61°
52° | 66°
University of Houston psychology researcher Jason Griffin has reported findings on how children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) focus on faces differently than other children, particularly in the early stages of visual processing. This research may lead to improvements in face processing for individuals with this neurodevelopmental condition.
Griffin's study, published in Biological Psychiatry, aimed to test whether children with autism exhibit distinct eye movement patterns during social perception. Using new analytic techniques, Griffin assessed and compared the looking behavior of a large group of autistic and neurotypical children as they viewed social images.
The study found that autistic children prioritize faces differently, especially when first encountering them. "Our analysis supported the existence of two eye movement patterns that emerged across three social perception assays," Griffin stated. The focused pattern involved small face regions capturing immediate attention, while the exploratory pattern involved larger regions including nonsocial objects and did not capture immediate attention.
Autistic children were more likely to use the exploratory method rather than the focused pattern. This decreased likelihood of precisely focusing on faces early in visual processing may be linked to autism-related symptoms and reflect less visual sensitivity to facial information.
Griffin's interest in autism research was inspired by his experiences growing up with an autistic brother. "My brother and I have always been best friends," he shared in Science magazine. This personal connection has driven his work, including developing a computer-based intervention game for autistic adolescents designed to change their eye movements.
Jason Griffin's contributions to autism research earned him a finalist position for the NOMIS & Science Young Explorer Award, recognizing young scholars who are bold and innovative in scientific inquiry. He will be honored at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.
In his lab, Griffin is advancing what he calls naturalistic neuroscience by taking studies out of controlled environments into real-world settings. With funding from the Autism Science Foundation, he is exploring mobile eye-tracking technology to understand how autistic children view faces during face-to-face conversations.
“There’s so much that's different about being in front of another human," said Griffin. "And ultimately, that’s where autistic people and everyone else lives—in the real world.”