Luca Ronconi | The deployment of visual attention in autism spectrum disorder: Insights from different experimental approaches

One of the main challenges in the current research in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is to define the early neurocognitive impairments that provide critical foundations for the core deficits in social and communication abilities. This is particularly relevant in order to improve the early detection of the condition and to implement early training programs that can alleviate the symptomatology. Early attentional dysfunctions are among the candidate mechanisms that can play a critical role in the emergence of ASD. In this talk I will present the results of my research activities of the past 5 years, which aimed at a better characterization of the altered visual attention in ASD and its possible neural underpinnings. In particular, we used different experimental approaches – such as psychophysics, electroencephalography and neurostimulation – to investigate the ability to distribute attentional resources in the visual field and to select relevant vs. irrelevant information both in typically developing individuals and in individuals with ASD. Overall, our results showed the importance of basic (non-social) attentional impairments in the core manifestations of ASD and in its developmental course.