@article{fcb9983c7b0b4fb396bd0072f0d3a7d4,
title = "Preference for biological motion is reduced in ASD: implications for clinical trials and the search for biomarkers",
abstract = "Background: The neurocognitive mechanisms underlying autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain unclear. Progress has been largely hampered by small sample sizes, variable age ranges and resulting inconsistent findings. There is a pressing need for large definitive studies to delineate the nature and extent of key case/control differences to direct research towards fruitful areas for future investigation. Here we focus on perception of biological motion, a promising index of social brain function which may be altered in ASD. In a large sample ranging from childhood to adulthood, we assess whether biological motion preference differs in ASD compared to neurotypical participants (NT), how differences are modulated by age and sex and whether they are associated with dimensional variation in concurrent or later symptomatology. Methods: Eye-tracking data were collected from 486 6-to-30-year-old autistic (N = 282) and non-autistic control (N = 204) participants whilst they viewed 28 trials pairing biological (BM) and control (non-biological, CTRL) motion. Preference for the biological motion stimulus was calculated as (1) proportion looking time difference (BM-CTRL) and (2) peak look duration difference (BM-CTRL). Results: The ASD group showed a present but weaker preference for biological motion than the NT group. The nature of the control stimulus modulated preference for biological motion in both groups. Biological motion preference did not vary with age, gender, or concurrent or prospective social communicative skill within the ASD group, although a lack of clear preference for either stimulus was associated with higher social-communicative symptoms at baseline. Limitations: The paired visual preference we used may underestimate preference for a stimulus in younger and lower IQ individuals. Our ASD group had a lower average IQ by approximately seven points. 18% of our sample was not analysed for various technical and behavioural reasons. Conclusions: Biological motion preference elicits small-to-medium-sized case–control effects, but individual differences do not strongly relate to core social autism associated symptomatology. We interpret this as an autistic difference (as opposed to a deficit) likely manifest in social brain regions. The extent to which this is an innate difference present from birth and central to the autistic phenotype, or the consequence of a life lived with ASD, is unclear.",
keywords = "Autism, Biological motion, Biomarker, Development, Eye tracking",
author = "L. Mason and F. Shic and T. Falck-Ytter and B. Chakrabarti and T. Charman and E. Loth and J. Tillmann and T. Banaschewski and S. Baron-Cohen and S. B{\"o}lte and J. Buitelaar and S. Durston and B. Oranje and Persico, {A. M.} and C. Beckmann and T. Bougeron and F. Dell{\textquoteright}Acqua and C. Ecker and C. Moessnang and D. Murphy and Johnson, {M. H.} and Jones, {E. J.H.} and Jumana Ahmad and Sara Ambrosino and Sarah Baumeister and Carsten Bours and Michael Brammer and Daniel Brandeis and Claudia Brogna and {de Bruijn}, Yvette and Chris Chatham and Ineke Cornelissen and Daisy Crawley and Guillaume Dumas and Jessica Faulkner and Vincent Frouin and Pilar Garc{\'e}s and David Goyard and Lindsay Ham and Joerg Hipp and Rosemary Holt and Lai, {Meng Chuan} and D{\textquoteright}ardhuy, {Xavier Liogier} and Lombardo, {Michael V.} and Lythgoe, {David J.} and Ren{\'e} Mandl and Andre Marquand and Maarten Mennes and Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg and Nico Bast",
note = "Funding Information: This project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under Grant Agreement No. 115300, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007—2013) and EFPIA companies' in kind contribution; the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under Grant Agreement No. 777394. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA and AUTISM SPEAKS, Autistica, SFARI; awards from the Medical Research Council (MR/K021389/1; MR/T003057/1). Funding Information: We thank all participants and their families for their efforts to participate in the study. This project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under Grant Agreement No. 115300, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007—2013) and EFPIA companies' in kind contribution; the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under Grant Agreement No. 777394. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA and AUTISM SPEAKS, Autistica, SFARI; awards from the Medical Research Council (MR/K021389/1; MR/T003057/1). The work of TFY was supported by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation. Disclaimer: The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results. Any views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the funders. *The LEAP team consist of: Jumana Ahmad, Sara Ambrosino, Sarah Baumeister, Carsten Bours, Michael Brammer, Daniel Brandeis, Claudia Brogna, Yvette de Bruijn, Chris Chatham, Ineke Cornelissen, Daisy Crawley, Guillaume Dumas, Jessica Faulkner, Vincent Frouin, Pilar Garc{\'e}s, David Goyard, Lindsay Ham, Joerg Hipp, Rosemary Holt, Meng-Chuan Lai, Xavier Liogier D{\textquoteright}ardhuy, Michael V. Lombardo, David J. Lythgoe, Ren{\'e} Mandl, Andre Marquand, Maarten Mennes, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Nico Bast, Bethany Oakley, Laurence O{\textquoteright}Dwyer, Marianne Oldehinkel, Gahan Pandina, Barbara Ruggeri, Amber Ruigrok, Jessica Sabet, Roberto Sacco, Antonia San Jos{\'e} C{\'a}ceres, Emily Simonoff, Will Spooren, Roberto Toro, Heike Tost, Jack Waldman, Steve C.R. Williams, Caroline Wooldridge and Marcel P. Zwiers. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s).",
year = "2021",
month = dec,
doi = "10.1186/s13229-021-00476-0",
language = "English",
volume = "12",
journal = "Molecular Autism",
issn = "2040-2392",
publisher = "BioMed Central",
number = "1",
}