Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Dec;30(14):1877-86.
doi: 10.1177/0883073815600869. Epub 2015 Sep 8.

Neural Correlates of Visuomotor Learning in Autism

Elizabeth Sharer  1 , Deana Crocetti  2 , John Muschelli  3 , Anita D Barber  4 , Mary Beth Nebel  4 , Brian S Caffo  3 , Jim J Pekar  5 , Stewart H Mostofsky  6
Affiliations

Neural Correlates of Visuomotor Learning in Autism

Elizabeth Sharer et al. J Child Neurol. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Motor impairments are prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder. The Serial Reaction Time Task, a well-established visuomotor sequence learning probe, has produced inconsistent behavioral findings in individuals with autism. Moreover, it remains unclear how underlying neural processes for visuomotor learning in children with autism compare to processes for typically developing children. Neural activity differences were assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a modified version of the Serial Reaction Time Task in children with and without autism. Though there was no group difference in visuomotor sequence learning, underlying patterns of neural activation significantly differed when comparing sequence (i.e., learning) to random (i.e., nonlearning) blocks. Children with autism demonstrated decreased activity in brain regions implicated in visuomotor sequence learning: superior temporal sulcus and posterior cingulate cortex. The findings implicate differences in brain mechanisms that support initial sequence learning in autism and can help explain behavioral observations of autism-associated impairments in skill development (motor, social, communicative) reliant on visuomotor integration.

Keywords: autism; motor learning; procedural learning.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Sections

Declaration of Conflicting Interests. Elizabeth Sharer, Deana Crocetti, John Muschelli, Anita Barber, Mary Beth Nebel, Brian Caffo, Jim J. Pekar, and Stewart Mostofsky have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stimuli Presentation. Visual cues appear and the subject presses the corresponding response button.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Experimental design for the SRTT. Each run of the SRTT has 5 task blocks: 3 sequence blocks and 2 random blocks. Rests are interspersed between each task block and after each run.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Between group comparisons of sequence – random contrast across runs.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Between group comparisons of sequence – random contrast within run 1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, text revision (DSM-IV-TR) American Psychiatric Association; 2000.
    1. Landa RJ. Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in the first 3 years of life. Nature Clinical Practice Neurology. 2008;4(3):138–147. - PubMed
    1. Jansiewicz EM, Goldberg MC, Newschaffer CJ, et al. Motor signs distinguish children with high functioning autism and Asperger’s syndrome from controls. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. 2006;36(5):613–621. - PubMed
    1. Sutera S, Pandey J, Esser EL, et al. Predictors of optimal outcome in toddlers diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. 2007;37(1):98–107. - PubMed
    1. Dziuk MA, Larson JC, Apostu A, et al. Dyspraxia in autism: association with motor, social, and communicative deficits. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 2007;49(10):734–739. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources