Genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in visual attention and oculomotor control in early infancy.

Infants differ in their level of eye movement control, which at the extreme could be linked to autism. We assessed eye movements in 450 twins (225 pairs, 57% monozygotic, 46% female, aged 5–6 months) using the gap‐overlap eye‐tracking task. Shorter latency in the gap condition was associated with ha...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Child Development Vol. 96; no. 2; pp. 619 - 635
Autores principales: Siqueiros‐Sanchez, Monica, Bussu, Giorgia, Portugal, Ana Maria, Ronald, Angelica, Falck‐Ytter, Terje
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Mar/Apr2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Infants differ in their level of eye movement control, which at the extreme could be linked to autism. We assessed eye movements in 450 twins (225 pairs, 57% monozygotic, 46% female, aged 5–6 months) using the gap‐overlap eye‐tracking task. Shorter latency in the gap condition was associated with having more parent‐rated autistic traits at 2 years. Latency across the task's three conditions was primarily explained by one highly heritable latent factor likely representing individual differences in basic oculomotor efficiency and/or in visual information processing. Additionally, disengagement of attention was linked to unique genetic factors, suggesting that genetic factors involved in visual attention are different from those involved in basic visual information processing and oculomotor efficiency.