TY - JOUR
T1 - Modeling flexible behavior in childhood to adulthood shows age-dependent learning mechanisms and less optimal learning in autism in each age group
AU - Crawley, Daisy
AU - Zhang, Lei
AU - Jones, Emily J.H.
AU - Ahmad, Jumana
AU - Oakley, Bethany
AU - San José Cáceres, Antonia
AU - Charman, Tony
AU - Buitelaar, Jan K.
AU - Murphy, Declan G.M.
AU - Chatham, Christopher
AU - den Ouden, Hanneke
AU - Loth, Eva
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - Flexible behavior is critical for everyday decision-making and has been implicated in restricted, repetitive behaviors (RRB) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, how flexible behavior changes developmentally in ASD remains largely unknown. Here, we used a developmental approach and examined flexible behavior on a probabilistic reversal learning task in 572 children, adolescents, and adults (ASD N = 321; typical development [TD] N = 251). Using computational modeling, we quantified latent variables that index mechanisms underlying perseveration and feedback sensitivity. We then assessed these variables in relation to diagnosis, developmental stage, core autism symptomatology, and associated psychiatric symptoms. Autistic individuals showed on average more perseveration and less feedback sensitivity than TD individuals, and, across cases and controls, older age groups showed more feedback sensitivity than younger age groups. Computational modeling revealed that dominant learning mechanisms underpinning flexible behavior differed across developmental stages and reduced flexible behavior in ASD was driven by less optimal learning on average within each age group. In autistic children, perseverative errors were positively related to anxiety symptoms, and in autistic adults, perseveration (indexed by both task errors and model parameter estimates) was positively related to RRB. These findings provide novel insights into reduced flexible behavior in relation to clinical symptoms in ASD.
AB - Flexible behavior is critical for everyday decision-making and has been implicated in restricted, repetitive behaviors (RRB) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, how flexible behavior changes developmentally in ASD remains largely unknown. Here, we used a developmental approach and examined flexible behavior on a probabilistic reversal learning task in 572 children, adolescents, and adults (ASD N = 321; typical development [TD] N = 251). Using computational modeling, we quantified latent variables that index mechanisms underlying perseveration and feedback sensitivity. We then assessed these variables in relation to diagnosis, developmental stage, core autism symptomatology, and associated psychiatric symptoms. Autistic individuals showed on average more perseveration and less feedback sensitivity than TD individuals, and, across cases and controls, older age groups showed more feedback sensitivity than younger age groups. Computational modeling revealed that dominant learning mechanisms underpinning flexible behavior differed across developmental stages and reduced flexible behavior in ASD was driven by less optimal learning on average within each age group. In autistic children, perseverative errors were positively related to anxiety symptoms, and in autistic adults, perseveration (indexed by both task errors and model parameter estimates) was positively related to RRB. These findings provide novel insights into reduced flexible behavior in relation to clinical symptoms in ASD.
KW - 302036 Child and adolescent psychiatry
KW - 302036 Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie
KW - 501011 Cognitive psychology
KW - 501011 Kognitionspsychologie
KW - 501005 Developmental psychology
KW - 501005 Entwicklungspsychologie
KW - 106010 Developmental biology
KW - 106010 Entwicklungsbiologie
KW - ANXIETY DISORDERS
KW - CHILDREN
KW - DECISION-MAKING
KW - PERFORMANCE
KW - PREFRONTAL CORTEX
KW - REPETITIVE BEHAVIORS
KW - REVERSAL
KW - SET
KW - SHIFTING-DEFICITS
KW - SPECTRUM DISORDERS
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000908
DO - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000908
M3 - Article
SN - 1544-9173
VL - 18
JO - PLoS Biology
JF - PLoS Biology
IS - 10
ER -