Visual Perception Laboratory,Department of Psychiatry,Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health,Charitéplatz 1,10117 Berlin,Germany.
Berlin School of Mind and Brain,Institute of Psychology,Humboldt Universität zu Berlin,Unter den Linden 6,10099 Berlin,Germany.
Psychol Med. 2019 Apr;49(6):980-986. doi: 10.1017/S0033291718001630. Epub 2018 Jun 27.
The atypical processing of eye contact is a characteristic hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The severity of these symptoms, however, is thought to lie on a continuum that extends into the typical population. While behavioural evidence shows that differences in social cognitive tasks in typically developed (TD) adults are related to the levels of autistic-like traits, it remains unknown whether such a relation exists for the sensitivity to direct gaze.
In two experiments, we measured reaction times to detect the faces with direct and averted gaze, suppressed from awareness, i.e. the access to awareness. In experiment 1, we tested N = 19 clinically diagnosed adults with ASD and N = 22 TD matched controls, while in experiment 2, we tested an independent sample of N = 20 TD adults.
In line with the literature, experiment 1 showed preferential processing of direct gaze in the TD group but not in the ASD group. Importantly, we found a linear relationship in both experiments between the levels of autistic traits within the groups of TD participants and their sensitivity to direct gaze: with increasing autistic characteristics, there was a decrease in sensitivity to direct gaze.
These results provide the first evidence that differences in gaze processing and the sensitivity to direct gaze are already present in individuals with subclinical levels of autistic traits. Furthermore, they lend support to the continuum view of the disorder and could potentially help in an earlier diagnosis of individuals at high risk for autism.
非典型的眼神接触处理是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的一个特征标志。然而，这些症状的严重程度被认为存在于一个连续体中，延伸到典型人群中。虽然行为证据表明，在典型发育（TD）成年人的社会认知任务中存在差异与类似自闭症特征的水平有关，但尚不清楚这种关系是否存在于对直接注视的敏感性中。
在两项实验中，我们测量了检测直接和回避注视的面孔的反应时间，这些面孔被抑制在意识之外，即意识的获取。在实验 1 中，我们测试了 N = 19 名临床诊断为 ASD 的成年人和 N = 22 名 TD 匹配对照，而在实验 2 中，我们测试了 N = 20 名 TD 成年人的独立样本。
与文献一致，实验 1 显示 TD 组对直接注视的处理有偏好，但 ASD 组没有。重要的是，我们在两项实验中都发现，TD 参与者组内的自闭症特征水平与他们对直接注视的敏感性之间存在线性关系：随着自闭症特征的增加，对直接注视的敏感性降低。
这些结果首次提供了证据，表明在具有亚临床自闭症特征水平的个体中，注视处理和对直接注视的敏感性存在差异。此外，它们支持了该疾病的连续体观点，并可能有助于对高自闭症风险个体进行早期诊断。
