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Typical magnitude and spatial extent of crowding in autism.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Repository DOI


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Authors

Freyberg, Jan 
Robertson, Caroline E 

Abstract

Enhanced spatial processing of local visual details has been reported in individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC), and crowding is postulated to be a mechanism that may produce this ability. However, evidence for atypical crowding in ASC is mixed, with some studies reporting a complete lack of crowding in autism and others reporting a typical magnitude of crowding between individuals with and without ASC. Here, we aim to disambiguate these conflicting results by testing both the magnitude and the spatial extent of crowding in individuals with ASC (N = 25) and age- and IQ-matched controls (N = 23) during an orientation discrimination task. We find a strong crowding effect in individuals with and without ASC, which falls off as the distance between target and flanker is increased. Both the magnitude and the spatial range of this effect were comparable between individuals with and without ASC. We also find typical (uncrowded) orientation discrimination thresholds in individuals with ASC. These findings suggest that the spatial extent of crowding is unremarkable in ASC, and is therefore unlikely to account for the visual symptoms reported in individuals with the diagnosis.

Description

Keywords

Adolescent, Adult, Autistic Disorder, Crowding, Female, Humans, Male, Orientation, Spatial Processing, Visual Perception, Young Adult

Journal Title

J Vis

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1534-7362
1534-7362

Volume Title

16

Publisher

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (G0600977)
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (via Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) (unknown)
This work was supported by a Medical Research Council (MRC) UK grant to JF, a Harvard Society of Fellows grant to CER, and grants from the MRC, the Wellcome Trust, and the Autism Research Trust to SBC. This study was conducted in association with the NIHR CLAHRC EoE and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.