Face processing in people with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Completed

Conditions: Autism
10012562
Autism Spectrum Disorders

Registration Number: NL-OMON38338

Lead Sponsor: niversiteit Utrecht

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 50

Inclusion Criteria

1. Positive diagnosis of one of the autism-spectrum disorders other than PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified) - i.e. Autism or Asperger syndrome, based on the DSM-IV and in addition standardized diagnostic instruments were administered: the Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI-R, Lord, Rutter, & Le Couteur, 1994) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS, Lord et al., 1989). - for patient group only.
2. IQ greater than 70 (in the average range or above).
3. Age and sex match to patient group - for the healthy-volunteer group only.
4. Normal (or corrected-to-normal) vision.
5. Good health.
6. Age over 18.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Diagnosis of PDD-NOS assigned by both the DSM-IV and ADI/ ADOS (both is a prerequisite for exclusion).
2. History of closed head injury

Study & Design

Study Type: Observational non invasive

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>The main study parameters are (relative) duration of fixations on the eyes and<br /><br>(relative) number of fixations on the eyes. The hypothesis is that these<br /><br>measures will be different for the different levels of saliency, and that this<br /><br>difference will be dissimilar in the two subject groups.</p><br>

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>Besides examining the eyes as region of interest (ROI) we will also examine<br /><br>looking at the mouth, since some studies report differences in it between the<br /><br>two groups. Likewise, we will check fixations on the face and the background to<br /><br>see whether the two groups spent the same amount of time/ fixations on the<br /><br>stimulus in general in the first flace. Self paced presentation time will also<br /><br>be recorded.<br /><br>Above mentioned parameters are all about sustained attention, which is quite<br /><br>hard to interpret. That*s why we are also interested in the capture of<br /><br>attention. Therefore, we want to examine as well whether the start time of the<br /><br>first fixation on the eyes is different for the two levels of saliency<br /><br>manipulation and for the two groups.</p><br>