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Toddlers with Elevated Autism Symptoms Show Slowed Habituation to Faces |
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| Authors: | Sara Jane Webb Emily J. H. Jones Kristen Merkle Jessica Namkung Karen Toth Jessica Greenson |
| Affiliation: | 1. Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , University of Washington , Seattle, WA, USA;2. University of Washington Autism Center , Seattle, WA, USA;3. Center on Human Development and Disability , University of Washington , Seattle, WA, USA sjwebb@u.washington.edu;5. University of Washington Autism Center , Seattle, WA, USA;6. University of Washington Autism Center , Seattle, WA, USA;7. Seattle Children's , Seattle, WA, USA;8. University of Washington Autism Center , Seattle, WA, USA;9. Center on Human Development and Disability , University of Washington , Seattle, WA, USA |
| Abstract: | We explored social information processing and its relation to social and communicative symptoms in toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their siblings. Toddlers with more severe symptoms of autism showed slower habituation to faces than comparison groups; slower face learning correlated with poorer social skills and lower verbal ability. Unaffected toddlers who were siblings of children with ASD also showed slower habituation to faces compared with toddlers without siblings with ASD. We conclude that slower rates of face learning may be an endophenotype of ASD and is associated with more severe symptoms among affected individuals. |
| Keywords: | Habituation Autism/ASD Face processing Toddlers Broader phenotype |