Visual systemizing preference in children with autism: A randomized controlled trial of intranasal oxytocin

Abstract

Several studies have suggested that the neuropeptide oxytocin may enhance aspects of social communication in autism. Little is known, however, about its effects on nonsocial manifestations, such as restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. In the empathizing–systemizing theory of autism, social deficits are described along the continuum of empathizing ability, whereas nonsocial aspects are characterized in terms of an increased preference for patterned or rule-based systems, called systemizing. We therefore developed an automated eye-tracking task to test whether children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to matched controls display a visual preference for more highly organized and structured (systemized) real-life images. Then, as part of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, we examined the effect of intranasal oxytocin on systemizing preferences in 16 male children with ASD, compared with 16 matched controls. Participants viewed 14 slides, each containing four related pictures (e.g., of people, animals, scenes, or objects) that differed primarily on the degree of systemizing. Visual systemizing preference was defined in terms of the fixation time and count for each image. Unlike control subjects who showed no gaze preference, individuals with ASD preferred to fixate on more highly systemized pictures. Intranasal oxytocin eliminated this preference in ASD participants, who now showed a similar response to control subjects on placebo. In contrast, control participants increased their visual preference for more systemized images after receiving oxytocin versus placebo. These results suggest that, in addition to its effects on social communication, oxytocin may play a role in some of the nonsocial manifestations of autism.

A rule-based theoretical account of social stories to address the double empathy problem

“…In this manner, a SS could be seen to create a meaningful and accurate if-and-then pattern through which both the author and the audience may infer and operationalize a rule about the world around them. In this way, the SS process (i.e., the development and delivery of the SS) could be harnessing the autistic individual’s strong explanatory drive ( Rutherford and Subiaul, 2016 ), the autistic individual’s preference for structured patterns ( Strathearn et al, 2018 ), and the autistic individual’s capacity for systemizing ( Van Der Zee and Derksen, 2021 ).…”

Application of Eye Tracking Technology in Medicine: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Overall, results from these studies appear to be promising, although further research will be needed to evaluate their potential utility in the clinical setting and better assess the role of potential confounding factors that might affect gaze patterns (such as age, disease severity and duration, cognitive functioning and so on). Similarly, eye tracking measurements might be useful as prognostic markers [ 69 ] or to evaluate the efficacy of different types of interventions [ 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 ].…”

How Do Children and Adolescents with ASD Look at Animals? A Scoping Review

“…The articles addressing this specific topic were published between 2010 and 2022, with at least one publication each year since 2010. The majority of these publications (12 papers out of 21 [82][83][84][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105]) were published during the last 5 years, with an acceleration in publication speed during the last years (i.e., from 2 papers per year in 2018 [97,98], to 4 papers in 2019 [83,[99][100][101], and 3 papers in 2020 [84,102,103]); then down to 2 papers in 2021, and finally one in 2022 (deceleration probably due to the COVID-19 health crisis in 2020 and 2021).…”