Gaze aversion and the primacy of emotional dysfunction in autism

Bowman, Sarah M.; Hinkley, Lisa; Barnes, Jim; Lindsay, R. L.

doi:10.1075/z.127.13bow

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…There were also no between-group differences in pupil dilation on any of the familiarity or gaze direction conditions. This pattern of results speaks against the notion that children with ASD have hyper-arousal in response to mutual gaze as suggested in the gaze aversion hypothesis (Bowman et al 2004;Tanaka and Sung 2013). These findings also suggest that children with ASD do not experience hypo-arousal during mutual gaze.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 48%

“…Some neuroimaging studies have found that people with ASD are hyper-aroused (have more amygdala activity) by mutual gaze (Dalton et al 2005;Kliemann et al 2012). These findings have been suggested to account for reduced mutual gaze in people with ASD, thought to be an adaptive strategy to regulate arousal during social interactions (Bowman et al 2004;Dalton et al 2005;Kliemann et al 2010;Tanaka and Sung 2013;Tottenham et al 2013).…”

Section: Emotional Arousal To Mutual Gazementioning

confidence: 84%

“…We examine this 'gaze aversion hypothesis' (Bowman et al 2004;Tanaka and Sung 2013) by first exploring the findings regarding visual attention to mutual gaze, and then by investigating the findings on emotional arousal to mutual gaze in ASD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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No Evidence of Emotional Dysregulation or Aversion to Mutual Gaze in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Pupillometry Study

Nuske

Vivanti

Dissanayake

2015

J Autism Dev Disord

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The 'gaze aversion hypothesis', suggests that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) avoid mutual gaze because they experience it as hyper-arousing. To test this hypothesis we showed mutual and averted gaze stimuli to 23 mixed-ability preschoolers with ASD (M Mullen DQ = 68) and 21 typically-developing preschoolers, aged 2-5 years, using eye-tracking technology to measure visual attention and emotional arousal (i.e., pupil dilation). There were no group differences in attention to the eye region or pupil dilation. Both groups dilated their pupils more to mutual compared to averted gaze. More internalizing symptoms in the children with ASD related to less emotional arousal to mutual gaze. The pattern of results suggests that preschoolers with ASD are not dysregulated in their responses to mutual gaze.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 48%

Section: Emotional Arousal To Mutual Gazementioning

confidence: 84%

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No Evidence of Emotional Dysregulation or Aversion to Mutual Gaze in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Pupillometry Study

Nuske

Vivanti

Dissanayake

2015

J Autism Dev Disord

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“…The specific value of the current study is its focus on young low‐functioning children with severe ASD who are not well represented in the field of psychophysiological autism research. Studies with school‐aged high‐functioning children with ASD have shown that they respond to direct versus other gaze directions with enhanced arousal responses [Kylliäinen & Hietanen, ; Kylliäinen et al, ; Stagg, Davis, & Heaton, ], which has been regarded as evidence for the hypothesis that the lack of eye contact was caused by enhanced, negatively valenced arousal responses to direct gaze that lead to active avoidance of eye contact [e.g., Bowman, Hinkley, Barnes, and Lindsay, ; Dalton et al, ; Hutt & Ounsted, ; Skuse, ; Tanaka & Sung, ]. However, the enhanced arousal response to eye contact in school‐aged children with ASD might be caused by fewer experiences in eye‐to‐eye communication or due to anxiety caused by the developing awareness of the social demands related to eye contact.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atypical physiological orienting to direct gaze in low‐functioning children with autism spectrum disorder

et al. 2017

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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.

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“…An indirect approach, through for instance a mutual activity, can establish a bond that would be impossible to make by direct interaction [see, for example 10,11]. The person with autism seems to be experiencing a magnified form of the effort which we all need to put into interacting with others [12]. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) was developed to help children with autism communicate more effectively [13].…”

Section: Communication Support For People With Autismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting Conversation for People with Dementia by Introducing a Computer-Based Third Element to the Interaction

Alm

Astell

Gowans

et al. 2013

Digital Human Modeling and Applications in Health, Safety, Ergonomics, and Risk Management. Healthcare and Safety of the Enviro

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Abstract. The principle of introducing a third element to a stressful communicational encounter, to which both participants can direct their attention, and which can provide prompts for communication, has a wide potential applicability. We have developed a system to support the communication of older people with dementia, which uses this principle. The approach has uses in many settings in which there is a cognitive or emotional blockage to communicational flow, several of which are described.Keywords: assistive technology, cognitive prostheses, dementia, autism, cognitive impairment. Computer-Based support for dementiaDementia is the loss of cognitive abilities, particularly the use of working (short-term) memory, usually as a result of Alzheimer's disease or stroke. Dementia occurs primarily in older people, and while it does not affect all of them, its rate of occurrence rises steeply from about 1 in 10 over 60 to 1 in 2 of those over 90 [1,2]. As our population balance shifts towards the older end of the spectrum, the incidence of dementia will increase dramatically. Because of the high level of human effort currently required in caring for people with dementia, designing assistive technology will be a growing priority until a way of reversing this debilitating condition can be found. Among the skills which dementia degrades is the ability to communicate. Finding ways to promote communication in people with dementia is vitally important. Communication is such a fundamental part of being human that when people are no longer able to interact successfully they are treated as somehow less than human. This dehumanization is, sadly, commonly seen in the treatment of people with dementia.We have developed a computer-based communication support system which can assist older people with dementia to interact more successfully with relatives and

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Gaze aversion and the primacy of emotional dysfunction in autism

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

No Evidence of Emotional Dysregulation or Aversion to Mutual Gaze in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Pupillometry Study

No Evidence of Emotional Dysregulation or Aversion to Mutual Gaze in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Pupillometry Study

Atypical physiological orienting to direct gaze in low‐functioning children with autism spectrum disorder

Supporting Conversation for People with Dementia by Introducing a Computer-Based Third Element to the Interaction

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