Development of Eye-tracking Based Markers for Autism in Young Children

Completed

• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Interventions: Other: Administration of five eye-tracking paradigms

• Registration Number: NCT03286621
• Lead Sponsor: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Brief Summary

The main aim of the present study is to examine eye-tracking based markers for social processing deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To this end a battery of five eye-tracking paradigms will be administered to young children with ASD and typically developing children. To additionally evaluate the specificity of the eye-tracking markers a group of children with disorders of delayed development other than ASD will be included.

Detailed Description

During an initial screening session all participants will undergo the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). ASD-related symptomatology and levels of impairments will be further characterized using the Social Responsibilities Scale 2 (SRS 2), Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CSQ), Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), and Repetitive Behaviour Scale Revised (RBS-R).

Subsequently all participants will be administered the following eye-tracking paradigms: (1) dynamic social and non-social visual preference paradigm during which dynamic geometric images (DGI) and dynamic social images (DSI) will be presented, (2) non-biological versus biological motion paradigm, (3) social attention and sharing of enjoyment paradigm, (4) preference for real versus schematic emotional face stimuli paradigm during which photographs of human faces and emoticons will be presented, (5) shared social attention and gaze direction paradigm.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2017-09-09
• Study First Submitted: 2017-09-14
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-09-15
• Study First Posted: 2017-09-18
• Primary Completion: 2018-02-28
• Study Completion: 2018-02-28
• Status Verified: 2018-10
• Last Update Submitted: 2018-10-26
• Last Update Posted: 2018-10-29

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 70

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Typically Developing Children	Administration of five eye-tracking paradigms	Typically developing children
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder	Administration of five eye-tracking paradigms	Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder according to DSM-5 criteria
Children with Delayed Development Disorders	Administration of five eye-tracking paradigms	Children with Delayed Developmental Disorders other than ASD

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Global eye-gaze characteristics	Single assessment, total duration 20 minutes	Global eye-gaze patterns between the three groups will be compared to determine ASD specific alterations
Feature-specific eye-gaze characteristics	Single assessment, total duration 20 minutes	Localized feature-specific eye-gaze patterns will be compared between the three groups to determine ASD specific alterations

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Global eye-gaze characteristics and associations with symptom severity	Single assessment, total duration 20 minutes	Associations between global eye-gaze characteristics and severity of ASD symptoms
Feature-specific eye-gaze characteristics and associations with symptom severity	Single assessment, total duration 20 minutes	Associations between localized feature-specific eye-gaze patterns and severity of ASD symptoms

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China; 🇨🇳 Chengdu, Sichuan, China