[ad_1]
Researchers at the University of Uppsala have discovered differences in reaction patterns between babies who were later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and babies who have not been diagnosed. (Photo: David Naylor)
Researchers know that autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can be detected in children as early as two years of age. Swedish researchers have now discovered signs of autism in even younger children, for whom a diagnosis was then made.
Using measurements of eye movement, researchers tested the response pattern of infants exposed to visual stimuli. They then examined the children at the age of 3 to see if they had been diagnosed with ASD.
According to researchers at the University of Uppsala, who conducted the study, the findings suggest that children with ASD have less social motivation as infants.
The study was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
Sharing experiences
Infants and parents normally use their voices or other signs to share their experiences.
Small children can attract the attention of an adult by making noise, allowing them to meet their needs and interests. It is an important way for infants to acquire language and social skills.
However, before they can talk or point fingers, babies use their eyes to influence their parents. For example, they can look between their parents and a cat, a balloon or a bird they consider exciting.
Autistic children and sisters
This early and silent communication was precisely what the researchers wanted to study.
They wanted to see if they would find any differences in 10 month old babies by measuring their eye movements and taking into account their risk of autism.
The study included children from an older brother with autism. Most younger siblings of children with ASD develop normally. But they still have a higher probability of diagnosing ASD than the general population.
Researchers used children who did not have an increased risk of ASD as a control group. A total of 112 infants participated in gaming-type investigations, while an eye observer recorded their gaze.
"The results indicate that children with autism do not take as much initiative as others to communicate with adults," said researcher Terje Falck-Ytter of the Department of Psychology at Uppsala University.
A flashing light
Children sat on their parents' lap when an unusual brightly colored lamp suddenly flashed. The lamp flashed for 10 seconds so that the child had time to initiate communication with the researcher, sitting next to the lamp but with a wall between the researcher and the lamp.
From the baby's point of view, it seemed that the seeker could not see the lamp.
Where and how often children have changed eyesight were measured with the help of eye tracking technology. This counts the number of times the baby has moved his gaze and measured the direction of his gaze.
All the children followed the researcher's eye, whether or not they were later diagnosed with ASD.
"Our results indicate that some children have less social motivation than others," says researcher Terje Falck-Ytter of the Department of Psychology at Uppsala University. (Photo: University of Uppsala)
But there was a difference between the children's desire to try to get the researcher's attention to the lights, to "tell" a little bit of what they saw.
Less likely to seek contact
Most infants repeatedly watched between flashing light and the seeker repeatedly, as they tried to share the experience with the adult.
Infants diagnosed with ASD have also spontaneously followed the adult 's initiative with their eyes, just like other infants.
But these children rarely took the initiative to share their own experiences with the adult. They have rarely looked back between the lamp and the adult.
These children were at greater risk of having a diagnosis of ASD later.
Researchers believe this supports the hypothesis that children with autism already show signs of reduced social motivation when they are children.
Differences and exceptions
"We assume that the results can also be relevant for social interactions outside of the laboratory situation," Terje Falck-Ytter wrote in an e-mail.
The differences were vague and can be difficult to see with the naked eye. But it is quite possible to detect them with modern eye tracking equipment.
The researchers found clear statistical differences between healthy children and those diagnosed with ASD at a later date. But the precision was too weak to predict what would happen to each child.
And there were exceptions in both groups.
Too early to determine clinical value
Falck-Ytter said that it was too early to say whether these types of measures could be turned into an early detection method of autism.
The children in the study were 10, 14 and 18 months old when eye follow-up studies were done. The autism survey was done at the age of three years.
In total, 81 younger siblings with children with ASD were included in the study. Of these, 22 children met the criteria for autism at follow-up, just over one in four children.
The control group consisted of 31 children whose older siblings had not been diagnosed with ASD.
—————————-
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
[ad_2]
Source link