Travers Brittany G, Kana Rajesh K, Klinger Laura G, Klein Christopher L, Klinger Mark R
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Autism Res. 2015 Feb;8(1):38-51. doi: 10.1002/aur.1403. Epub 2014 Sep 24.
Motor-linked implicit learning is the learning of a sequence of movements without conscious awareness. Although motor symptoms are frequently reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), recent behavioral studies have suggested that motor-linked implicit learning may be intact in ASD. The serial reaction time (SRT) task is one of the most common measures of motor-linked implicit learning. The present study used a 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner to examine the behavioral and neural correlates of real-time motor sequence learning in adolescents and adults with ASD (n = 15) compared with age- and intelligence quotient-matched individuals with typical development (n = 15) during an SRT task. Behavioral results suggested less robust motor sequence learning in individuals with ASD. Group differences in brain activation suggested that individuals with ASD, relative to individuals with typical development, showed decreased activation in the right superior parietal lobule (SPL) and right precuneus (Brodmann areas 5 and 7, and extending into the intraparietal sulcus) during learning. Activation in these areas (and in areas such as the right putamen and right supramarginal gyrus) was found to be significantly related to behavioral learning in this task. Additionally, individuals with ASD who had more severe repetitive behavior/restricted interest symptoms demonstrated greater decreased activation in these regions during motor learning. In conjunction, these results suggest that the SPL may play an important role in motor learning and repetitive behavior in individuals with ASD.
运动关联的内隐学习是指在没有意识觉察的情况下对一系列动作的学习。尽管在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）个体中经常报告有运动症状，但最近的行为研究表明，运动关联的内隐学习在ASD中可能是完整的。序列反应时（SRT）任务是运动关联内隐学习最常用的测量方法之一。本研究使用3T功能磁共振成像扫描仪，在SRT任务期间，检查了15名患有ASD的青少年和成年人与15名年龄和智商匹配的发育正常个体相比，实时运动序列学习的行为和神经相关性。行为结果表明，ASD个体的运动序列学习能力较弱。大脑激活的组间差异表明，与发育正常的个体相比，ASD个体在学习过程中右侧顶上小叶（SPL）和右侧楔前叶（Brodmann 5区和7区，并延伸至顶内沟）的激活减少。发现这些区域（以及右侧壳核和右侧缘上回等区域）的激活与该任务中的行为学习显著相关。此外，具有更严重重复行为/兴趣受限症状的ASD个体在运动学习过程中这些区域的激活减少更为明显。综合来看，这些结果表明，SPL可能在ASD个体的运动学习和重复行为中起重要作用。
