Children with autism see optical illusions differently

In recent years, the number of studies that seek to identify and map the characteristics of the mind of autistic children has grown. Thus, it was possible to perceive that these individuals have a different way of perceiving the world through their sense organs. This influences, for example, the way children with autism see optical illusions.

understand the study

Researchers set out to understand how the brain of a child with autism reacts to an optical illusion. To do so, they presented psychologist Gaetano Kanizsa's classic optical illusion to 60 children, 29 of whom were autistic.

Example of optical illusion made by Gaetano Kanizsa.

Based on their brain activity, children aged 7 to 17 years old, diagnosed with ASD, demonstrated a delay in processing the Kanizsa illusion.

This does not necessarily mean that the participants were unable to interpret the form formed. by the contour images, but it suggests that their brains processed the illusion in a way that is not automatic.

These illusions serve to assess how our brain perceives visual stimuli through the play of light and shadow. In this way, our brain tends to automatically interpret one perspective, until other stimuli introduce it to another interpretation. However, there is never a double interpretation, with the reading of both.

Autistic children do not process sensations in a neurotypical way

Several previous studies already presented data on how the interpretation of sounds, images and touches is different for autistic children. Similarly, this study showed that the perception of an optical illusion does not happen in the neurotypical way, as in children who do not have the autism spectrum.