Young children with autism spectrum disorder use predictive eye movements in action observation

Falck‐Ytter, Terje

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0897

Cited by 45 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(38 reference statements)

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“…Here, the children with ASD provide the critical comparison group because these children have been shown previously to display atypical patterns of visual attention to social interaction (30,31), attenuated reactivity to varying social affect (32), and lack of differential response to social attentional cues (28) but also intact response to physical attentional cues (28,29) and intact ability to predict and attend to physical events (31,33,34). In the current experimental paradigm, we tested blink inhibition as a marker of perceived stimulus salience, varying by group membership.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inhibition of eye blinking reveals subjective perceptions of stimulus salience

Shultz

Klin

Jones

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

106

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Spontaneous eye blinking serves a critical physiological function, but it also interrupts incoming visual information. This tradeoff suggests that the inhibition of eye blinks might constitute an adaptive reaction to minimize the loss of visual information, particularly information that a viewer perceives to be important. To test this hypothesis, we examined whether the timing of blink inhibition, during natural viewing, is modulated between as well as within tasks, and also whether the timing of blink inhibition varies as a function of viewer engagement and stimulus event type. While viewing video scenes, we measured the timing of blinks and blink inhibition, as well as visual scanning, in a group of typical two-year-olds, and in a group of two-year-olds known for attenuated reactivity to affective stimuli: toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Although both groups dynamically adjusted the timing of their blink inhibition at levels greater than expected by chance, they inhibited their blinking and shifted visual fixation differentially with respect to salient onscreen events. Moreover, typical toddlers inhibited their blinking earlier than toddlers with ASD, indicating active anticipation of the unfolding of those events. These findings indicate that measures of blink inhibition can serve as temporally precise markers of perceived stimulus salience and are useful quantifiers of atypical processing of social affective signals in toddlers with ASD.autonomic function | child development | eye-tracking | social engagement W hen we blink, the flow of visual information between the world and one's retina is temporarily interrupted. In that instant of blinking, visual stimulation from the external world is lost for 150-400 ms (1, 2). As a result, the average adult, in the course of a single waking day, will spend ∼44 min with his or her eyelids closed, missing visual information. During those moments, an exquisite choreography of neural systems-encompassing movement of the oculomotor muscles (3); activity in supplementary and frontal eye fields (4); and widespread activity in visual, parietal, and prefrontal cortical areas (5, 6)-works together to suppress the actual visual signal of an occluding eyelid. These systems create the illusion of perceptual continuity (6, 7), but if new visual information is presented in that instant of blinking, it will be missed (8, 9).From the standpoint of physiology, blinks exist primarily to protect: They keep the eyes hydrated and protect against foreign objects (10, 11). Average individual rates of blinking increase with age (12, 13) and are correlated with dopamine levels in human and nonhuman primates (14, 15). However, blinking also relates, like other autonomic processes (e.g., heart rate, perspiration), to cognitive states beyond physiological function alone (16): Blink rate has been observed to vary as a function of several cognitive tasks (17-21), and blink rates decrease during activities that require greater attention [as when reading vs. sitting in a waiting room ...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inhibition of eye blinking reveals subjective perceptions of stimulus salience

Shultz

Klin

Jones

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

106

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…monitor with an integrated infrared eye tracking system (Tobii 1750, Tobii Corporation, Sweden) placed against a dark background. The application of this advanced system in clinical studies has increased over the past years, see infant studies of Dadds et al, 2008, Falck-Ytter, 2009and Richmond and Nelson, 2009 as recent examples. The children sat in a comfortable chair at approximately 60 cm distance of the eye tracker to ensure efficient tracking of both eyes.…”

Section: Measurement Setup and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 98%

Assessment of visual orienting behaviour in young children using remote eye tracking: Methodology and reliability

Pel

Manders

Steen

2010

Journal of Neuroscience Methods

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“…In support of this claim, (Cannon & Woodward, 2008) demonstrated that predictive eye movements during action observation are disrupted by simultaneous performance of sequential finger movements, but not by the rehearsal of sequences of numbers. In a study of autistic 5-year olds, (Falck-Ytter, 2010) demonstrated that infants with autism were able to anticipate actions to the same degree as typical infants and adults. This finding suggests that even young children with autism are able to predict the actions of others and provides evidence against impaired action chaining in autism.…”

Section: Implicit Measures Of Action Understanding In Autismmentioning

confidence: 99%