Eye-Tracking-Based Measurement of Social Visual Engagement Compared With Expert Clinical Diagnosis of Autism.

Importance: In the US, children with signs of autism often experience more than 1 year of delay before diagnosis and often experience longer delays if they are from racially, ethnically, or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Most diagnoses are also received without use of standardized diagnostic instruments. To aid in early autism diagnosis, eye-tracking measurement of social visual engagement has shown potential as a performance-based biomarker.

Expert Clinician Certainty in Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder in 16-30-Month-Olds: A Multi-site Trial Secondary Analysis.

Differential diagnosis of young children with suspected autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is challenging, and clinician uncertainty about a child's diagnosis may contribute to misdiagnosis and subsequent delays in access to early treatment. The current study was designed to replicate and expand a recent report in this Journal (McDonnell et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 49:1391-1401, https://doi.

Mechanisms of Diminished Attention to Eyes in Autism.

Objective: Two hypotheses, gaze aversion and gaze indifference, are commonly cited to explain a diagnostic hallmark of autism: reduced attention to others' eyes. The two posit different areas of atypical brain function, different pathogenic models of disability, and different possible treatments. Evidence for and against each hypothesis is mixed but has thus far focused on older children and adults.

Parsing heterogeneity in autism spectrum disorders: visual scanning of dynamic social scenes in school-aged children.

Objective: To examine patterns of variability in social visual engagement and their relationship to standardized measures of social disability in a heterogeneous sample of school-aged children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Method: Eye-tracking measures of visual fixation during free-viewing of dynamic social scenes were obtained for 109 children with ASD (mean age, 10.2 ± 3.

Cognitive and social functions and growth factors in a mouse model of Rett syndrome.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is an autism-spectrum disorder caused by mutations in the X-linked gene encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2). Abnormalities in social behavior, stereotyped movements, and restricted interests are common features in both RTT and classic autism. While mouse models of both RTT and autism exist, social behaviors have not been explored extensively in mouse models of RTT.