The development of face orienting mechanisms in infants at-risk for autism

Mayada Elsabbagh; Teodora Gliga; Andrew Pickles; Kristelle Hudry; Tony Charman; Mark H Johnson; the BASIS Team

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2012.07.030

The development of face orienting mechanisms in infants at-risk for autism

Mayada Elsabbagh, Teodora Gliga, Andrew Pickles, Kristelle Hudry, Tony Charman, Mark H Johnson, the BASIS Team

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

150 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A popular idea related to early brain development in autism is that a lack of attention to, or interest in, social stimuli early in life interferes with the emergence of social brain networks mediating the typical development of socio-communicative skills. Compelling as it is, this developmental account has proved difficult to verify empirically because autism is typically diagnosed in toddlerhood, after this process of brain specialization is well underway. Using a prospective study, we directly tested the integrity of social orienting mechanisms in infants at-risk for autism by virtue of having an older diagnosed sibling. Contrary to previous accounts, infants who later develop autism exhibit a clear orienting response to faces that are embedded within an array of distractors. Nevertheless, infants at-risk for autism as a group, and irrespective of their subsequent outcomes, had a greater tendency to select and sustain attention to faces. This pattern suggests that interactions among multiple social and attentional brain systems over the first two years give rise to variable pathways in infants at-risk.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	147-154
Number of pages	8
Journal	Behavioural brain research
Volume	251
Early online date	27 Jul 2012
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2012.07.030
Publication status	Published - 15 Aug 2013

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title = "The development of face orienting mechanisms in infants at-risk for autism",

abstract = "A popular idea related to early brain development in autism is that a lack of attention to, or interest in, social stimuli early in life interferes with the emergence of social brain networks mediating the typical development of socio-communicative skills. Compelling as it is, this developmental account has proved difficult to verify empirically because autism is typically diagnosed in toddlerhood, after this process of brain specialization is well underway. Using a prospective study, we directly tested the integrity of social orienting mechanisms in infants at-risk for autism by virtue of having an older diagnosed sibling. Contrary to previous accounts, infants who later develop autism exhibit a clear orienting response to faces that are embedded within an array of distractors. Nevertheless, infants at-risk for autism as a group, and irrespective of their subsequent outcomes, had a greater tendency to select and sustain attention to faces. This pattern suggests that interactions among multiple social and attentional brain systems over the first two years give rise to variable pathways in infants at-risk.",

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AU - Johnson, Mark H

AU - the BASIS Team

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The development of face orienting mechanisms in infants at-risk for autism

Abstract

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