Reduced Attentional Capture by Topological Changes in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence for a...

Deficits in the adaptive allocation of attention are considered a feature associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It remains unclear whether the attention of children with ASD can be modulated involuntarily by stimulus-driven processes. Visual processing is believed to initiate with topological perception; thus, we investigate the modulation of attention shifts in children with ASD by altering topological properties. This approach aims to elucidate the mechanism underlying atypical attentional capture in ASD.

Our study recruited 32 ASD children and 30 age-matched typically developing (TD) children. Employing an attentional capture paradigm, we systematically documented the eye movement of both ASD and TD participants in response to stimuli that included non-topological change (nTC), topological change (TC) and abrupt onset.

The results suggest that the attention of children with ASD fails to be captured by TC and onset stimuli, and the degree of attentional bias towards TC is significantly correlated with their scores on clinical diagnostic scales.

Our results suggest that atypical attentional capture in ASD children is likely a result of impaired processing of topological perception. This finding not only enhances our understanding of their attentional atypicality but also provides insights for intervention practices to improve global processing.