The salience of competing nonsocial objects reduces gaze toward social stimuli, but not the eyes, more in typically developing than autistic boys.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Case-control observational study comparing ASD and typically developing preschool boys.
PubMed 35357777 · doi:10.1002/aur.2714
What was done
Eye-tracking was performed in 102 preschool-aged boys (50 with autism spectrum disorder [ASD] and 52 typically developing [TD]) presented with paired social (faces) and nonsocial (objects) stimuli under two conditions varying in nonsocial object salience. Basal blood concentrations of oxytocin and vasopressin were measured alongside cognitive development scores to evaluate correlations with visual attention patterns.
What was found
Compared with TD boys, those with ASD spent less time viewing social stimuli only when faces were paired with low-salience nonsocial objects. Boys with ASD spent less time than TD boys viewing facial features, particularly the eyes, regardless of object salience. In TD boys, basal oxytocin and cognitive scores were positively associated with eye-viewing time, whereas in ASD boys, these measures were negatively associated with face-viewing time. The abstract reported no exact numerical values, effect sizes, or p-values.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that general social gaze differences between autistic and typical children are modulated by how strongly competing nonsocial stimuli attract typical children. In contrast, reduced fixation on the eyes in autism appears to be an intrinsic feature unaffected by competing stimulus salience.
Limits
The study included only preschool-aged boys, limiting generalizability to females and other age groups. The abstract reports no quantitative metrics or effect sizes. The observational, laboratory-based design cannot establish causality between neuropeptide levels and gaze behavior.
Cited by
- supports Social features such as eyes or who is talking have less of a weight on where autistic individuals look compared to distractors.