Perceptual organization and central coherence during the visual processing in children with autism: Evidence for disrupted functional connectivity in autistic brain

A variety of evidence demonstrate altered perceptual functioning during visual processing in the brain of children with autism.it possibly is related to or the cause other diagnostic symptom in autism spectrum. In the present study visual perceptual organization in autistic children is studied. These processes require central coherence and typical functional connectivity among neural structure in the brain. 25 high functioning autistic and 25 neuro -typical boys were assessed in term of visual perceptual processing. Visual stimuli include fragmented (incomplete) and complete images of animate and inanimate objects which presented in a monitor. The subject’s task was rapid and accurate naming of images that have been seen. Responses compare by independent-T. Also the effect of completeness and image type factors on samples’ visual processing analyzed by repeated measure analysis of variance. Interaction effects of completeness, image type and group on subjects’ visual processing were significant (p<0.05). Also autistic children have lower performance in naming of incomplete image as well as inanimate object recognition (p=0.000); however, both groups were similar in recognition of whole image (p=0.597). On the other hand, all the samples perform better in detection of complete image than fragmented image (p=0.000). Failure to recognize the fragmented images of object in particular, inanimate, could be marker of impaired processes related to central coherence of visual information in the brain of autistic children. Detection of these images in these children was different from neuro-typical children significantly. That may be the indicator of impaired visual perceptual organization and an evidence for disrupted functional connectivity among the brain area in children with autism.