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

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Autism Research

Background:

• Attenuated social attention is a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
• Altered sensory salience processing (SSP) is increasingly recognized in ASD.
• The locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system modulates SSP.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the hypothesis that altered LC-NE functioning contributes to distinct SSP in ASD.
• To examine the relationship between LC-NE activity, SSP, and social attention in autistic individuals.
• To understand the role of sensory processing in social attention deficits in ASD.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of eye-tracking data from the EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project (LEAP).
• Comparison of pupillary responses (indexing LC-NE activity) and gaze patterns during movie scenes between autistic (n=166) and neurotypical (n=166) participants.
• Utilized linear mixed models to relate SSP to social attention, controlling for covariates.

Main Results:

• No group differences in gaze on salience, but pupillary responses differed.
• Autistic participants showed higher pupillary responses to non-human scenes and lower responses to human scenes compared to neurotypicals.
• Autistic individuals exhibited reduced gaze on faces, influenced by physical salience and moderated by pupillary responses.

Conclusions:

• Pupillary responses, as a proxy for LC-NE phasic activity, are suggested to modulate SSP.
• Altered LC-NE functioning may contribute to differences in sensory salience processing and attenuated social attention in ASD.
• Findings highlight the interplay between LC-NE system, sensory processing, and social attention in autism.