The people with autism

Alfonso Renart

Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal

Approximately 90 % of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulties in processing sensory stimuli that can affect all senses: sight, taste, touch, smell, hearing, proprioception and/or sense of balance. Differences in the way sensory information is processed can manifest as hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity reactions to stimuli.

It has recently been discovered that people with ASD perceive the intensity of stimuli differently from people without ASD. In this project, researchers will study how individuals with ASD distinguish between the magnitude of sensory stimuli and, using mathematical analysis, will try to relate their ability to distinguish stimuli to computations performed in their brain. To further understand these computations, they will also study how animal models of ASD make the same judgements of sensory intensity. The project will use quantitative behavioural analysis as a tool for the diagnosis and aetiology of this type of disorder and aims to make innovative contributions to fundamental and translational brain research.

Weber’s Law: A mechanistic window into sensory dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders

€499,998.40