Development of attention from birth to 5 months in infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder

Area of Science:

• Neurodevelopmental science
• Developmental psychology
• Pediatric neurology

Background:

• Early social-communication skills rely on attention to social and environmental cues.
• Disruptions in early attention can negatively impact social interaction and learning.
• Infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at higher risk for developmental delays.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate early visual and auditory attention in infants at familial risk for ASD.
• To determine if early attention differences predict later social-communication and cognitive outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Mapped visual and auditory attention from 1 week to 5 months in high-risk (N=41) and low-risk (N=39) infants.
• Assessed social communication and nonverbal cognition at 12 months in a subset of participants (N=40).

Main Results:

• High-risk infants demonstrated lower performance on attention tasks at 2 and 3 months compared to low-risk infants.
• Attention at 3 months was significantly associated with developmental outcomes at 12 months in both groups.
• Early vulnerabilities in visual attention were identified in infants at risk for ASD between 2 and 3 months.

Conclusions:

• Early attention deficits in infancy are linked to later social and cognitive development in infants at risk for ASD.
• The period between 2 and 3 months is a critical neurodevelopmental transition for attention.
• Targeting early attention may be crucial for supporting social development in at-risk infants.