How distinct Autism and Schizotypal trait dimensions influence neural predictive processing: An Event-related potential study

The Predictive Processing (PP) framework provides a compelling model for understanding the neural mechanisms underlying autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). In this study, we developed visual and auditory oddball tasks with two levels of target detection difficulty to effectively elicit event-related potential (ERP) components. A total of 122 participants from the community completed these tasks during an EEG recording and self-reports assessing their variations on autistic and schizotypal traits. Results revealed that task difficulty significantly reduced P300 amplitudes across both auditory and visual modalities. Higher Restricted Interests and Detail Orientation autistic traits resulted in enhanced N2 amplitudes in the difficult visual task. Our findings also indicated a trend-level reduction in visual P300 amplitude and modulation of the auditory complex N1-P2 for individuals with higher autistic scores regarding difficulties in communication. For positive schizotypal traits, an unexpected trend-level association with increased auditory P300 amplitude emerged. These findings highlight differential impacts of ASD and SSD dimensions, on predictive processing, with variations observed across sensory modalities, task difficulty, and ERP components. This study advances our understanding of neurophysiological variability in ASD and SSD, supporting dimensional approaches to neurodevelopmental disorders and emphasizing the need for symptom-specific research. Our findings contribute to the growing body of literature on predictive processing in ASD and SSD, suggesting pathways for more refined investigations into the neural variability associated with these traits.