Ana García-Blanco1, Concepción López-Soler2, Máximo Vento3, María Carmen García-Blanco4, Belén Gago3, Manuel Perea5. 1. Health Research Institute La Fe, Av. de Fernando Abril Martorell, 106, 46026 Valencia, Spain; University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 21, Valencia 46010, Spain. Electronic address: ana.garcia-blanco@uv.es. 2. Virgen de la Arrixaca University Hospital, Ctra. Madrid-Cartagena, s/n, 30120 El Palmar, Murcia, Spain. 3. Health Research Institute La Fe, Av. de Fernando Abril Martorell, 106, 46026 Valencia, Spain. 4. University of Castilla-La Mancha, Plaza La Universidad, 3, 02071 Albacete, Spain. 5. University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 21, Valencia 46010, Spain.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Understanding how emotional faces are processed is important to help characterize the social deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). AIMS: We examined: (i) whether attention is modulated by emotional facial expression; (ii) the time course of the attentional preferences (short vs. long stimulus presentation rates); and (iii) the association between attentional biases and autistic symptomatology. METHOD AND PROCEDURES: We applied a dot-probe experiment with emotional faces (happy, sad, and angry). The sample was composed of ASD children without additional language and/or intellectual impairments (n=29) and age-matched Typically Developing (TD) children (n=29). OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: When compared to the TD group, the ASD group showed an attentional bias away from angry faces at long presentation rates. No differences between groups were found for happy or sad faces. Furthermore, correlational analyses showed that the higher avoidance of angry faces, the greater are the social communication difficulties of ASD children. The attentional bias away from angry faces may be an underlying mechanism of social dysfunction in ASD. We discuss the implications of these findings for current theories of emotional processing in ASD.
BACKGROUND: Understanding how emotional faces are processed is important to help characterize the social deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). AIMS: We examined: (i) whether attention is modulated by emotional facial expression; (ii) the time course of the attentional preferences (short vs. long stimulus presentation rates); and (iii) the association between attentional biases and autistic symptomatology. METHOD AND PROCEDURES: We applied a dot-probe experiment with emotional faces (happy, sad, and angry). The sample was composed of ASDchildren without additional language and/or intellectual impairments (n=29) and age-matched Typically Developing (TD) children (n=29). OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: When compared to the TD group, the ASD group showed an attentional bias away from angry faces at long presentation rates. No differences between groups were found for happy or sad faces. Furthermore, correlational analyses showed that the higher avoidance of angry faces, the greater are the social communication difficulties of ASDchildren. The attentional bias away from angry faces may be an underlying mechanism of social dysfunction in ASD. We discuss the implications of these findings for current theories of emotional processing in ASD.
Authors: Jana Bretthauer; Daniela Canu; Ulf Thiemann; Christian Fleischhaker; Heike Brauner; Katharina Müller; Nikolaos Smyrnis; Monica Biscaldi; Stephan Bender; Christoph Klein Journal: Front Psychiatry Date: 2022-06-15 Impact factor: 5.435
Authors: Natalie G Wall; Oliver Smith; Linda E Campbell; Carmel Loughland; Mark Wallis; Frans Henskens; Ulrich Schall Journal: World J Psychiatry Date: 2021-12-19