Overview
- The Journal of Neuroscience paper, published Monday, Oct. 26, reported that autistic adults produced a markedly reduced feedback-related negativity (FRN), an EEG signal tied to processing negative performance feedback.
- Autistic participants showed weaker sensitivity to their own decision confidence and less modulation of feedback by task difficulty, indicating a decoupling of internal certainty from outcome processing.
- Behavioral data showed reduced trial-by-trial updating in autistic adults, with participants less likely to adjust choices after recent easy or successful trials.
- The findings were replicated in a follow-up study conducted one to two years later, and combined neural and behavioral measures separated autistic and non-autistic participants with about 80% accuracy.
- Researchers plan targeted studies of anterior cingulate cortex circuitry to test mechanisms and potential supports, but authors stress the results come from lab perceptual tasks in adults and are not diagnostic or therapeutic on their own.