Abstract
Visual disengagement has been hypothesized as an endophenotype for autism. In this study we used twin modelling to assess the role of genetics in basic measures of visual disengagement, and tested their putative association to autistic traits in the general population. We used the Gap Overlap task in a sample of 492 twins. Results showed that most of the covariance among eye movement latencies across conditions was shared and primarily genetic. Further, there were unique genetic contributions to the Gap condition, but not to the Overlap condition—i.e. the one theorized to capture visual disengagement. We found no phenotypic association between autistic traits and disengagement, thus not supporting the hypothesis of visual disengagement as an endophenotype for autistic traits.
Highlights
IntroductionJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2020) 50:2188–2200 evidence suggesting that problems with disengagement of attention are present in infancy in individuals who are later diagnosed with the disorder (Elsabbagh et al 2013; Elison et al 2013)
Autistic traits were primarily influenced by dominance genetic effects (D = 0.62; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.45, 0.79), while additive genetic effects (A = 0.14; 95% CI − 0.30, 0.58) and non-shared environment (E = 0.24; 95% CI − 0.17, 0.65) were non-significant
The aim of the present study was to map the relative contribution of genes and environment to individual differences in visual disengagement and to evaluate the hypothesis that it is an endophenotype for autistic traits in the general population
Summary
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2020) 50:2188–2200 evidence suggesting that problems with disengagement of attention are present in infancy in individuals who are later diagnosed with the disorder (Elsabbagh et al 2013; Elison et al 2013). Delayed visual disengagement (longer latencies) was reported in 7 month-old infants (Elison et al 2013) and 14 month-old infants (Elsabbagh et al 2013) who later went on to display autism symptoms and receive a diagnosis. Studies assessing visual disengagement have reported decreased accuracy (undershooting) of the saccades of individuals with autism (Schmitt et al 2014; Luna et al 2007; Johnson et al 2012)
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