Pattern of fixation explains atypical eye processing during observation of faces with direct or averted gaze in autism (results of the INFoR Cohort).

ABSTRACT: One of the most reliable early predictors of autism is atypical social attention, particularly attenuated eye gaze contact. As a part of the InFoR cohort, a multicentric French longitudinal study, 88 autistic participants and 56 participants without autism performed a gaze discrimination task using 28 static pictures of faces with either direct or averted gaze. We monitored eye fixation behavior during face picture observation and analyzed subsequent key-press responses. The eyes of faces with direct gaze attracted more fixations than those of faces with averted gaze. Autistic participants showed significantly reduced Eye Fixations Indexes (EFI; a parameter derived from the number of fixations on eyes of the image; it reflects participant's strategy of face observation) and longer response

SUBMITTER: Bogdanova OV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12622839 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature