Eye movement and visual search: are there elementary abnormalities in autism?

Although atypical eye gaze is commonly observed in autism, little is known about underlying oculomotor abnormalities. Our review of visual search and oculomotor systems in the healthy brain suggests that relevant networks may be partially impaired in autism, given regional abnormalities known from neuroimaging. However, direct oculomotor evidence for autism remains limited.

Atypically diffuse functional connectivity between caudate nuclei and cerebral cortex in autism.

Background: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting sociocommunicative behavior, but also sensorimotor skill learning, oculomotor control, and executive functioning. Some of these impairments may be related to abnormalities of the caudate nuclei, which have been reported for autism.

Methods: Our sample was comprised of 8 high-functioning males with autism and 8 handedness, sex, and age-matched controls.