Journal article
Children with autism spectrum disorders show abnormal conditioned response timing on delay, but not trace, eyeblink conditioning
Neuroscience, v 248, pp 708-718
17 Sep 2013
PMID: 23769889
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and age-matched typically-developing (TD) peers were tested on two forms of eyeblink conditioning (EBC), a Pavlovian associative learning paradigm where subjects learn to execute an appropriately-timed eyeblink in response to a previously neutral conditioning stimulus (CS). One version of the task, trace EBC, interposes a stimulus-free interval between the presentation of the CS and the unconditioned stimulus (US), a puff of air to the eye which causes the subjects to blink. In delay EBC, the CS overlaps in time with the delivery of the US, usually with both stimuli terminating simultaneously. ASD children performed normally during trace EBC, exhibiting no differences from TD subjects with regard to the learning rate or the timing of the conditioned response. However, when subsequently tested on delay EBC, subjects with ASD displayed abnormally-timed conditioned eye blinks that began earlier and peaked sooner than those of TD subjects, consistent with previous findings. The results suggest an impaired ability of children with ASD to properly time conditioned eye blinks which appears to be specific to delay EBC. We suggest that this deficit may reflect a dysfunction of the cerebellar cortex in which increases in the intensity or duration of sensory input can temporarily disrupt the accuracy of motor timing over short temporal intervals. © 2013 IBRO.
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Details
- Title
- Children with autism spectrum disorders show abnormal conditioned response timing on delay, but not trace, eyeblink conditioning
- Creators
- J. Oristaglio - Drexel UniversityS. Hyman West - Department of Psychiatry, Drexel University College of Medicine, United StatesM. Ghaffari - Drexel UniversityM. S. Lech - Drexel UniversityB. R. Verma - Drexel UniversityJ. A. Harvey - Drexel UniversityJ. P. Welsh - Seattle Children's HospitalR. P. Malone - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Neuroscience, v 248, pp 708-718
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 11
- Grant note
- R01 NS31224-19 / National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke R01NS031224; R01 NS31224-19 / National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (http://data.elsevier.com/vocabulary/SciValFunders/100000065) R21MH084219 / National Institute of Mental Health (http://data.elsevier.com/vocabulary/SciValFunders/100000025) R21 MH084219 / National Institute of Mental Health
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Pharmacology and Physiology
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000330422100064
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84881367879
- Other Identifier
- 991022200100304721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Neurosciences