculate interhemispheric coherence during face and chair matching tasks, for EEG frequencies from 5 to 40 Hz and during the first 400 ms post-stimulus onset.ResultsResults demonstrate a reduction of interhemispheric coherence in the ASC group, relative to the control group, in both tasks and for all electrode pairs studied. For both tasks, group differences were generally observed after around 150 ms and at frequencies lower than 13 Hz. Regarding within-group task comparisons, while the control group presented differences in interhemispheric coherence between faces and chairs tasks at various electrode pairs (FT7-FT8, TP7-TP8, P7-P8), such differences were only seen for one electrode pair in the ASC group (T7-T8). No significant differences in EEG power spectra were observed between groups.ConclusionsInterhemispheric coherence is reduced in people with ASC, in a time and frequency specific manner, during visual perception and categorization of both social and inanimate stimuli and this reduction in coherence is widely dispersed across the brain.Results of within-group task comparisons may reflect an impairment in task differentiation in people with ASC relative to typically developing individuals.Overall, the results of this research support the value of WTC in examining the time-frequency microstructure of task-related interhemispheric EEG coherence in people with ASC.

Dataset Information

Overestimation of volatility in schizophrenia and autism? A comparative study using a probabilistic reasoning task.

Background and objectives

Methods

Results

Limitations

Conclusions

Publications

Overestimation of volatility in schizophrenia and autism? A comparative study using a probabilistic reasoning task.

Similar Datasets

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