Action Perception Is Intact in Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Cusack, J., Williams, J. H. G., & Neri, P. (2015). Action Perception Is Intact in Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Journal of Neuroscience, 35(5), 1849-1857. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.4133-13.2015

Publication date: 4 Feb 2015 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 3 (33.3%)
  1. James Cusack *
  2. Justin H. G. Williams
  3. Peter Neri

Abstract

Autistic traits span a wide spectrum of behavioral departures from typical function. Despite the heterogeneous nature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there have been attempts at formulating unified theoretical accounts of the associated impairments in social cognition. A class of prominent theories capitalizes on the link between social interaction and visual perception: effective interaction with others often relies on discrimination of subtle nonverbal cues. It has been proposed that individuals with ASD may rely on poorer perceptual representations of other people's actions as returned by dysfunctional visual circuitry and that this, in turn, may lead to less effective interpretation of those actions for social behavior. It remains unclear whether such perceptual deficits exist in ASD: the evidence currently available is limited to specific aspects of action recognition, and the reported deficits are often attributable to cognitive factors that may not be strictly visual (e.g., attention). We present results from an exhaustive set of measurements spanning the entire action processing hierarchy, from motion detection to action interpretation, designed to factor out effects that are not selectively relevant to this function. Our results demonstrate that the ASD perceptual system returns functionally intact signals for interpreting other people's actions adequately; these signals can be accessed effectively when autistic individuals are prompted and motivated to do so under controlled conditions. However, they may fail to exploit them adequately during real-life social interactions.

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Cited references
47
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
1 / 47 (2.1%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
1 / 166 (0.6%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 1 / 32 (3.1%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 1 / 144 (0.7%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
32 / 166 (19.3%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 24 / 144 (16.7%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
31 / 32 (96.9%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 31 / 166 (18.7%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 23 / 24 (95.8%).
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