Local and Global Visual Processing in Autism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies.
Brain scans confirm autistic people solve visual puzzles with visual cortex, not parietal hubs, so tailor prompts to their detail-first pathway.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Huang et al. (2025) pooled 15 brain-scan papers that compared autistic and neurotypical people during local/global visual tasks. They used activation-likelihood-estimate (ALE) meta-analysis to spot where each group reliably lights up.
Tasks asked viewers to pick out small details (local) or see the big picture (global) in shapes, faces, or patterns while lying in an MRI or PET scanner.
What they found
Autistic brains lean on the visual cortex to solve both kinds of puzzles. Control brains shift to parietal areas for global tasks.
The pattern held across ages and IQ levels, pointing to a core difference in how visual information is routed.
How this fits with other research
Guy et al. (2019) showed the same local-bias behaviorally: kids with ASD keep getting tripped up by tiny details through adolescence. The new imaging data explain why—visual cortex stays in charge.
Deruelle et al. (2004) found autistic children prefer high spatial-frequency (local) face cues. Yating’s meta-analysis now shows the brain source: over-recruitment of early visual areas.
Carter et al. (2011) proved the bias exists even in low-functioning deaf autistic individuals. The 2025 findings extend the same visual-cortex signature to a broader, mixed-ability sample, strengthening generalization.
Why it matters
When you show a complex visual prompt—schedule, social story, or data sheet—assume the client’s brain will lock onto the tiniest pieces first. Highlight the global meaning with separate cues (color borders, arrows, verbal prompt) instead of hoping they will “see” it on their own. Use the strength: tasks that need detail spotting (error checking, sorting, coding) can play to autistic visual engagement while you build separate exercises for big-picture integration.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) is linked to altered local and global visual processing. Previous meta-analyses demonstrated brain activation differences across a broad range of visual tasks in ASC compared to non-autistic individuals, suggesting alterations in visual processing. However, a more specific understanding of brain mechanisms underlying detail-oriented visual attention is still lacking. To address this question, we conducted a systematic review and an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis on brain imaging studies assessing 252 individuals with ASC and 263 neurotypical controls (CON). METHODS: We included tasks that either required focusing on details while ignoring global configurations (local visual processing) or vice versa (global visual processing). Using ALE, we performed between-group and within-group meta-analyses across 15 studies involving local and global visual tasks. RESULTS: We found greater activation in the right inferior occipital gyrus (Brodmann Area, BA 19) in ASC compared to CON in the between-group meta-analysis of local and global visual studies. In the within-group analysis, we identified two activation convergences in the thalamus and middle occipital gyrus (BA 19) in the ASC group, and one in the inferior parietal lobule (BA 40) in the CON group. CONCLUSIONS: In line with theories suggesting alterations in local and global visual processing in ASC, our results indicate that autistic individuals may rely more on the visual cortex for local/global visual processing, while non-autistic controls may rely more on parietal regions.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068910