Pupillary responses during a joint attention task are associated with nonverbal cognitive abilities and sub-clinical...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Background:

• Pupillary dilation serves as a sensitive measure of cognitive resource allocation.
• Gaze following is a key social cognitive skill often impaired in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).
• Understanding cognitive resource allocation in children is crucial for developmental research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between pupillary dilation, nonverbal intelligence, and sub-clinical Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms in typically developing children.
• To explore how cognitive resource allocation differs in children based on intelligence and ASD-related traits.

Main Methods:

• Pupillary dilation was measured during a free-viewing task in 39 children aged 3-9 years.
• Children completed standardized assessments of nonverbal intelligence and parent-report measures of ASD symptoms.
• Statistical analyses examined associations between pupil dilation, intelligence, ASD symptoms, and age.

Main Results:

• A negative association was found between pupil dilation and nonverbal intelligence.
• Pupil dilation also showed a negative association with parent-reported sub-clinical ASD symptoms.
• These associations were independent of chronological age.

Conclusions:

• Children with lower nonverbal intelligence and those with more ASD-related symptoms allocated more cognitive resources.
• Findings suggest that children with more ASD symptoms may allocate fewer resources to resolving social ambiguity.
• Results align with theories positing reduced sensitivity to social reward value in ASD.