Do Animals Engage Greater Social Attention in Autism? An Eye Tracking Analysis

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Georgitta J. Valiyamattam¹  Harish Katti²  Vinay K. Chaganti³  Marguerite E. O’Haire⁴  Virender Sachdeva⁵ 

[1] Department of Applied Psychology, Gitam University;Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science;Department of Commerce, Osmania University;Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, United States;Child Sight Institute, Nimmagadda Prasad Children’s Eye Care Centre, L V Prasad Eye Institute, GMRV Campus

关键词: animals;    autism (ASD);    social attention;    visual attention;    eye tracking;    human animal interaction (HAI);    neurobiomarker;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00727

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Background Visual atypicalities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are a well documented phenomenon, beginning as early as 2–6 months of age and manifesting in a significantly decreased attention to the eyes, direct gaze and socially salient information. Early emerging neurobiological deficits in perceiving social stimuli as rewarding or its active avoidance due to the anxiety it entails have been widely purported as potential reasons for this atypicality. Parallel research evidence also points to the significant benefits of animal presence for reducing social anxiety and enhancing social interaction in children with autism. While atypicality in social attention in ASD has been widely substantiated, whether this atypicality persists equally across species types or is confined to humans has not been a key focus of research insofar.

【 授权许可】

CC BY