A group of very preterm children characterized by atypical gaze patterns.
OBJECTIVE
Very preterm (VP) children are at risk for social difficulties, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study used eye tracking to determine viewing behaviors that may reflect these difficulties.


METHODS
The gaze patterns of 47 VP (mean gestational age: 28weeks, mean birth weight: 948g, and mean chronological age: 49months) were assessed while viewing dynamic social scenes and compared with those of 25 typically developing (TD) and 25 children with ASD. The temporo-spatial gaze patterns were summarized on a two-dimensional plane using multidimensional scaling (MDS) and the median of the TD children was used to characterize the gazes of the VP children. Time spent viewing the face was also compared.


RESULTS
The VP children formed two clusters: one had a mean MDS distance comparable to that of TD group (n=32; VP-small), and the other had a larger mean distance comparable to that of ASD group (n=15; VP-large). The VP-large were similar to the ASD group by spending significantly less time viewing the face. Their performance was comparable to the TD during the initial 1s, but they could not remain focused on the face thereafter.


CONCLUSIONS
The VP children were objectively classified into two groups based on gaze behaviors. One group was comparable to TD children, whereas the other had difficulty maintaining attention and exhibited atypical viewing behaviors similar to those of the ASD group. Our method may be useful in identifying VP children at higher risk for experiencing social difficulties.
Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: m-seki@juntendo.ac.jp.
Mariko
M
Sekigawa-Hosozawa
Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Division of Adolescent Mental Health, Department of Psychosocial Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
Kyoko
K
Tanaka
Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Toshiaki
T
Shimizu
Dynamic Brain Network Laboratory, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan; Department of Brain Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Tamami
T
Nakano
Dynamic Brain Network Laboratory, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan; Department of Brain Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Shigeru
S
Kitazawa
D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D062071:Infant, Extremely Premature / Q000254:growth & development*; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods
Autism spectrum disorder; Eye tracking; Social cognition; Social competence difficulties; Very preterm