Processing strengths or “islets of ability” associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially in visual search, have been of continued interest as they provide insight into how those with ASD perceive the world around them. In typically-developing (TD) individuals, region-specific concentrations of GABA are associated with differences in attention and perception. ASD may be associated with an excitatory-inhibitory imbalance, however, it remains unclear how this may contribute to superior search abilities. To test this, 37 ASD and TD children participated in a magnetic resonance spectroscopy study using MEGA-semi-LASER to detect GABA concentrations in cortical regions associated with attention and perception.
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