A Physiological Marker of Recognition Memory in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder? - The Pupil Old/New Effect

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

This study investigated the pupil Old/New effect in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and typical development (TD). Participants studied verbal and visual meaningful and meaningless materials in black and white on a computer screen. Pupil sizes were measured while participants performed a Remember (episodic memory with context)/Know (semantic memory, no context) recognition memory test. ASD compared to TD individuals showed significantly reduced recognition rates for all materials. Both groups showed better memory for visual compared to verbal (picture superiority effect) and meaningful compared to meaningless materials. A pupil size ratio (pupil size for test item divided by baseline) for old (studied) and new (unstudied) materials indicated larger pupils for old compared to new materials only for the TD but not the ASD group. Pupil size in response to old versus new items was positively related to recognition accuracy, confirming that the pupil Old/New effect reflects a memory phenomenon in the ASD group. In addition, this study suggests an involvement of the noradrenergic neurotransmitter system in the abnormal hippocampal functioning in ASD. Implications of these findings, as well as their underlying neurophysiology, will be discussed in relation to current theories of memory in ASD. Autism Res 2020, 13: 627–640.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)627-640
Number of pages14
JournalAutism research
Volume13
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2020
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 31858750
ORCID /0000-0001-7579-1829/work/142246015

Keywords

Keywords

  • autism spectrum disorder, episodic/semantic memory, picture superiority effect, pupil old/new effect, remember/know recognition procedure