title: Enhanced Social Attention in Female Infant Siblings at Risk for Autism.
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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Electronic address: Katarzyna.Chawarska@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chawarska
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Macari
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: DiNicola
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: Frederick
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shic
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010641:Phenotype; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D035781:Siblings; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: attention; autism; infancy; protective factors; sex differences