Neonatal Transitions in Social Behavior and Their Implications for Autism

Shultz, Sarah; Klin, Ami; Jones, Warren R.

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2018.02.012

Cited by 108 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 134 publications

(175 reference statements)

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“…This preference, though, is not present two days later (p2). This decline is in line with other reports of human neonates that lose an initial predisposition 8,9,21,22 (in the absence of previous experience) for orienting towards face-like stimuli while moving to a voluntary control of the attention (reviewed here 32 ), as well as a peak in the predisposition to approaching a stuffed hen vs. control stimuli in chicks at around 24 hours of age 26,27 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

A transient time window for early predispositions in newborn chicks

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Ragusa

Vallortígara

2019

Preprint

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Neonates of different species are born with a set of predispositions that influence their early orienting responses toward the first stimuli encountered in their life. Human neonates and domestic chicks exhibit several similarities in the predisposition for attending to objects that move with speed changes, face-like stimuli and biological motion. Although early predispositions are connected to physiological development, little is known on the temporal course of early predispositions (whether they are stable or change in time) and on their genetic basis. To address these issues, we tested the preference for objects that change in speed vs. linear motion in three chicken breeds (Padovana, Polverara and Robusta maculata) within one day after hatching and three days after hatching. We found that the predisposition to preferentially attend to changes in speed is fixed at the species level on the first day of life and that it disappears by day three. These results indicate the existence of a short and transient time window of early predispositions that does not depend on visual experience.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

A transient time window for early predispositions in newborn chicks

Versace

Ragusa

Vallortígara

2019

Preprint

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“…Similarly, rhesus monkeys with better neonatal imitation skills in the first week of life develop more dominance and higher juvenile social status (Kaburu, Paukner, Simpson, Suomi, & Ferrari, ; Wooddell, Simpson, Murphy, Dettmer, & Paukner, ). These findings suggest that early social capacities may lay the groundwork for later emerging more complex social competencies (for a recent review in humans, see Shultz et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Atypical face and eye processing has been linked to heightened risk of psychopathy (Bedford, Pickles, Sharp, Wright, & Hill, 2015) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD; Gangi et al, 2018;Shultz, Klin, & Jones, 2018). For example, newborns at risk for ASD are less attentive to faces, particularly direct-gaze faces, compared with low-risk newborns (Di Giorgio et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual preferences for direct‐gaze faces in infant macaques (Macaca mulatta) with limited face exposure

Simpson

Paukner

Pedersen

et al. 2018

Developmental Psychobiology

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From birth, human and nonhuman primates attend more to faces with direct gaze compared with averted gaze, and previous studies report that attention to the eyes is linked to the emergence of later social skills. Here, we explored whether early experiences influence attraction to eye contact in infant macaques by examining their attention to face pairs varying in their gaze direction across the first 13 weeks of life. Infants raised by human caretakers had limited conspecific interactions (nursery‐reared; N = 16) and were compared to infants raised in rich social environments (mother‐reared; N = 20). Both groups looked longer to faces and the eyes of direct compared to averted‐gaze faces. Looking to all faces and eyes also increased with age. Nursery‐reared infants did not display age‐associated increases in attention to direct‐gaze faces specifically, suggesting that, while there may be an initial preference for direct‐gaze faces from birth, social experiences may support its early development.

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“…In prospective studies, infants exposed to repeated assessments may learn from these novel experiences; parents may learn new ways to interact with their children by observing assessments conducted by trained professionals; or the very early detection of delays may result in enrollment in very early intervention, all of which could influence the child's developmental trajectory (Szatmari et al., ). Some prospective studies may include parental and provider education, sensitization to normative developmental milestones, and new strategies to engage children (Guthrie et al., ), all of which could potentially attenuate cascading symptomatic effects while improving social and communicative engagement (Shultz, Klin, & Jones, ). Collectively, we term this beneficial effect on outcomes as the ‘surveillance effect’, and our results raise the possibility that developmental surveillance, and the aforementioned factors that accompany it, is the very mechanism by which children with ASD enrolled in prospective studies have more positive outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Future studies should invest in measuring potential mechanisms of change – like sensitizing parents to early normative developmental milestones (as advanced in public health campaigns), enhancing parent–child communicative interactions (as commonly adopted in parent‐mediated early treatment), and facilitating early enrollment into early intervention – in longitudinal studies of ASD children ascertained via prospective surveillance versus community referral and universal screening. As one example of a possible research design, following a transactional model of early development of social communication skills (Shultz et al., ), it should be possible to assess the child's longitudinal trajectory as a function of change in daily parental interactions with the child resulting from parent‐mediated treatment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research Review: Outcomes of 24‐ to 36‐month‐old children with autism spectrum disorder vary by ascertainment strategy: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

Micheletti

McCracken

Constantino

et al. 2019

Child Psychology Psychiatry

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Background Despite widespread recommendations for early surveillance of risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), no research to date has shown that early surveillance leads to better clinical outcomes. Preliminary research has suggested that children with ASD ascertained via prospective follow‐up have better outcomes than those ascertained via community referral. Because prospective studies include early surveillance, by comparing outcomes of children with ASD across ascertainment strategies, we may gain insight into the effects of early surveillance relative to its absence. Methods A systematic review was conducted to identify studies reporting outcomes of 24‐ to 36‐month‐olds with ASD ascertained via prospective follow‐up, community referral, or universal screening. A meta‐analysis using a random effects model was used to calculate overall effect size estimates for developmental level and symptom severity across ascertainment cohorts. Results Eleven prospective, ten community referral, and eight universal screening studies were identified, reporting on 1,658 toddlers with ASD. We found no differences in outcomes between community referral and universal screening studies. Relative to both, prospective studies reported significantly higher developmental levels and lower symptom severities. Conclusions Outcomes of young children with ASD ascertained via prospective follow‐up are better than those of children with ASD recruited via community referral or universal screening. Although we discuss why sampling bias is not likely the driving force behind these findings, we cannot rule out the possibility that sampling bias contributes to the observed differences; future studies should probe the effects of sociodemographic variables on clinical outcomes as a function of ascertainment strategy. This limitation notwithstanding, our results raise the possibility that prospective follow‐up may confer a ‘surveillance effect’ that contributes to improved developmental and diagnostic outcomes in children with ASD. Future research should test this hypothesis and determine the specific mechanism by which surveillance may improve outcomes.

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Neonatal Transitions in Social Behavior and Their Implications for Autism

Cited by 108 publications

References 134 publications

A transient time window for early predispositions in newborn chicks

A transient time window for early predispositions in newborn chicks

Visual preferences for direct‐gaze faces in infant macaques (Macaca mulatta) with limited face exposure

Research Review: Outcomes of 24‐ to 36‐month‐old children with autism spectrum disorder vary by ascertainment strategy: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

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