Threatening faces fail to guide attention for adults with autistic‐like traits
18
Citation
98
Reference
10
Related Paper
Citation Trend
Abstract:
Individuals diagnosed with autistic spectrum conditions often show deficits in processing emotional faces relative to neurotypical peers. However, little is known about whether similar deficits exist in neurotypical individuals who show high‐levels of autistic‐like traits. To address this question, we compared performance on an attentional blink task in a large sample of adults who showed low‐ or high‐levels of autistic‐like traits on the Autism Spectrum Quotient. We found that threatening faces inserted as the second target in a rapid serial visual presentation were identified more accurately among individuals with low‐ compared to high‐levels of autistic‐like traits. This is the first study to show that attentional blink abnormalities seen in autism extend to the neurotypical population with autistic‐like traits, adding to the growing body of research suggesting that autistic‐related patterns of behaviors extend into a subset of the neurotypical population. Autism Res 2017, 10: 311–320 . © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Keywords:
Neurotypical
Autistic traits
Neurotypical
Autistic traits
Cross-Cultural
Cross-cultural studies
Cite
Citations (91)
Special interests are frequently developed by individuals with autism spectrum disorder, expressed as an intense focus on specific topics. Neurotypical individuals also develop special interests, often in the form of hobbies. Although past research has focused on special interests held by children with autism spectrum disorder, little is known about their role in adulthood. The current study investigated differences in the content, number, and specificity of the special interests held by adult individuals with autism spectrum disorder and neurotypical individuals, using Internet discussion forums as a data source. Quantitative analysis of forum posts revealed significant differences between the diagnostic groups. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder reported having more interests in systemizing domains, more specific interests, and a greater number of interests overall than neurotypical individuals. Understanding special interests can lead to the development of educational and therapeutic programs that facilitate the acquirement of other important social and communication skills.
Neurotypical
Cite
Citations (91)
To date, studies using cross-sectional methodologies make up a majority of the literature surrounding children with autism spectrum disorders and participation in physical activity and screen time. Longitudinal studies are needed to examine how physical activity and screen time behaviors co-develop for children with and without an autism spectrum disorder. To address this research gap, this study compared how physical activity and screen time levels changed over time (9 to 18 years of age) between youth with autism spectrum disorder and youth with neurotypical development. Data on the levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, light physical activity, television-, and video game-based screen time, collected as a part of the “Growing up in Ireland” study, were compared between youth with autism spectrum disorder and a propensity-matched sample of youth with neurotypical development ( n = 88 per group; 176 in total). Robust regression analyses indicated that children with autism spectrum disorder became less active over time compared to children with neurotypical development and that video game screen time also differed significantly between the groups when children were 9 years old. These findings elucidate important disparities present between these groups of children during pivotal developmental times. Lay abstract To date, studies using cross-sectional methodologies make up a majority of the literature surrounding children with autism spectrum disorders and participation in physical activity and screen time. Longitudinal studies are needed to examine how physical activity and screen time behaviors co-develop for children with and without an autism spectrum disorder. To address this research gap, this study compared how physical activity and screen time levels changed over time (from 9 to 18 years of age) between youth with autism spectrum disorder and youth with neurotypical development. Data on the levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, light physical activity, television-, and video game-based screen time, collected as a part of the “Growing up in Ireland” study, were compared between youth with autism spectrum disorder and a propensity-matched sample of youth with neurotypical development ( n = 88 per group; 176 in total). Robust regression analyses indicated that children with autism spectrum disorder became less active over time compared to children with neurotypical development and that video game screen time also differed significantly between the groups when children were 9 years old. These findings elucidate important disparities present between these groups of children during pivotal developmental times.
Neurotypical
Screen Time
Video game
Longitudinal Study
Cite
Citations (25)
Neurotypical adults often form negative first impressions of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and are less interested in engaging with them socially. In contrast, individuals with autism spectrum disorder actively seek out the company of others who share their diagnosis. It is not clear, however, whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder form more positive first impressions of autistic peers when diagnosis is not explicitly shared. We asked adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder to watch brief video clips of adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder and answer questions about their impressions of the individuals in the videos. Questions were related to participants' perceptions of the social skills of the individuals in the video, as well as their own willingness to interact with that person. We also measured gaze patterns to the faces, eyes, and mouths of adolescents in the video stimuli. Both participant groups spent less time gazing at videos of autistic adolescents. Regardless of diagnostic group, all participants provided more negative judgments of autistic than neurotypical adolescents in the videos. These data indicate that, without being explicitly informed of a shared diagnosis, adolescents with autism spectrum disorder form negative first impressions of autistic adolescents that are similar to, or lower than, those formed by neurotypical peers.
Cite
Citations (29)
Individuals diagnosed with autistic spectrum conditions often show deficits in processing emotional faces relative to neurotypical peers. However, little is known about whether similar deficits exist in neurotypical individuals who show high‐levels of autistic‐like traits. To address this question, we compared performance on an attentional blink task in a large sample of adults who showed low‐ or high‐levels of autistic‐like traits on the Autism Spectrum Quotient. We found that threatening faces inserted as the second target in a rapid serial visual presentation were identified more accurately among individuals with low‐ compared to high‐levels of autistic‐like traits. This is the first study to show that attentional blink abnormalities seen in autism extend to the neurotypical population with autistic‐like traits, adding to the growing body of research suggesting that autistic‐related patterns of behaviors extend into a subset of the neurotypical population. Autism Res 2017, 10: 311–320 . © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Neurotypical
Autistic traits
Cite
Citations (18)
Research attempting to explain the social difficulties observed in autism spectrum disorder has focused predominantly on difficulties understanding others, but there are indications that self‐referential processing is also atypical in autism. For example, infants who later get an autism diagnosis show a reduced response when hearing their own name. In addition, research suggests that the self‐bias (the tendency to preferentially process information when self‐relevant) is smaller or absent in autism. However, findings are mixed: researchers are yet to clarify exactly those aspects of self‐processing which are atypical in autism and in what way they are atypical. To gain further insight into these issues, future studies should focus on whether and how different aspects of self‐processing are related in both neurotypical and autistic individuals. Furthermore, the (a)typical development of different aspects of the self, as well as the impact of the self on different domains of cognitive processing, deserves further attention, requiring studies with participants in a wide age range. Finally, the use of neural measures of self‐processing will be invaluable, given the recent hypothesis that autistic individuals may learn to compensate for difficulties by relying on neural pathways which differ from those utilised by neurotypical individuals. Autism Res 2019, 1–5 . © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay summary Research has indicated that individuals with autism spectrum disorder show differences in the processing of self‐relevant information. However, as yet, exactly how self‐processing differs in autism remains unknown. To further our understanding of the self in autism, future studies should focus on the relationship between different aspects of self‐processing, investigating brain activity as well as behaviour, across a wide range of ages.
Neurotypical
Cite
Citations (35)
We examined the relationship between characteristics associated with autism spectrum disorder and college adjustment in a sample of neurotypical college students. Using the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire and the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire, we found that higher levels of autism spectrum disorder characteristics were associated with poorer adjustment to college. One subscale of the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire, pragmatic language difficulties, explained the most variance in adjustment. In addition, students who met the previously established cut-off scores for possessing the broad autism phenotype scored significantly lower on all Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire subscales. Finally, pragmatic language difficulties mediated the relationship between college major and academic adjustment. These findings underscore the need for future research to examine how pragmatic language difficulties may impede college success in students with autism spectrum disorder and in the typical population.
Neurotypical
Autistic traits
Cite
Citations (38)
Neurotypical
Cite
Citations (16)
Abstract This study investigated sex/gender differences in camouflaging with children and adolescents ( N = 84) with and without an autism diagnosis/increased levels of autistic traits using two conceptualisations/operationalisations of camouflaging. A significant group-by-gender interaction using ANCOVA, with the covariate of verbal IQ, reflected similar levels of social reciprocity in autistic and neurotypical females, whereas autistic males had lower reciprocity than neurotypical males. Autistic females also had higher reciprocity than autistic males, despite similar levels of autistic traits (behavioural camouflaging). Additionally, autistic males and females had similar theory of mind skills, despite females having increased reciprocity (compensatory camouflaging). These findings provide evidence of increased camouflaging in autistic females, which may contribute to delay in the recognition of difficulties and provision of support.
Neurotypical
Reciprocity
Autistic traits
Analysis of covariance
Cite
Citations (141)
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, and among those with fragile X syndrome, approximately 1/3rd meet a threshold for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Previous functional imaging studies of fragile X syndrome have typically focused on those with fragile X syndrome compared to either neurotypical or autism spectrum disorder control groups. Further, the majority of previous studies have tended to focus on those who are more intellectually able than is typical for fragile X syndrome. In this study, we examine the impact of autistic traits in individuals with fragile X syndrome on a paradigm looking at facial emotion processing. The study included 17 individuals with fragile X syndrome, of whom 10 met criteria for autism as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Prior to the scan, participants rehearsed on a mock scanner to help acclimatize to the scanner environment and thus allow more severely affected individuals to participate. The task examined the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response to fearful and neutral faces taken from the Ekman faces series. Individuals in the autism group had a region of significantly reduced activity centered on the left superior temporal gyrus, compared to those with FXS alone, in response to the fearful faces. We suggest that autism in individuals with fragile X syndrome is associated with similar changes in the neurobiology of facial emotion processing as seen in idiopathic autism.
Neurotypical
Fragile X Syndrome
Fusiform gyrus
Cite
Citations (5)