title: Atypical physiological orienting to direct gaze in low-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder.
abstract: Reduced use of eye contact is a prominent feature in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It has been proposed that direct gaze does not capture the attention of individuals with ASD. Experimental evidence is, however, mainly restricted to relatively high-functioning school-aged children or adults with ASD. This study investigated whether 2-5-year-old low-functioning children with severe ASD differ from control children in orienting to gaze stimuli, as measured with the heart rate deceleration response. Responses were measured to computerized presentations of dynamic shifts of gaze direction either toward (direct) or away (averted) from the observing child. The results showed a significant group by gaze direction interaction effect on heart rate responses (permuted P = .004), reflecting a stronger orienting response to direct versus averted gaze in typically developing (N = 17) and developmentally delayed (N = 16) children but not in children with ASD (N = 12). The lack of enhanced orienting response to direct gaze in the ASD group was not caused by a lack of looking at the eye region, as confirmed by eye tracking. The results suggest that direct gaze is not a socially salient, attention-grabbing signal for low-functioning children with ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 810-820. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Terhi M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8203-5407
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Helminen
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Jukka M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Leppänen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology and Tampere Center for Child Health Research, School of Medicine, 33014 University of Tampere, and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.affiliation: School of Management, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Arto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luoma
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Jari K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Hietanen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Anneli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kylliäinen
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009633:Nonverbal Communication / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: attention; autism spectrum disorder; eye contact; heart rate; orienting