title: Attention to novelty versus repetition: Contrasting habituation profiles in Autism and Williams syndrome.
abstract: Abnormalities in habituation have been documented in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Williams syndrome (WS). Such abnormalities have been proposed to underlie the distinctive social and non-social difficulties that define ASD, including sensory features and repetitive behaviours, and the distinctive social phenotype characterizing WS.
  
  
  
  We measured habituation in 39 preschoolers with ASD, 20 peers with WS and 19 typically developing (TD) children using an eye-tracking protocol that measured participants' duration of attention in response to a repeating stimulus and a novel stimulus presented side by side across multiple trials.
  
  
  
  Participants in the TD group and the WS group decreased their attention toward the repeating stimulus and increased their attention to the novel stimulus over time. Conversely, the ASD group showed a similar attentional response to the novel and repeating stimuli. Habituation was correlated with social functioning in the WS but not in the ASD group. Contrary to predictions, slower habituation in ASD was associated with lower severity of repetitive behaviours.
  
  
  
  Habituation appears to be intact in WS and impaired in ASD. More research is needed to clarify the nature of the syndrome-specific patterns of correlations between habituation and social and non-social functioning in these neurodevelopmental disorders.
authors.affiliation: A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, 3020 Market Street, Suite 560, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3734, USA; Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia. Electronic address: giacomo.vivanti@drexel.edu.
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vivanti
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neuromotor & Cognition Lab, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia. Electronic address: D.Hocking@latrobe.edu.au.
authors.forename: Darren R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hocking
authors.affiliation: Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia. Electronic address: p.fanning@latrobe.edu.au.
authors.forename: Peter A J
authors.initials: PAJ
authors.lastname: Fanning
authors.affiliation: Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia; Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uljarevic
authors.affiliation: The Marcus Autism Center, Emory University School of Medicine, 1920 Briarcliff Road, NE, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA; Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, 1920 Briarcliff Road, NE, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA; I.R.C.C.S. Children's Hospital Bambino Gesù, Department of Neuroscience, Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Piazza S. Onofrio 4, 00165, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: valentina.postorino86@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Postorino
authors.affiliation: I.R.C.C.S. Children's Hospital Bambino Gesù, Department of Neuroscience, Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Piazza S. Onofrio 4, 00165, Rome, Italy; Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Systems Medicine Department, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy. Electronic address: gigimazzone@yahoo.it.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mazzone
authors.affiliation: Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia. Electronic address: c.dissanayake@latrobe.edu.au.
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dissanayake
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D065886:Neurodevelopmental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D018980:Williams Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Autism; Eye-tracking; Habituation; Learning; Repetitive behaviours; Social cognition; Williams syndrome