Abstract
Diminished orienting to social stimuli, and particularly to faces, is a core feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Impaired face processing has been linked to atypical attention processes that trigger a cascade of pathological development contributing to impaired social communication. The aim of the present study is to explore the processing of emotional and neutral faces using an eye-tracking paradigm (the emotional faces task) with a group of 24 children with ASD aged 6 and under and a group of 22 age-matched typically developing (TD) children. We also measure habituation to faces in both groups based on the presentation of repeated facial expressions. Specifically, the task consists of 32 pairs of faces, a neutral face and an emotional face from the same identity, shown side by side on the screen. We observe differential exploration of emotional faces in preschoolers with ASD compared with TD. Participants with ASD make fewer fixations to emotional faces than their TD peers, and the duration of their first fixation on emotional faces is equivalent to their first fixation on neutral faces. These results suggest that emotional faces may be less interesting for children with ASD. We also observe a habituation process to neutral faces in both children with ASD and TD, who looked less at neutral faces during the last quarter of the task compared with the first quarter. By contrast, TD children show increased interest in emotional faces throughout the task, looking slightly more at emotional faces during the last quarter of the task than during the first quarter. Children with ASD demonstrate neither habituation nor increased interest in the changing emotional expressions over the course of the task, looking at the stimuli for equivalent time throughout the task. A lack of increased interest in emotional faces may suggest a lack of sensitivity to changes in expression in young children with ASD.
Highlights
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interactions, as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities
The difference in total time spent on the screen between the ASD (M = 124.95 s, SD = 16.87) and typically developing (TD) groups (M = 132.02 s, SD = 13.26) was not statistically significant [t(44) = 1.57, p = 0.124], nor was the difference in the number of visits to the screen between the ASD (M = 35.58, SD = 5.22) and TD groups (M = 36.27, SD = 4.81) [t(44) = 0.46, p = 0.645]
We found that children attended less to neutral faces over the course of the task, whereas time spent looking at emotional faces did not significantly change between the beginning and end parts of the task though TD children did look slightly more at emotional faces during the last quarter of the task than the first quarter
Summary
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interactions, as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Symptoms of autism are present early in development and are known to cause variable functional impairment [1]. Diminished orienting to faces and Emotional Face Exploration and Habituation reduced eye contact are two striking behavioral hallmarks of autism. Faces are highly salient but complex social stimuli that are essential to social interactions [2]. A recent review and meta-analysis of eye-tracking studies confirmed overall reduced attention to social stimuli and impaired face orienting in individuals with ASD compared with typically developing (TD) controls [3]. Some authors have suggested this lack of social orientation as a potential trigger for the developmental cascade that contributes to autistic symptoms [4]
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