Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be diagnosed at any age, but symptoms usually appear during the child’s first two years of life. The sooner ASD is diagnosed, the sooner access to treatment and related services can begin. A new study finds that checking infants’ visual attention to geometric images is a reliable biomarker for early identification of autism.
Led by Karen Pierce, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Diego, the study looked at how young children with ASD spent a disproportionate amount of time looking at geometric images when given the opportunity. It is an extension of research.
A large sample of 1,863 infants was drawn from the community, with an average age of approximately 2 years. After performing a detailed diagnostic evaluation, the samples were divided into the following groups: children with ASD, children with ASD features, children with global developmental delay, children with language delay, and normally developing children. .
Pierce hypothesized that preference for geometric images is a valid and measurable biomarker, or biological indicator, for identifying children with autism within the first year of life. .
Toddlers were shown a 1-minute video with a geometric image on one side of the screen and an image of children doing yoga on the other side. Using eye-tracking technology, researchers measured how long young children spent fixating on geometric images.
The data show that infants with ASD spent more time viewing geometric images than infants in other subject groups who preferred social, non-geometric images. Some of her ASD toddlers were found to fixate on geometric images more than 90% of the time. The study found that toddlers with a strong preference for these images had higher symptoms and lower cognitive performance scores than those with her ASD who preferred the look. with images that include children.
Additional data suggest that geometric image preferences remain stable 12 months after the first eye-tracking session. Analysis using bioinformatics confirmed the statistical robustness of the collected data.
A large sample of studies of diverse community-based participants, including infants with non-ASD developmental delays, coupled with the robustness of the data, has made eye tracking a simple but reliable tool for identifying ASD in young children. It suggests that it has valuable utility.
This research scientific report.
Source: National Institute of Mental Health
