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

Katherine Ellis; Sarah White; Malwina Dziwisz; Paridhi Agarwal; Jo Moss

doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2024.02.012

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. 2024 May:174:110-124. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.02.012. Epub 2024 Feb 29.

Authors

Katherine Ellis¹, Sarah White², Malwina Dziwisz³, Paridhi Agarwal⁴, Jo Moss⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: k.ellis@surrey.ac.uk.
² Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: s.white@ucl.ac.uk.
³ Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: malwinadziwisz@hotmail.com.
⁴ Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: paridhi.agarwal.18@ucl.ac.uk.
⁵ School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK. Electronic address: j.moss@surrey.ac.uk.

PMID: 38502976
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.02.012

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.

Keywords: Autism; Cornelia de Lange syndrome; Fragile X syndrome; Gaze following; Social skills.

MeSH terms

Autistic Disorder*
Child
Communication
De Lange Syndrome*
Fragile X Syndrome*
Humans
Language