Information processing in individuals with autism is marked by a unique interplay of strengths and weaknesses that in concert distinguishes social cognition in autism from individuals with typical-functioning brains. In autism, difficulties with higher cognitive processing and enhancement of low-level visuospatial processing, such as in visual search tasks, may lead to diminished central coherence, which has the potential to hinder how an individual functions in social interactions where integration of components such as intention, emotion, and context paints the global picture necessary for social processing. A more thorough understanding of the cognitive and neural processes in autism is important for the advancement of intervention programs. The intention of this review is to discuss the implications of neuroimaging and behavioral studies that have analyzed the higher cognitive functions in individuals with high-functioning autism, with a particular emphasis on studies that have investigated visuospatial processing.
Keywords: autism; fMRI; functional connectivity; functional underconnectivity; mindblindness; visuospatial processing; weak central coherence.