Do autism spectrum disorders involve a generalized object categorization and identification dysfunction?

Abstract

Experience-dependent learning of feature-based object categories, including entry-level categories such as “human being” and more specialized categories such as “family member”, “pet” or “toy”, is required to support correct object re-identification over time and hence to support social bonding, language learning, and the development of general life skills. It is hypothesized that activity imbalances between motion-analyzing and feature-analyzing components of the visuo-motor system resulting in hyper-activation of parahippocampal cortex relative to perirhinal cortex during the initial period of experience-dependent category learning in early infancy could lead to the construction of object categories dominated by trajectory information as opposed to feature information. It is shown that the deployment of trajectory-dominated object categories would disrupt normal object re-identification and produce developmental outcomes consistent with both the recognized symptoms and experimentally characterized cognitive–behavioral phenotypes of autism spectrum disorders. Further experiments to test the hypothesis and its potential clinical relevance are discussed.