Specific Global-Local Visual Processing Abilities Mediate the Influence of Non-social Autistic-like Traits on Mental Rotation.

Inconsistent data are available on mental rotation performance in neurotypicals with high autistic-like traits. Here, we tested whether global-local visual processing abilities mediate the influence of specific autistic-like trait domains (social skill, attention switching, attention-to-detail, communication, and imagination) on mental rotation. Neurotypical participants (N = 128) underwent an assessment of autistic-like traits, a flanker task with hierarchical stimuli, and a mental rotation task. Path analysis showed that Reaction Times on the incongruent/local condition of the flanker task mediated the relationship between attention-to-detail and mental rotation accuracy. These findings indicate that a better capacity of ignoring incongruent global information to identify local information (reduced global interference) in persons with high non-social autistic-like traits, as attention-to-detail, facilitates mental rotation performance.

Anxiety Sensitivity Domains are Differently Affected by Social and Non-social Autistic Traits.

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is implicated in the development and maintenance of several psychopathological conditions. Non-clinical individuals with high autistic traits may develop anxiety disorders and depressive symptoms. Here, we investigated the relationships of autistic traits with AS dimensions and depression, considering sex. We referred to the two-factor model of the autism spectrum quotient to distinguish social and non-social autistic traits and assessed 345 university students on AS and depression scales. Results showed that only social autistic traits predicted general AS and anxiety-related concerns regarding social and cognitive domains. The present results emphasize the need of assessing multiple domains of anxiety in individuals on the autistic spectrum, differentiating social and non-social traits.

Switching between the Forest and the Trees: The Contribution of Global to Local Switching to Spatial Constructional Abilities in Typically Developing Children.

BACKGROUND: Spatial analysis encompasses the ability to perceive the visual world by arranging the local elements ("the trees") into a coherent global configuration ("the forest"). During childhood, this ability gradually switches from a local to a global precedence, which contributes to changes in children's spatial construction abilities, such as drawing or building blocks. At present, it is not clear whether enhanced global or local processing or, alternatively, whether switching between these two levels best accounts for children's spatial constructional abilities. METHODS: We assessed typically developing children 7 to 8 years old on a global/local switching task and on two widely used spatial construction tasks (the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure and the Block Design test). RESULTS: The ability to switch from global to local level, rather than a global or a local advantage, best accounted for children's performance on both spatial construction tasks. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings contribute to elucidate the relationship between visual perception and spatial construction in children showing that the ease with which children switch perception from global to local processing is an important factor in their performance on tasks requiring complex drawing and block assembling.

Sex differences in implicit motor imagery: Evidence from the hand laterality task.

Behavioural evidence suggest that males outperform females in mentally transforming objects, whereas whether sex differences exist in mentally transforming body part images (implicit motor imagery) is an open issue. The aim of the present study was to fill this gap testing performance of 360 healthy participants on a classical behavioural measure of implicit motor imagery: the hand laterality task. Participants had to judge handedness of hand images portrayed from back and palm and presented in different spatial orientations. Two main findings emerged. First, males were significantly faster than females in judging hands portrayed from palm, in particular left palms at 0°, 90° and 180° orientation, whereas females were faster than males in judging backs, in particular left and right backs at 0° and the left back at 90°. Second, both males and females showed a significant biomechanical effect (faster responses for hands portrayed in medial vs. lateral positions) while judging palms, albeit the effect was stronger in males, whereas only females showed a significant biomechanical effect when judging backs. Thus, males and females seem to differently exploit motor simulation processes during mental transformation of hand images depending on a specific familiarity with body parts portrayed from different views. This result might be taken into account when tailoring motor imagery tasks in applied contexts, as motor rehabilitation.

The effects of autistic traits and academic degree on visuospatial abilities.

In the present study, we were interested to investigate how autistic traits (including systemizing and empathy) and academic degree influence individuals' visuospatial abilities. To this end, 352 university students completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the Empathy Quotient, the Systemizing Quotient (SQ) and visuospatial tests measuring figure disembedding and mental rotation of two-dimensional figures. Engineering-design students (architecture and engineering) were the most accurate in disembedding and mentally rotating figures, followed by students of physical sciences (computer science, chemistry, physics, etc.) and fact-based humanities (languages, classics, law); biological (psychology and neuroscience, etc.) and systems-based social scientists (economics and commerce) were the least accurate. Engineering-design students also showed higher SQ scores with respect to the other four academic degree subjects, with students of biological sciences showing lower SQ scores. Importantly, results from a path analysis revealed that SQ (but not AQ) exerted an indirect effect on figure disembedding and mental rotations through the influence of the academic degree. Thus, the present findings reveal shady differences in systemizing degree and visuospatial performance within systemizing-based degree subjects. Implications for education are discussed.