unaffected perceptual thresholds for biological and non-biological form-from-motion perception in autism spectrum conditions影响知觉阈值对生物和非生物form-from-motion知觉在孤独症谱系的条件下.pdfVIP

Unaffected Perceptual Thresholds for Biological and Non-Biological Form-from-Motion Perception in Autism Spectrum Conditions 1 2 2 Ayse Pinar Saygin *, Jennifer Cook , Sarah-Jayne Blakemore 1 Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America, 2 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom Abstract Background: Perception of biological motion is linked to the action perception system in the human brain, abnormalities within which have been suggested to underlie impairments in social domains observed in autism spectrum conditions (ASC). However, the literature on biological motion perception in ASC is heterogeneous and it is unclear whether deficits are specific to biological motion, or might generalize to form-from-motion perception. Methodology and Principal Findings: We compared psychophysical thresholds for both biological and non-biological form-from-motion perception in adults with ASC and controls. Participants viewed point-light displays depicting a walking person (Biological Motion), a translating rectangle (Structured Object) or a translating unfamiliar shape (Unstructured Object). The figures were embedded in noise dots that moved similarly and the task was to determine direction of movement. The number of noise dots varied on each trial and perceptual thresholds were estimated adaptively. We found no evidence for an impairment in biological or non-biological object motion perception in individuals with ASC. Perceptual thresholds in the three conditions were almost identical between the ASC and control groups. Discussion and Conclusions: Impairments in biological motion and non-biological form-from-m