Exploring Social Biomarkers in High-Functioning Adults with Autism and Asperger’s Versus Healthy Controls: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Rubido, Marta del Valle; Hollander, Eric; McCracken, James T.; Shic, Frederick; Noeldeke, Jana; Boak, Lauren; Khwaja, Omar; Sadikhov, Shamil; Fontoura, Paulo; Umbricht, Daniel

doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04493-5

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 132 publications

(167 reference statements)

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“…The ASD group shows a slightly larger average pupil size throughout the task than the NT group. This could suggest that children with ASD show hyper-arousal in the tasks which they must face, which would be in accordance with previous research [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 43 ]. A rising level of activation during the task would translate into attention level difficulties that could form the basis of the characteristics that these children show when processing social information in different contexts.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…These findings should be interpreted from a neuropsychological perspective, since alterations in visual attention are indicative of a state of anomalous neural activation. The results found indicate that indirect, objective measurements of the level of activation, such as number and time of gaze fixations (registered through eye-tracking) are potential candidate biomarkers for diagnostic indicators of the presence of ASD [ 43 ]. Even so, it would be necessary to carry out a larger future study of these measurements to refine this technique for non-invasive diagnostic screening.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gaze Following and Pupil Dilation as Early Diagnostic Markers of Autism in Toddlers

2021

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Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show certain characteristics in visual attention. These may generate differences with non-autistic children in the integration of relevant social information to set the basis of communication. Reliable and objective measurement of these characteristics in a language learning context could contribute to a more accurate early diagnosis of ASD. Gaze following and pupil dilation are being studied as possible reliable measures of visual attention for the early detection of ASD. The eye-tracking methodology allows objective measurement of these biomarkers. The aim of this study is to determine whether measurements of gaze following and pupillary dilation in a linguistic interaction task are potential objective biomarkers for the early diagnosis of ASD. Method: A group of 20 children between 17 and 24 months of age, made up of 10 neurotypical children (NT) and 10 children with an increased likelihood of developing ASD were paired together according to chronological age. A human face on a monitor pronounced pseudowords associated with pseudo-objects. Gaze following and pupil dilation were registered during the task These measurements were captured using eye-tracking methodology. Results: Significant statistical differences were found in the time of gaze fixation on the human face and on the object, as well as in the number of gazes. Children with an increased possibility of developing ASD showed a slightly higher pupil dilation than NT children. However, this difference was not statistically significant. Nevertheless, their pupil dilation was uniform throughout the different periods of the task while NT participants showed greater dilation on hearing the pseudoword. Conclusions: The fixing and the duration of gaze, objectively measured by a Tobii eye-tracking system, could be considered as potential biomarkers for early detection of ASD. Additionally, pupil dilation measurement could reflect differential activation patterns during word processing in possible ASD toddlers and NT toddlers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gaze Following and Pupil Dilation as Early Diagnostic Markers of Autism in Toddlers

2021

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“…Phasic LC -NE activity and related pupil dilation has been linked to sensory-perceptual processing, orienting attention and to social cognition (Bast et al, 2019). As described in the introduction individuals with ASD might have an altered neuroception of safety versus threat which results in elevated autonomic arousal and is also suggested by Del Valle Rubido et al as an explanation for the between-group differences in their study (Del Valle Rubido et al, 2020). Changes in the various pupillary parameters in the PLR are often not correlated to each other, which suggests influences of different neurological mechanisms according to Kercher et al (2020a).…”

Section: Ansmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Pupil dilation amplitude and FSIQ could significantly predict the SRS total T-score, in a model based upon these results. In the study of (Del Valle Rubido et al, 2020) better functioning, defined as less hyperactivity and higher FSIQ and PIQ scores, was related to larger pupil sizes in the ASD group. Reisinger et al (2020) included a cognitively diverse group.…”

Section: Cognitive Functioning Mental Effort and Attentionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Autism spectrum disorder and pupillometry: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Vries

Fouquaet

Boets

et al. 2021

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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Pupillometry, measuring pupil size and reactivity, has been proposed as a measure of autonomic nervous system functioning, the latter which might be altered in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aims to evaluate if pupillary responses differ in individuals with and without ASD. After performing a systematic literature search, we conducted a meta-analysis and constructed a qualitative synthesis. The meta-analysis shows a longer latency of the pupil response in the ASD-group as a substantial group difference, with a Hedges' g of 1.03 (95% CI 0.49-1.56, p = 0.008). Evidence on baseline pupil size and amplitude change is conflicting. We used the framework method to perform a qualitative evaluation of these differences. Explanations for the group differences vary between studies and are inconclusive, but many authors point to involvement of the autonomous nervous system and more specifically the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system. Pupillometry reveals differences between people with and without ASD, but the exact meaning of these differences remains unknown. Future studies should align research designs and investigate a possible effect of maturation.

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“…Eye tracking enables objective, quantifiable, dense, and repeatable measurement of oculomotor indices as the overt expression of neurobiological substates driving attentional processes (Posner & Petersen, 1990). There is a growing body of work examining the potential of eye tracking as a biomarker in conditions ranging from traumatic brain injury (Bin Zahid et al, 2020; Hunfalvay et al, 2021; Samadani et al, 2016, 2017; for review see McDonald et al, 2022), to Parkinson's disease (Ba et al, 2022; Blekher et al, 2009; Brien et al, 2023; Li et al, 2023; Tsitsi et al, 2021), to autism (Bradshaw et al, 2019; Del Valle Rubido et al, 2020; Frazier et al, 2021; Loth et al, 2017; Mason et al, 2021; Murias et al, 2018; Pierce et al, 2015; Shic et al, 2022; Wen et al, 2022), though discussions regarding nomenclature are ongoing, as they are for other similar classes of biomarkers (Ba et al, 2022; Hidalgo‐Mazzei et al, 2018; Li et al, 2023; Tsitsi et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Selective Social Attention task in children with autism spectrum disorder: Results from the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials (ABC‐CT) feasibility study

Shic,

Barney,

Naples

et al. 2023

Autism Research

Self Cite

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The Selective Social Attention (SSA) task is a brief eye‐tracking task involving experimental conditions varying along socio‐communicative axes. Traditionally the SSA has been used to probe socially‐specific attentional patterns in infants and toddlers who develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This current work extends these findings to preschool and school‐age children. Children 4‐ to 12‐years‐old with ASD (N = 23) and a typically‐developing comparison group (TD; N = 25) completed the SSA task as well as standardized clinical assessments. Linear mixed models examined group and condition effects on two outcome variables: percent of time spent looking at the scene relative to scene presentation time (%Valid), and percent of time looking at the face relative to time spent looking at the scene (%Face). Age and IQ were included as covariates. Outcome variables' relationships to clinical data were assessed via correlation analysis. The ASD group, compared to the TD group, looked less at the scene and focused less on the actress' face during the most socially‐engaging experimental conditions. Additionally, within the ASD group, %Face negatively correlated with SRS total T‐scores with a particularly strong negative correlation with the Autistic Mannerism subscale T‐score. These results highlight the extensibility of the SSA to older children with ASD, including replication of between‐group differences previously seen in infants and toddlers, as well as its ability to capture meaningful clinical variation within the autism spectrum across a wide developmental span inclusive of preschool and school‐aged children. The properties suggest that the SSA may have broad potential as a biomarker for ASD.

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Exploring Social Biomarkers in High-Functioning Adults with Autism and Asperger’s Versus Healthy Controls: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Cited by 9 publications

References 132 publications

Gaze Following and Pupil Dilation as Early Diagnostic Markers of Autism in Toddlers

Gaze Following and Pupil Dilation as Early Diagnostic Markers of Autism in Toddlers

Autism spectrum disorder and pupillometry: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The Selective Social Attention task in children with autism spectrum disorder: Results from the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials (ABC‐CT) feasibility study

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