Enhanced Social Attention in Female Infant Siblings at Risk for Autism - 22/02/16
Abstract |
Objective |
Sexual dimorphism in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a well-recognized but poorly understood phenomenon. Females are four times less likely to be diagnosed with ASD than males and, when diagnosed, are more likely to exhibit comorbid anxiety symptoms. One of the key phenotypic features of ASD is atypical attention to socially relevant stimuli. Eye-tracking studies indicate atypical patterns of spontaneous social orienting during the prodromal and early syndromic stages of ASD. However, there have been no studies evaluating sex differences in early social orienting and their potential contribution to later outcomes.
Method |
We examined sex differences in social orienting in 6-, 9-, and 12-month-old infants at high genetic risk for ASD (n = 101) and in low-risk controls (n = 61), focusing on neurobehavioral measures of function across a spectrum of autism risk.
Results |
Results suggest that, between 6 and 12 months of age, a period highly consequential for the development of nonverbal social engagement competencies, high-risk females show enhanced attention to social targets, including faces, compared to both high-risk males and low-risk males and females. Greater attention to social targets in high-risk infants was associated with less severe social impairments at 2 years.
Conclusion |
The results suggest an alternative expression of autism risk in females, which manifests in infancy as increased attention toward socially relevant stimuli. This increased attention may serve as a female protective factor against ASD by providing increased access to social experiences in early development.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Key words : infancy, autism, attention, sex differences, protective factors
Plan
This article is discussed in an editorial by Drs. Somer L. Bishop, Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, and Stephan J. Sanders on page 159. |
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This article was reviewed under and accepted by associate editor James J. Hudziak, MD. |
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The study was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Development, P01 HD003008, Project 1 (K.C.), National Institutes of Mental Health R01 MH087554 (K.C.), and the Simons Foundation (187398, Ami Klin). |
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The authors thank Gabriella Greco, BA, Lilli Flink, BA, Sharlene Lansiquot, BA, Carla Wall, BA, Elizabeth Kim, PhD, and Quan Wang, PhD, of Yale University School of Medicine, for assistance in data collection and manuscript preparation. The authors wish to express their appreciation to the families and their children for their participation. |
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Drs. Chawarska and Shic served as the statistical experts for this research. |
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K.C., S.M., and F.S. developed the initial idea and design of the study. K.C. and F.S. had full access to the data and take responsibility for the integrity of the data. K.C. performed statistical analysis and takes responsibility for the accuracy of the data analysis. S.M. and K.P. conducted and supervised participant characterization. F.S. supervised technological development and technical aspects of experimental procedure, data acquisition, and processing. L.D. contributed to eye tracking data collection and manuscript preparation. K.C. wrote the manuscript. |
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Disclosure: Dr. Shic has received research funding from Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and Janssen Research and Development, LLC. Drs. Chawarska, Macari, Powell, and Ms. DiNicola report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. |
Vol 55 - N° 3
P. 188 - mars 2016 Retour au numéroBienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
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