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Socially oriented attention in young children with neurofibromatosis type 1: An eye-tracking study
Kristina M Haebich1,2, Darren R Hocking3,4, Hayley Darke1
1Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Insights
Children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) show reduced visual engagement with social cues and slower responses to joint attention compared to typically developing peers. These differences may impact social functioning and warrant early intervention considerations.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Genetics
Background:
- Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disorder associated with various developmental challenges.
- Previous research suggests potential social communication difficulties in school-aged children with NF1.
- Understanding early social attention patterns in NF1 is crucial for timely support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate visual attention to social stimuli in preschool children with NF1.
- To assess the response to joint attention in young children with NF1.
- To compare social engagement patterns between children with NF1 and typically developing controls.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 45 preschool children (25 with NF1, 20 controls).
- Utilized eye-tracking paradigms to measure fixation time and duration of attention to social stimuli.
- Assessed response to joint attention by tracking fixation on cued targets and duration of shared attention.
Main Results:
- Children with NF1 exhibited significantly slower initial fixation on social information compared to controls.
- Preschoolers with NF1 spent less time attending to social stimuli.
- NF1 group showed delayed establishment of joint attention.
- Slower social attention in NF1 was correlated with higher autism traits and lower social adaptive functioning.
Conclusions:
- Preschoolers with NF1 demonstrate difficulties in visual engagement with social cues and joint attention.
- Findings align with and extend previous observations in older children with NF1.
- Early identification of these social attention differences can inform interventions to improve social functioning in children with NF1.
Aim:
To examine visual engagement to social stimuli and response to joint attention in young children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and typically developing peers (controls).
Method:
Forty-five preschool children were studied cross-sectionally (mean age [SD] = 4 years 3 months [10 months]), 25 with NF1 and 20 typically developing controls. Participants passively viewed two eye-tracking paradigms. The first measured participants' time to first social fixation and duration of attention to social stimuli. The second assessed response to joint attention by recording the time taken to fixate on the target of an actor's eye gaze and the percentage of time maintaining joint attention.
Results:
Compared to typically developing controls, children with NF1 were slower to fixate on social information (Cohen's d = 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.40-1.65), spent less time attending to social stimuli (d = -0.60, 95% CI = -1.27 to -0.01), and were slower to establish joint attention (rank-biserial correlation r = -0.49, 95% CI = -0.79 to -0.19). Slower fixation to social stimuli was associated with elevated autism traits (r = 0.41, p = 0.03) and lower social adaptive functioning (r = -0.49, p = 0.02) in children with NF1.
Interpretation:
Our findings in preschool children build on previous evidence of diminished attention to social information in school-age children with NF1 and could inform early interventions to ameliorate the impact of reduced social attention on everyday social functioning in this population.
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