Early Gaze Behaviours in Infants at High Familial Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder: association with brain development
Abstract
Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show impairments in gaze-following and will seldom engage in joint attention (JA). The ability to initiate JA (IJA) can be more impaired than the ability to respond to JA (RJA). In a longitudinal study, 101 high-risk infants for ASD (62% males) completed MRI scans at 4 or 6 months of age. Subcortical volumes (thalamus, basal ganglia, hippocampus, amygdala) were extracted. Gaze and JA behaviours were assessed with standardized measures. The majority of infants were IJA non-responders (n=93, 92%), and over half were RJA non-responders (n=50, 52%). In the non-responder groups, models testing the association of subcortical volumes with later ASD diagnosis accounted for age, sex, and cerebral volumes. It was found that hippocampal and thalamic volumes predicted later ASD diagnosis. Findings suggest that these brain regions may present increased vulnerability early in life and might be key predictors of the development of ASD.