Sensory salience processing moderates attenuated gazes on faces in autism spectrum disorder: a case–control study

Molecular Autism

Research

Luke Mason¹  Emily J. H. Jones¹  Sarah Baumeister²  Tobias Banaschewski²  Christine Ecker³  Christine M. Freitag³  Nico Bast³  Jan K. Buitelaar⁴  Eva Loth⁵  Declan G. M. Murphy⁵  Gahan Pandina⁶ 

[1] Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London, UK;Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany;Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Autism Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe-University, Deutschordenstraße 50, 60528, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany;Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College, London, London, UK;Janssen Research & Development, 1125 Trenton Harbourton Road, 08560, Titusville, NJ, USA;

关键词: Locus coeruleus;    ASD;    Pupillometry;    Saliency maps;    Computer vision;    Eye tracking;    Norepinephrine;    Social attention;    Visual exploration;    Naturalistic visual attention;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13229-023-00537-6

 received in 2022-07-11, accepted in 2023-01-20,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAttenuated social attention is a key marker of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recent neuroimaging findings also emphasize an altered processing of sensory salience in ASD. The locus coeruleus–norepinephrine system (LC-NE) has been established as a modulator of this sensory salience processing (SSP). We tested the hypothesis that altered LC-NE functioning contributes to different SSP and results in diverging social attention in ASD.MethodsWe analyzed the baseline eye-tracking data of the EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project (LEAP) for subgroups of autistic participants (n = 166, age = 6–30 years, IQ = 61–138, gender [female/male] = 41/125) or neurotypical development (TD; n = 166, age = 6–30 years, IQ = 63–138, gender [female/male] = 49/117) that were matched for demographic variables and data quality. Participants watched brief movie scenes (k = 85) depicting humans in social situations (human) or without humans (non-human). SSP was estimated by gazes on physical and motion salience and a corresponding pupillary response that indexes phasic activity of the LC-NE. Social attention is estimated by gazes on faces via manual areas of interest definition. SSP is compared between groups and related to social attention by linear mixed models that consider temporal dynamics within scenes. Models are controlled for comorbid psychopathology, gaze behavior, and luminance.ResultsWe found no group differences in gazes on salience, whereas pupillary responses were associated with altered gazes on physical and motion salience. In ASD compared to TD, we observed pupillary responses that were higher for non-human scenes and lower for human scenes. In ASD, we observed lower gazes on faces across the duration of the scenes. Crucially, this different social attention was influenced by gazes on physical salience and moderated by pupillary responses.LimitationsThe naturalistic study design precluded experimental manipulations and stimulus control, while effect sizes were small to moderate. Covariate effects of age and IQ indicate that the findings differ between age and developmental subgroups.ConclusionsPupillary responses as a proxy of LC-NE phasic activity during visual attention are suggested to modulate sensory salience processing and contribute to attenuated social attention in ASD.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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