Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 May 17;4(1):11.
doi: 10.1186/1866-1955-4-11.

Social attention: a possible early indicator of efficacy in autism clinical trials

Geraldine Dawson  1 , Raphael Bernier, Robert H Ring
Affiliations

Social attention: a possible early indicator of efficacy in autism clinical trials

Geraldine Dawson et al. J Neurodev Disord. .

Abstract

For decades, researchers have sought to clarify the nature of the social communication impairments in autism, highlighting impaired or atypical 'social attention' as a key measurable construct that helps to define the core impairment of social communication. In this paper, we provide an overview of research on social attention impairments in autism and their relation to deficiencies in neural circuitry related to social reward. We offer a framework for considering social attention as a potential moderator or mediator of response to early behavioral intervention, and as an early indicator of efficacy of behavioral and/or pharmacological treatments aimed at addressing the social impairments in autism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Role of social attention as an early indicator of efficacy in clinical trials.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Social attention as an early indicator of efficacy in a clinical trial testing combined behavioral and pharmacological treatment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lord C, Petkova E, Hus V, Gan W, Lu F, Martin DM, Ousley O, Guy L, Bernier R, Gerdts J, Algermissen M, Whitaker A, Sutcliffe JS, Warren Z, Klin A, Saulnier C, Hanson E, Hundley R, Piggot J, Fombonne E, Steiman M, Miles J, Kanne SM, Goin-Kochel RP, Peters SU, Cook EH, Guter S, Tjernagel J, Green-Snyder LA, Bishop S. et al.A multisite study of the clinical diagnosis of different autism spectrum disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012;69:306–313. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.148. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shic F, Bradshaw J, Klin A, Scassellati B, Chawarska K. Limited activity monitoring in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. Brain Res. 2011;1380:246–254. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Klin A. Young autistic children's listening preferences in regard to speech: a possible characterization of the symptom of social withdrawal. J Autism Dev Disord. 1991;21:29–42. doi: 10.1007/BF02206995. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Klin A. Listening preferences in regard to speech in four children with developmental disabilities. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1992;33:763–769. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1992.tb00911.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kuhl PK, Coffey-Corina S, Padden D, Dawson G. Links between social and linguistic processing of speech in preschool children with autism: behavioral and electrophysiological measures. Dev Sci. 2005;8:F1–F12. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00384.x. - DOI - PubMed