Atypical Reflexive Gaze Patterns on Emotional Faces in Autism Spectrum Disorders

TLDR

Atypical gaze patterns and reduced eye contact are prominent in autism, yet their underlying cause remains unclear. The study investigates whether autistic individuals fail to orient toward the eyes or actively avoid direct eye contact. Using a new task, 12 autistic and 11 control participants first fixated on either eyes or mouth, and their subsequent eye movements toward or away from the eyes were analyzed to assess avoidance and orientation. Autistic participants showed a reduced preference for eyes, with more frequent eye movements away from the eyes, and this avoidance combined with reduced orientation predicted poorer emotional recognition, linking gaze patterns to social symptoms and offering insights for future interventions.

Abstract

Atypical scan paths on emotional faces and reduced eye contact represent a prominent feature of autism symptomatology, yet the reason for these abnormalities remains a puzzle. Do individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) fail to orient toward the eyes or do they actively avoid direct eye contact? Here, we used a new task to investigate reflexive eye movements on fearful, happy, and neutral faces. Participants (ASDs: 12; controls: 11) initially fixated either on the eyes or on the mouth. By analyzing the frequency of participants' eye movements away from the eyes and toward the eyes, respectively, we explored both avoidance and orientation reactions. The ASD group showed a reduced preference for the eyes relative to the control group, primarily characterized by more frequent eye movements away from the eyes. Eye-tracking data revealed a pronounced influence of active avoidance of direct eye contact on atypical gaze in ASDs. The combination of avoidance and reduced orientation into an individual index predicted emotional recognition performance. Crucially, this result provides evidence for a direct link between individual gaze patterns and associated social symptomatology. These findings thereby give important insights into the social pathology of ASD, with implications for future research and interventions.