Department of Educational Science and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
J Neurosci. 2010 Sep 15;30(37):12281-7. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0688-10.2010.
Atypical scan paths on emotional faces and reduced eye contact represent a prominent feature of autism symptomatology, yet the reason for these abnormalities remains a puzzle. Do individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) fail to orient toward the eyes or do they actively avoid direct eye contact? Here, we used a new task to investigate reflexive eye movements on fearful, happy, and neutral faces. Participants (ASDs: 12; controls: 11) initially fixated either on the eyes or on the mouth. By analyzing the frequency of participants' eye movements away from the eyes and toward the eyes, respectively, we explored both avoidance and orientation reactions. The ASD group showed a reduced preference for the eyes relative to the control group, primarily characterized by more frequent eye movements away from the eyes. Eye-tracking data revealed a pronounced influence of active avoidance of direct eye contact on atypical gaze in ASDs. The combination of avoidance and reduced orientation into an individual index predicted emotional recognition performance. Crucially, this result provides evidence for a direct link between individual gaze patterns and associated social symptomatology. These findings thereby give important insights into the social pathology of ASD, with implications for future research and interventions.
在情感面孔上出现非典型的扫视路径和减少眼神接触是自闭症症状学的一个显著特征,但这些异常的原因仍然是一个谜。自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)患者是无法注视眼睛还是主动避免直接眼神接触?在这里,我们使用一种新的任务来研究恐惧、快乐和中性面孔上的反射性眼动。参与者(ASD:12;对照组:11)最初分别注视眼睛或嘴巴。通过分析参与者眼睛离开眼睛和眼睛注视的频率,我们分别探索了回避和定向反应。与对照组相比,ASD 组对眼睛的偏好明显降低,主要表现为更多的眼睛离开眼睛的运动。眼动追踪数据显示,直接避免眼神接触的主动回避对视觉异常有明显影响。将回避和定向减少结合到个体指标中,可以预测情绪识别表现。至关重要的是,这一结果为个体注视模式与相关社交症状之间的直接联系提供了证据。这些发现为 ASD 的社会病理学提供了重要的见解,对未来的研究和干预具有重要意义。