Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35242018›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in human neuroscience2022

Multimodal Evidence of Atypical Processing of Eye Gaze and Facial Emotion in Children With Autistic Traits.

Shadi Bagherzadeh-Azbari, Gilbert Ka Bo Lau, Guang Ouyang, Changsong Zhou, Andrea Hildebrandt, Werner Sommer, Ming Lui

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 38% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

Shadi Bagherzadeh-AzbariDepartment of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Gilbert Ka Bo LauCenter for Child Development, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Guang OuyangFaculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Changsong ZhouDepartment of Physics, Centre for Nonlinear Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Andrea HildebrandtDepartment of Psychology and Research Center Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
Werner SommerDepartment of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Ming LuiCenter for Child Development, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Hong Kong Baptist University · HKCarl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg · DEHumboldt-Universität zu Berlin · DEUniversity of Hong Kong · HKZhejiang Normal University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

According to the shared signal hypothesis (SSH) the impact of facial expressions on emotion processing partially depends on whether the gaze is directed toward or away from the observer. In autism spectrum disorder (ASD) several aspects of face processing have been found to be atypical, including attention to eye gaze and the identification of emotional expressions. However, there is little research on how gaze direction affects emotional expression processing in typically developing (TD) individuals and in those with ASD. This question is investigated here in two multimodal experiments. Experiment 1 required processing eye gaze direction while faces differed in emotional expression. Forty-seven children (aged 9-12 years) participated. Their Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) scores ranged from 0 to 6 in the experiment. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were sensitive to gaze direction and emotion, but emotion processing did not depend on gaze direction. However, for angry faces the gaze direction effect on the N170 amplitude, as typically observed in TD individuals, diminished with increasing ADOS score. For neutral expressions this correlation was not significant. Experiment 2 required explicit emotion classifications in a facial emotion composite task while eye gaze was manipulated incidentally. A group of 22 children with ASD was compared to a propensity score-matched group of TD children (mean age = 13 years). The same comparison was carried out for a subgroup of nine children with ASD who were less trained in social cognition, according to clinician's report. The ASD group performed overall worse in emotion recognition than the TD group, independently of emotion or gaze direction. However, for disgust expressions, eye tracking data revealed that TD children fixated relatively longer on the eyes of the stimulus face with a direct gaze as compared with averted gaze. In children with ASD we observed no such modulation of fixation behavior as a function of gaze direction. Overall, the present findings from ERPs and eye tracking confirm the hypothesis of an impaired sensitivity to gaze direction in children with ASD or elevated autistic traits, at least for specific emotions. Therefore, we conclude that multimodal investigations of the interaction between emotional processing and stimulus gaze direction are promising to understand the characteristics of individuals differing along the autism trait dimension.

Indexed as

ADOSautism spectrum disorderemotion processingEPNface recognitiongaze directionN170

Identifiers

PMID35242018
PMCPMC8886727
OpenAlexW4213021341

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.