Gaze direction detection in autism spectrum disorder

This study investigated whether the detection of gaze direction toward an object is less accurate in autism spectrum disorder. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (n = 33) and intelligence quotients–matched and age-matched controls (n = 38) were asked to watch a series of synthetic faces looking at objects, and decide which of two objects was looked at. The angle formed by the two possible targets and the face varied following an adaptive procedure, in order to determine individual thresholds. We found that gaze direction detection was less accurate in autism spectrum disorder than in control participants. Our results suggest that the precision of gaze following may be one of the altered processes underlying social interaction difficulties in autism spectrum disorder.

Source: Autism - December 3, 2016 Category: Neurology Authors: Forgeot dArc, B., Delorme, R., Zalla, T., Lefebvre, A., Amsellem, F., Moukawane, S., Letellier, L., Leboyer, M., Mouren, M.-C., Ramus, F. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research