Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2026
Comparing Eye-tracking Data of Children with High-functioning ASD, Comorbid ADHD, and of a Control Watching Social Videos
Published on: December 7, 2018
Same but different: 9-month-old infants at average and high risk for autism look at the same facial features but
Alexandra P F Key1, Wendy L Stone
1Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA. sasha.key@vanderbilt.edu
Insights
Infants at high risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show different brain responses to facial features compared to average-risk infants. These differences in processing facial cues are linked to social and communication skill development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
Background:
- Early detection of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is crucial for intervention.
- Infants at high risk for ASD often exhibit altered social-communication behaviors.
- Facial processing, particularly of eyes and mouth, is fundamental for social interaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in facial feature processing between average-risk and high-risk infants for ASD.
- To explore the relationship between facial feature attention and social-communicative skills in infants.
- To examine the neural mechanisms underlying facial feature perception in at-risk infants.
Main Methods:
- Eye-tracking and visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were used in 35 infants (20 average-risk, 15 high-risk).
- Infants viewed faces with manipulated eye and mouth regions.
- Correlations were analyzed between behavioral (eye-tracking) and neural (ERP) data and communication skills.
Main Results:
- No group differences in visual attention to eyes and mouth were observed.
- Increased attention to the mouth correlated with weaker receptive communication, while eye attention correlated with better interpersonal skills.
- ERPs indicated distinct neural processing of facial changes between groups, with average-risk infants showing typical face perception network activation (N290).
Conclusions:
- Infants at high risk for ASD may utilize different neural pathways for processing facial features.
- Individual differences in brain responses to facial stimuli are associated with variations in social-communicative abilities.
- These findings highlight potential early neural markers for ASD risk and its associated behavioral phenotypes.
Abstract:
The study examined whether 9-month-old infants at average vs. high risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) process facial features (eyes, mouth) differently and whether such differences are related to infants' social and communicative skills. Eye tracking and visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in 35 infants (20 average-risk typical infants, 15 high-risk siblings of children with ASD) while they viewed photographs of a smiling unfamiliar female face. On 30% of the trials, the eyes or the mouth of that face was replaced with corresponding features from a different female. There were no group differences in the number, duration, or distribution of fixations, and all infants looked at the eyes and mouth regions equally. However, increased attention to the mouth was associated with weaker receptive communication skills and increased attention to the eyes correlated with better interpersonal skills. ERP results revealed that all infants detected eye and mouth changes but did so using different brain mechanisms. Changes in facial features were associated with changes in activity of the face perception mechanisms (N290) for the average-risk group but not for the high-risk infants. For all infants, correlations between ERP and eye-tracking measures indicated that larger and faster ERPs to feature changes were associated with fewer fixations on the irrelevant regions of stimuli. The size and latency of the ERP responses also correlated with parental reports of receptive and expressive communication skills, suggesting that differences in brain processing of human faces are associated with individual differences in social-communicative behaviors.
