Different Eye Tracking Patterns in Autism Spectrum Disorder in Toddler and Preschool Children

Abstract

BackgroundChildren with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been observed to be associated with fixation abnormality as measured eye tracking, but the dynamics behind fixation patterns across age remain unclear.Materials and MethodsIn this study, we investigated gaze patterns between toddlers and preschoolers with and without ASD while they viewed video clips and still images (i.e., mouth-moving face, biological motion, mouthing face vs. moving object, still face picture vs. objects, and moving toys).ResultsWe found that the fixation time percentage of children with ASD showed significant decrease compared with that of TD children in almost all areas of interest (AOI) except for moving toy (helicopter). We also observed a diagnostic group (ASD vs. TD) and chronological age (Toddlers vs. preschooler) interaction for the eye AOI during the mouth-moving video clip. Support vector machine analysis showed that the classifier could discriminate ASD from TD in toddlers with an accuracy of 80% and could discriminate ASD from TD in preschoolers with an accuracy of 71%.ConclusionOur results suggest that toddlers and preschoolers may be associated with both common and distinct fixation patterns. A combination of eye tracking and machine learning methods has the potential to shed light on the development of new early screening/diagnosis methods for ASD.

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“…A growing body of evidence suggests that gaze metrics are useful in the screening of individuals at risk of diseases, including AD, Parkinson’s, Autism spectrum disorder, and nystagmus syndrome ( Rosengren et al, 2020 ; Kong et al, 2022 ; Sun et al, 2022 ). Further investigations of specific eye movement biomarkers and neuropsychological criteria that precisely separate MCI subtypes (aMCI and naMCI) may assist in the forecasting of dementia progression.…”

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“…These varying neural response patterns could contribute to the integration of theories related to arousal and social motivation in ASD, thereby enhancing our comprehension of the neurobiological underpinnings of ASD [ 176 ]. Indeed, the fixation patterns of ASD patients may undergo changes across different age stages [ 18 ] possibly reflecting developmental delays or asynchrony in emotional cognition and social skills.…”

“…Concurrently, behavioral biomarkers, pinpointed through precise eye tracking technologies, have revealed distinctive gaze patterns and socially relevant attentional behaviors exhibited by individuals with ASD [ 15 , 16 ]. Moreover, machine learning algorithms, adept at amalgamating diverse biomarker data, have demonstrated significant potential in enhancing the precision of ASD diagnosis and its predictive accuracy [ [17] , [18] , [19] ]. These collective research endeavors signify a noteworthy advancement toward early ASD detection, the customization of personalized treatment modalities, and a deeper understanding of the intricate biological underpinnings of the disorder, all aimed at improving the overall quality of life for individuals with ASD and their families.…”

Effectiveness of picture‐based interventions of toothbrush training on improvement of oral hygiene in children with autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The flow of the entire search, article identification and inclusion and exclusion process are shown in Figure 1. List of excluded studies [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] and reasons for exclusion are mentioned in Supplementary data.…”