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Visual attention patterns during a gaze following task in neurogenetic syndromes associated with unique profiles of autistic traits: Fragile X and Cornelia de Lange syndromes

Ellis, Katherine; White, Sarah; Dziwisz, Malwina; Agarwal, Paridhi; Moss, Jo; (2024) Visual attention patterns during a gaze following task in neurogenetic syndromes associated with unique profiles of autistic traits: Fragile X and Cornelia de Lange syndromes. Cortex , 174 pp. 110-124. 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.02.012. Green open access

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Abstract

Background: Gaze following difficulties are considered an early marker of autism, thought likely to cumulatively impact the development of social cognition, language and social skills. Subtle differences in gaze following abilities may contribute to the diverse range social and communicative autistic characteristics observed across people with genetic syndromes, such as Cornelia de Lange (CdLS) and fragile X (FXS) syndromes. // Aims: To compare profiles of 1) visual attention to the eye region at critical points of the attention direction process, 2) whether children follow the gaze cue to the object, and 3) participant looking time to the target object following the gaze cue between groups and conditions. // Materials and methods: Children with CdLS (N = 11) and FXS (N = 8) and autistic (N = 22) and neurotypical (N = 15) children took part in a passive viewing paradigm adapted from Senju and Csibra (2008), in which videos of a central cue (ball/cartoon face/human face) directed attention towards one of two objects. Visual attention patterns were recorded via eye tracking technology. // Results: Neurotypical children were used as a reference group against which the autistic, CdLS and FXS groups were compared. Although autistic children looked at the eye region for significantly less time, they looked at the target object as frequently and for a similar duration as neurotypical children. Children with FXS looked at the target as frequently as neurotypical children but looked at it for comparatively less time. Both neurotypical children and children with CdLS frequently looked at the eye region, but children with CdLS were less likely to look at the target than neurotypical children. // Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary evidence of unique patterns of visual attention and gaze following strategies in children with CdLS, children with FXS and autistic children. These unique gaze following patterns may underpin the distinct profiles of social and communication autistic traits observed between these groups.

Type: Article
Title: Visual attention patterns during a gaze following task in neurogenetic syndromes associated with unique profiles of autistic traits: Fragile X and Cornelia de Lange syndromes
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.02.012
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2024.02.012
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Cornelia de Lange syndrome; Fragile X syndrome; Autism; Gaze following; Social skills
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10189672
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