Gaze behavior, facial emotion processing, and neural underpinnings: A comparison of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and conduct disorder.

Background: Facial emotion processing deficits and atypical eye gaze are often described in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with conduct disorder (CD) and high callous unemotional (CU) traits. Yet, the underlying neural mechanisms of these deficits are still unclear. The ai...

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Publicado en:Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry Vol. 66; no. 11; pp. 1664 - 1675
Autores principales: Tkalcec, Antonia, Baldassarri, Alessandro, Junghans, Alex, Somasundaram, Vithusan, Menks, Willeke M., Fehlbaum, Lynn V., Borbàs, Réka, Raschle, Nora, Seeger‐Schneider, Gudrun, Jenny, Bettina, Walitza, Susanne, Cole, David M., Sterzer, Philipp, Santini, Francesco, Herbrecht, Evelyn, Cubillo, Ana, Stadler, Christina
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Nov2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Nov2025
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        10.1111/jcpp.14172
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        atl: Gaze behavior, facial emotion processing, and neural underpinnings: A comparison of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and conduct disorder.
      aug:
        au:
          Tkalcec, Antonia
          Baldassarri, Alessandro
          Junghans, Alex
          Somasundaram, Vithusan
          Menks, Willeke M.
          Fehlbaum, Lynn V.
          Borbàs, Réka
          Raschle, Nora
          Seeger‐Schneider, Gudrun
          Jenny, Bettina
          Walitza, Susanne
          Cole, David M.
          Sterzer, Philipp
          Santini, Francesco
          Herbrecht, Evelyn
          Cubillo, Ana
          Stadler, Christina
        affil:
          Child and Youth Psychiatry, University Psychiatric Clinic, Basel, Switzerland
          Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, and Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
          Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
          Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
          Child and Youth Psychiatry, Psychiatric University Clinic, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
          Translational Psychiatry, University Psychiatric Clinic, Basel, Switzerland
          Radiological Physics Department, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
      su:
        Switzerland
        Adolescent development
        Parents
        Task performance
        Autism
        Interviewing
        Emotions
        Behavior disorders in children
        Caregivers
        Adolescence
        Brain physiology
        Research funding
        Data analysis
        Neurophysiology
        Eye movement measurements
        Questionnaires
        Multiple regression analysis
        Magnetic resonance imaging
        Research methodology
        Child Behavior Checklist
        Statistics
        Asperger's syndrome
        Comparative studies
        Neuroradiology
        Eye movements
        Face perception
      sug:
        subj:
          Adolescent development
          Parents
          Task performance
          Autism
          Interviewing
          Emotions
          Behavior disorders in children
          Caregivers
          Adolescence
          Switzerland
          Diagnostic Imaging Centers
          Brain physiology
          Research funding
          Data analysis
          Neurophysiology
          Eye movement measurements
          Questionnaires
          Multiple regression analysis
          Magnetic resonance imaging
          Research methodology
          Child Behavior Checklist
          Statistics
          Asperger's syndrome
          Comparative studies
          Neuroradiology
          Eye movements
          Face perception
      keyword:
        autism spectrum disorders
        brain activation
        Conduct disorder
        emotion processing
        eye gaze
        autism spectrum disorders
        brain activation
        Conduct disorder
        emotion processing
        eye gaze
      ab: Background: Facial emotion processing deficits and atypical eye gaze are often described in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with conduct disorder (CD) and high callous unemotional (CU) traits. Yet, the underlying neural mechanisms of these deficits are still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate if eye gaze can partially account for the differences in brain activation in youth with ASD, with CD, and typically developing youth (TD). Methods: In total, 105 adolescent participants (NCD = 39, NASD = 27, NTD = 39; mean age = 15.59 years) underwent a brain functional imaging session including eye tracking during an implicit emotion processing task while parents/caregivers completed questionnaires. Group differences in gaze behavior (number of fixations to the eye and mouth regions) for different facial expressions (neutral, fearful, angry) presented in the task were investigated using Bayesian analyses. Full‐factorial models were used to investigate group differences in brain activation with and without including gaze behavior parameters and focusing on brain regions underlying facial emotion processing (insula, amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex). Results: Youth with ASD showed increased fixations on the mouth compared to TD and CD groups. CD participants with high CU traits tended to show fewer fixations to the eye region compared to TD for all emotions. Brain imaging results show higher right anterior insula activation in the ASD compared with the CD group when angry faces were presented. The inclusion of gaze behavior parameters in the model reduced the size of that cluster. Conclusions: Differences in insula activation may be partially explained by gaze behavior. This implies an important role of gaze behavior in facial emotion processing, which should be considered for future brain imaging studies. In addition, our results suggest that targeting gaze behavior in interventions might be potentially beneficial for disorders showing impairments associated with the processing of emotional faces. The relation between eye gaze, CU traits, and neural function in different diagnoses needs further clarification in larger samples.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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