Abstract
Visual scanning of faces in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been intensively studied using eye-tracking technology. However, most of studies have relied on the same analytic approach based on the quantification of fixation time, which may have failed to reveal some important features of the scanning strategies employed by individuals with ASD. In the present study, we examined the scanning of faces in a group of 20 preschoolers with ASD and their typically developing (TD) peers, using both classical fixation time approach and a new developed approach based on transition matrices and network analysis. We found between group differences in the eye region in terms of fixation time, with increased right eye fixation time for the ASD group and increased left eye fixation time for the TD group. Our complementary network approach revealed that the left eye might play the role of an anchor in the scanning strategies of TD children but not in that of children with ASD. In ASD, fixation time on the different facial parts was almost exclusively dependent on exploratory activity. Our study highlights the importance of developing innovative measures that bear the potential of revealing new properties of the scanning strategies employed by individuals with ASD.
Highlights
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which affects as many as 1 in 68 children, is a behaviorally defined neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in the socio-communicative domain as well as by the presence of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities [1,2]
We examined whether children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children look at the main facial features differently
The results indicate that for the left eye Areas of interest (AOIs), the relationship between fixation time and degree centrality is stronger for ASD than TD (Table 3)
Summary
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which affects as many as 1 in 68 children, is a behaviorally defined neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in the socio-communicative domain as well as by the presence of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities [1,2]. Core symptoms of the socio-communicative domain involve atypical eye contact, difficulties in reading other’s facial expressions and intentions and limited understanding of social emotions. These deficits in spontaneously interpreting facial information may somewhat contribute to the social interaction difficulties experienced by individuals with ASD in real-life situations. Among the different methods that have been used to study the scanning patterns of individuals with ASD, eye-tracking technology has received a lot of emphasis since it provides accurate, objective and direct measures of eye movements [10]
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