Face perception and social cognitive development in early autism: A prospective longitudinal study from 3 months to...

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Neuroscience
• Pediatric medicine

Background:

• Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) is associated with atypical visual attention, particularly towards faces and eyes.
• The precise onset and developmental trajectory of these attention differences in infants are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate face perception and eye-gaze processing in infants who later develop ASC.
• To examine the longitudinal relationship between early attention patterns and later social-cognitive development up to age seven.

Main Methods:

• Prospective longitudinal study comparing infants who develop ASC (N=22) with typically developing infants (N=131).
• Tracking of social-cognitive skills, including adaptive behavior and theory of mind, through age seven.
• Principal component analyses to assess facial feature and eye-gaze information processing.

Main Results:

• Infants later diagnosed with ASC showed reduced interest in direct gaze and eyes during infancy.
• This early reduced attention correlated with atypical adaptive behavior at age four and theory of mind at age seven.
• ASC infants exhibited less integrated processing of facial features and eye-gaze information.

Conclusions:

• Early atypicalities in face and eye-gaze processing are significant in the development of Autism Spectrum Condition.
• These early visual attention differences appear to impact subsequent social-cognitive development.
• Findings underscore the interconnectedness of early social perception and the broader developmental trajectory in ASC.