Identifying phenotypic and physiological subgroups of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Background

To understand the emergence of symptoms in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we need to identify the mechanisms that underpin the development of core social skills. Mounting evidence indicates that young children with later ASD attend less to other people, which could compromise learning opportunities with cascading effects. Passive looking behaviour does not tell us about engagement with visual information, but measures of physiological arousal can provide information on the depth of engagement. In the current study, we use heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) to measure engagement with social dynamic stimuli in ASD.

Methods

Sixty-seven preschoolers with ASD and 65 typical developing preschoolers between 2 and 4 years of age participated in a study wher

SUBMITTER: Bazelmans T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10009381 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature