Eye Tracking Effort Expenditure and Autonomic Arousal to Social and Circumscribed Interest Stimuli in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Pupillary responses for social versus non-social stimuli in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Pupillometry has gained attention as a valuable tool for assessing autonomic nervous system activity and studying phasic changes in pupil size to comprehend underlying neurocognitive mechanisms. However, knowledge regarding pupillary responses to social processing in autism is limited. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, examining research studies on pupil size changes that compare social and non-social stimuli in autism. Electronic searches were performed for articles up to September 2023 and relevant studies were evaluated following PRISMA guidelines. Out of 284 articles screened, 14 studies were eligible for systematic review. The results indicated that non-autistic individuals showed larger pupil size for social compared to non-social stimuli (g = 0.54; 95 % CI [0.25, 0.82]), whereas autistic individuals seemed to exhibit no differences between the two conditions. However, high heterogeneity was observed between studies in autistic populations, compromising interpretability. Despite such limitations, pupillary responses may constitute an objective physiological marker of social processing in autism. This review emphasizes the need for further investigations into pupillary responses in autism across different life stages.

Internal Consistency of the Serbian Translation of the Stanford Social Dimensions Scale and Association to Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Scores in Male and Female Individuals on the Autism Spectrum and Non-autistic Individuals

We aimed to evaluate the internal consistency of Stanford Social Dimensions Scale (SSDS) translated to Serbian and to test it against the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The sample consisted of 200 patients (32% ASD) of the Institute of Mental Health in Belgrade, Serbia (68 females, 132 males, Mage=9.61, SDage=4.06). Internal consistency coefficients were within good/acceptable range for Social Motivation, Affiliation, Recognition and Unusual Approach subscales and below acceptable for Expressive Social Communication subscale. The non-autistic group scored higher on all subscales compared to the ASD group. All SSDS subscales positively correlated with SDQ Prosocial Behaviors scale. The SSDS is a valuable instrument for accessing sociobehavioral phenotype in both individuals on the autism spectrum and non-autistic individuals.

Evidence of a reduced role for circumscribed interests in the social attention patterns of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Reduced social attention is characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It has been suggested to result from an early onset and excessive influence of circumscribed interests (CIs) on gaze behaviour, compared to typically developing (TYP) individuals. To date, these findings have been mixed. The current eye-tracking study utilised a visual preference paradigm to investigate the influence of CI versus non-CI objects on attention patterns in children with ASD (aged 3-12 years, n = 37) and their age-matched TYP peers (n = 30). Compared to TYP, social and object attention was reduced in the ASD group irrespective of the presence of CIs. Results suggest a reduced role for CIs and extend recent evidence of atypical attention patterns across social and non-social domains in ASD.

Effects of nonsocial and circumscribed interest images on neural mechanisms of emotion regulation in autistic adults

Introduction

Emotion dysregulation is commonly reported among autistic individuals. Prior work investigating the neurofunctional mechanisms of emotion regulation (ER) in autistic adults has illustrated alterations in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activity, as well as concurrent atypical patterns of activation in subcortical regions related to affect during cognitive reappraisal of social images. Whereas most research examining ER in autism has focused on regulation of negative emotions, the effects of regulating positive emotions has been generally understudied. This is surprising given the relevance of positive motivational states to understanding circumscribed interests (CI) in autism.

Methods

Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to use fMRI with simultaneous eye-tracking and pupillometry to investigate the neural mechanisms of ER during passive viewing and cognitive reappraisal of a standardized set of nonsocial images and personalized (self-selected) CI images.

Results

The autistic group demonstrated comparatively reduced modulation of posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) activation during cognitive reappraisal of CI images compared to viewing of CI, although no eye-tracking/pupillometry differences emerged between-groups. Further, the autistic group demonstrated increased PCC connectivity with left lateral occipital and right supramarginal areas when engaging in cognitive reappraisal vs. viewing CI.

Discussion

In autistic adults, CI may be differentially modulated via PCC. Considering the documented role of the PCC as a core hub of the default mode network, we further postulate that ER of CI could potentially be related to self-referential cognition.

Application of Machine Learning Techniques to Detect the Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Early detection of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is highly beneficial to the health sustainability of children. Existing detection methods depend on the assessment of experts, which are subjective and costly. In this study, we proposed a machine learning approach that fuses physiological data (electroencephalography, EEG) and behavioral data (eye fixation and facial expression) to detect children with ASD. Its implementation can improve detection efficiency and reduce costs. First, we used an innovative approach to extract features of eye fixation, facial expression, and EEG data. Then, a hybrid fusion approach based on a weighted naive Bayes algorithm was presented for multimodal data fusion with a classification accuracy of 87.50%. Results suggest that the machine learning classification approach in this study is effective for the early detection of ASD. Confusion matrices and graphs demonstrate that eye fixation, facial expression, and EEG have different discriminative powers for the detection of ASD and typically developing children, and EEG may be the most discriminative information. The physiological and behavioral data have important complementary characteristics. Thus, the machine learning approach proposed in this study, which combines the complementary information, can significantly improve classification accuracy.

Social Motivation Across Multiple Measures: Caregiver-Report of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Social motivation is a foundational construct with regard to the etiology, neurobiology, and phenotype of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Multiple theories suggest that early emerging alterations to social motivation underlie a developmental cascade of social and communication deficits across the lifespan. Despite this significance, methods to measure social motivation vary widely, with little data to date as to how different measures might compare. In this study, we explore three existing caregiver-report measures that have been proposed to quantify social motivation among school-age children with ASD (n = 18; all male) and without ASD (n = 36; 50% female), with the broad goal of characterizing social motivation across measures and specific aims of investigating (a) diagnostic and sex differences in social motivation, (b) correspondence between measures, and (c) relationships between social motivation and broader social outcomes. Across all three measures, individuals with ASD had lower social motivation by caregiver-report. However, they did display individual differences in the degree of social motivation reported. There were no differences in social motivation between males and females without ASD on any of the three measures. For the full sample, measures of social motivation correlated with one another as anticipated, and stronger social motivation was associated with stronger social skills and fewer social difficulties. Our data suggest that social motivation among children with ASD may be best conceptualized as an individual difference that is diminished on average relative to peers but which varies among children and adolescents with ASD, rather than as an absolute absence or uniform deficit. LAY SUMMARY: Several theories suggest that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience less social motivation than their peers without ASD, contributing to difficulties in social skills. Based on multiple caregiver-report questionnaires, social motivation was reduced on average for school-age children with ASD but also varied among children with ASD. Stronger social motivation was related to stronger social skills and fewer social problems. Future work should include more girls with ASD, consider social motivation across age groups, and include first-hand perspectives from people with ASD.

Autism spectrum disorder and pupillometry: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Pupillometry, measuring pupil size and reactivity, has been proposed as a measure of autonomic nervous system functioning, the latter which might be altered in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aims to evaluate if pupillary responses differ in individuals with and without ASD. After performing a systematic literature search, we conducted a meta-analysis and constructed a qualitative synthesis. The meta-analysis shows a longer latency of the pupil response in the ASD-group as a substantial group difference, with a Hedges' g of 1.03 (95% CI 0.49-1.56, p = 0.008). Evidence on baseline pupil size and amplitude change is conflicting. We used the framework method to perform a qualitative evaluation of these differences. Explanations for the group differences vary between studies and are inconclusive, but many authors point to involvement of the autonomous nervous system and more specifically the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system. Pupillometry reveals differences between people with and without ASD, but the exact meaning of these differences remains unknown. Future studies should align research designs and investigate a possible effect of maturation.

Social orienting and social seeking behaviors in ASD. A meta analytic investigation

Social motivation accounts of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) posit that individuals with ASD find social stimuli less rewarding than neurotypical (NT) individuals. Behaviorally, this is proposed to manifest in reduced social orienting (individuals with ASD direct less attention towards social stimuli) and reduced social seeking (individuals with ASD invest less effort to receive social stimuli). In two meta-analyses, involving data from over 6000 participants, we review the available behavioral studies that assess social orienting and social seeking behaviors in ASD. We found robust evidence for reduced social orienting in ASD, across a range of paradigms, demographic variables and stimulus contexts. The most robust predictor of this effect was interactive content - effects were larger when the stimulus involved an interaction between people. By contrast, the evidence for reduced social seeking indicated weaker evidence for group differences, observed only under specific experimental conditions. The insights gained from this meta-analysis can inform design of relevant task measures for social reward responsivity and promote directions for further study on the ASD phenotype.

To covet what we see: Autistic traits modulate the relationship between looking and choosing

Behavioral studies indicate that autistic traits predict reduced gaze toward social stimuli. Moreover, experiments that require participants to make an explicit choice between stimuli indicate reduced preferences for social stimuli in individuals with high autistic traits. These observations, in combination, fit with the idea that gaze is actively involved in the formation of choices-gaze toward a stimulus increases the likelihood of its subsequent selection. Although these aspects of gaze and choice behavior have been well characterized separately, it remains unclear how autistic traits affect the relationship between gaze and socially relevant choices. In a choice-based eye-tracking paradigm, we observed that autistic traits predict less frequent and delayed selection of social stimuli. Critically, eye tracking revealed novel phenomena underlying these choice behaviors: first, the relationship between gaze and choice behavior was weaker in individuals with high autistic traits-an increase in gaze to a stimulus was associated with a smaller increase in choice probability. Second, time-series analyses revealed that gaze became predictive of choice behaviors at longer latencies in observers with high autistic traits. This dissociation between gaze and choice in individuals with high autistic traits may reflect wider atypicalities in value coding. Such atypicalities may predict the development of atypical social behaviors associated with the autism phenotype. LAY SUMMARY: When presented with multiple stimuli to choose from, we tend to look more toward the stimuli we later choose. Here, we found that this relationship between looking and choosing was reduced in individuals with high autistic traits. These data indicate that autistic traits may be associated with atypical processing of value, which may contribute to the reduced preferences for social stimuli exhibited by individuals with autism.

Predicting Core Characteristics of ASD Through Facial Emotion Recognition and Eye Tracking in Youth

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) with a high rate of comorbidity. The implementation of eye-tracking methodologies has informed behavioral and neurophysiological patterns of visual processing across ASD and comorbid NDDs. In this study, we propose a machine learning method to predict measures of two core ASD characteristics: impaired social interactions and communication, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped behaviors and interests. Our method extracts behavioral features from task performance and eye-tracking data collected during a facial emotion recognition paradigm. We achieved high regression accuracy using a Random Forest regressor trained to predict scores on the SRS-2 and RBS-R assessments; this approach may serve as a classifier for ASD diagnosis.

A Nexus Model of Restricted Interests in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Restricted interests (RIs) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are clinically impairing interests of unusual focus or intensity. They are a subtype of restricted and repetitive behaviors which are one of two diagnostic criteria for the disorder. Despite the near ubiquity of RIs in ASD, the neural basis for their development is not well understood. However, recent cognitive neuroscience findings from nonclinical samples and from individuals with ASD shed light on neural mechanisms that may explain the emergence of RIs. We propose the nexus model of RIs in ASD, a novel conceptualization of this symptom domain that suggests that RIs may reflect a co-opting of brain systems that typically serve to integrate complex attention, memory, semantic, and social communication functions during development. The nexus model of RIs hypothesizes that when social communicative development is compromised, brain functions typically located within the lateral surface of cortex may expand into social processing brain systems and alter cortical representations of various cognitive functions during development. These changes, in turn, promote the development of RIs as an alternative process mediated by these brain networks. The nexus model of RIs makes testable predictions about reciprocal relations between the impaired development of social communication and the emergence of RIs in ASD and suggests novel avenues for treatment development.

Examining How Types of Object Distractors Distinctly Compete for Facial Attention in Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Eye Tracking

Social motivation theory states that individuals with ASD find social stimuli less rewarding (Chevallier et al. in Trends Cognit Sci 16(4):231-239, 2012). An alternative theory suggests that competition from circumscribed interests (CIs) may better account for diminished social attention (Sasson et al. in Autism Res 1(1):31-42, 2008). This study evaluated both theories in children diagnosed with ASD (n = 16) and a group of TD children (n = 20) using eye tracking and demonstrated that distractor type only impacted the proportion of dwell time on faces in the TD group, but not the ASD group. These results provide support for the social motivation theory because gaze duration for faces among children with ASD was diminished regardless of whether the non-social stimuli presented was a CI or control object.