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. 2011 May;41(5):629-45.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-010-1082-z.

Atypical disengagement from faces and its modulation by the control of eye fixation in children with autism spectrum disorder

Yukiko Kikuchi  1 , Atsushi Senju, Hironori Akechi, Yoshikuni Tojo, Hiroo Osanai, Toshikazu Hasegawa
Affiliations

Atypical disengagement from faces and its modulation by the control of eye fixation in children with autism spectrum disorder

Yukiko Kikuchi et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2011 May.

Abstract

By using the gap overlap task, we investigated disengagement from faces and objects in children (9-17 years old) with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and its neurophysiological correlates. In typically developing (TD) children, faces elicited larger gap effect, an index of attentional engagement, and larger saccade-related event-related potentials (ERPs), compared to objects. In children with ASD, by contrast, neither gap effect nor ERPs differ between faces and objects. Follow-up experiments demonstrated that instructed fixation on the eyes induces larger gap effect for faces in children with ASD, whereas instructed fixation on the mouth can disrupt larger gap effect in TD children. These results suggest a critical role of eye fixation on attentional engagement to faces in both groups.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Example of the central face (top) and object (bottom) stimuli in Experiment 1; (b) Examples of the central face stimulus (top left), the averted gaze stimulus in the face catch trial (top right), the central object stimulus (bottom left) and the arrow stimulus in the object catch trial (bottom right) in Experiment 2; (c) Examples of the central face stimulus (top left), the averted gaze stimulus in the face catch trial (top right), the central object stimulus (bottom left) and the arrow stimulus in the object catch trial (bottom right) in Experiment 3; (d) Examples of stimulus sequence in an object and gap condition (top) and a face and overlap condition (bottom) in Experiment 1; (e) Examples of stimulus sequence in a averted gaze catch trial (top) and an arrowhead catch trial (bottom) in Experiment 2.
Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Example of the central face (top) and object (bottom) stimuli in Experiment 1; (b) Examples of the central face stimulus (top left), the averted gaze stimulus in the face catch trial (top right), the central object stimulus (bottom left) and the arrow stimulus in the object catch trial (bottom right) in Experiment 2; (c) Examples of the central face stimulus (top left), the averted gaze stimulus in the face catch trial (top right), the central object stimulus (bottom left) and the arrow stimulus in the object catch trial (bottom right) in Experiment 3; (d) Examples of stimulus sequence in an object and gap condition (top) and a face and overlap condition (bottom) in Experiment 1; (e) Examples of stimulus sequence in a averted gaze catch trial (top) and an arrowhead catch trial (bottom) in Experiment 2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) N170 for faces and objects at P7 and P8; (b) SRT, (c) Gap Effect for faces and objects; (d) Waveforms at Pz and ERP map series for faces and objects in children with ASD and TD children in Experiment 1. ASD: autism spectrum disorder, TD: typically developing.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) N170 for faces and objects at P7 and P8; (b) SRT, (c) Gap Effect for faces and objects; (d) Waveforms at Pz and ERP map series for faces and objects in children with ASD and TD children in Experiment 2. ASD: autism spectrum disorder, TD: typically developing.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) N170 for faces and objects at P7 and P8; (b) SRT, (c) Gap Effect for faces and objects; (d) Waveforms at Pz and ERP map series for faces and objects in children with ASD and TD children in Experiment 3. ASD: autism spectrum disorder, TD: typically developing.
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