title: Impaired exploratory eye movements in children with Asperger's syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous eye-tracking studies using an eye mark recorder have reported that disturbances in exploratory eye movements in adult schizophrenic patients are associated with social functioning. The current study sought to determine whether exploratory eye-movement disturbances are present in children with Asperger's syndrome (AS) compared with typically developing (TD) children. MATERIALS/PARTICIPANTS: The participants were 23 children with AS and 23 age-matched TD children. We measured exploratory eye movements using an EMR-8B eye mark recorder and an exploratory eye movement-measuring device.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eye movements were recorded while participants freely observed a geometric figure (free viewing task), and while they complied with the instructions of an experimenter (repeat-comparison task). We assessed eye fixation points (EFPs) and total eye scanning length (TESL) in all tasks, and measured the responsive search score (RSS) in the repeat-comparison task.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the free viewing task, children with AS exhibited significantly shorter TESL compared with TD children. In the repeat-comparison task, children with AS exhibited significantly lower RSS. Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire scores were negatively correlated with both EFP and TESL, but not RSS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current results revealed that children with AS exhibited dysfunction in exploratory eye movements. Thus, assessing exploratory eye movements in a repeat-comparison task may be useful for detecting social impairment among children with AS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohya
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Cognitive and Molecular Research Institute of Brain Diseases, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, Cognitive and Molecular Research Institute of Brain Diseases, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan. Electronic address: yushiro@med.kurume-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yushiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Fukuoka Prefectural University, Japan.
authors.forename: Chiyomi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Egami
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Cognitive and Molecular Research Institute of Brain Diseases, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Youhei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagamitsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, Cognitive and Molecular Research Institute of Brain Diseases, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Toyojiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuishi
mesh_terms: D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D005133:Eye Movements; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
keywords: Asperger’s syndrome; Exploratory eye movements; Eye-tracking technology; Responsive search score; Social interactions