Blink and You Will Miss It: a Core Role for Fast and Dynamic Visual Processing in Social Impairments in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have often been reported to demonstrate a range of anomalies in visual perceptual function. Rather than reflecting an epiphenomenon to core social communication difficulties in ASD, a visual disturbance in early development could provide a causal mechanism for some aspects of impaired social communication. An overview of key visual pathways and cortical/subcortical regions of the visual system is provided, to aid the reader in appreciating the subsequent discussion of the relationship between visual processing and social communication. We then outline the evidence for visual anomalies in ASD and propose that an impairment in an infant’s ability to quickly orient visual attention and to rapidly code the dynamics of non-verbal social cues—such as eye gaze and facial expression changes—could be critically important in the development of social skills. Faces are a rich source of information about the emotions and mental states of people with whom we engage. Faces are also used to assess trustworthiness and to predict individual responses. Without rapid visual information processing, faces in particular could become confusing and mysterious. We conclude with some suggestions for future research into the visual contributions to social skills in ASD and argue that the speed of visual information processing—driven by the fast magnocellular ‘M’ channel—is a necessary first step for the development of the social skills associated with the understanding of facial communication cues.