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We report that motion coherence thresholds in children with autism are significantly higher than in matched controls. No corresponding difference in form coherence thresholds was found. We interpret this as a specific deficit in dorsal stream function in autism. To examine the possibility of a neural basis for the perceptual and motor related abnormalities frequently cited in autism we tested 23 children diagnosed with autistic disorder, on two tasks specific to dorsal and ventral cortical stream functions. The results provide evidence that autistic individuals have a specific impairment in dorsal stream functioning. We conclude that autism may have common features with other developmental disorders and with early stages of normal development, perhaps reflecting a greater vulnerability of the dorsal system.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Neuroreport

Publication Date

21/08/2000

Volume

11

Pages

2765 - 2767

Keywords

Adult, Autistic Disorder, Child, Preschool, Differential Threshold, Form Perception, Humans, Motion Perception, Neural Pathways, Reference Values