Divergent biases for conspecifics as early markers for Autism Spectum Disorders

对同种人作为自闭症谱系障碍早期标记的不同偏见

• 批准号: 8536345
• 负责人: Athena Vouloumanos
• 金额: $ 21.34万
• 依托单位: NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8536345
• 关键词: Address; Age; Age-Months; Attention; Auditory; Autistic Disorder; Behavior; Behavioral; Biological; Biological Markers; Biological Process; Birth; Characteristics; Child; Clinical; Cognitive; Collaborations; Complex; Control Groups; Data; Development; Diagnosis; Diagnostic; Disease; Early Intervention; Early identification; Face; Goals; Group Processes; Human; Impairment; Individual; Infant; Intervention; Language; Language Development; Life; Linguistics; Link; Maps; Measures; Mediating; Methods; Monitor; Parents; Phenotype; Physicians; Probability; Process; Protocols documentation; Recurrence; Reporting; Research; Risk; Risk Marker; Role; Schedule; Siblings; Social Development; Speech; Stimulus; Testing; Visual; Voice; autism spectrum disorder; base; clinical phenotype; comparison group; directed attention; high risk; high risk infant; improved; indexing; meetings; nonhuman primate; parental role; preference; programs; prospective; screening; skills; social; social communication; sound; tool; visual process; visual processing; vocalization

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Typically developing infants have fundamental perceptual biases that direct their attention to socially relevant stimuli such as voices and faces Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show apparent deficits in auditory and visual processing of the voices and faces of their own species (conspecifics). We propose a prospective, experimental, longitudinal approach examining whether infants who lack foundational perceptual biases to attend to auditory and visual characteristics of conspecifics are more likely to develop deficits in social communication skills that are characteristic of ASD symptomology. By focusing on foundational and species-typical perceptual processes rather than complex skills, we hope to uncover earlier reliable markers and a mechanistic understanding compared with existing studies with high-risk siblings. This proposal has two short-term goals. The first goal is to help identify very young infants who have an increased risk for later social impairments typical of ASD by examining how they perceive voices and faces, the socially-relevant characteristics of their own species. The second goal is to uncover mechanisms by which deficits in fundamental biases might increase risk for later social impairments typical of ASD. This prospective experimental approach dovetails with current observational approaches such as parent- and physician- reported checklists, but by examining developmental mechanisms could direct intervention. To meet these goals, we focus on later-born siblings of children diagnosed with ASD (who have a 19% risk of recurrence, and increased probability of cognitive or language difficulties), and a comparison group of typically developing siblings. We will test whether infants show a listening preference for biological stimuli at 4- 6 months (human speech over non-speech sounds, human faces over non-faces); whether they show a preference for conspecific stimuli at 7-9 months (human speech over non-human primate vocalizations, human faces over non-human primate faces); and if they understand functional aspects of speech and faces at 10-12 months (matching speech to human faces, and understanding that speech allows people to communicate). Across these ages, we will collect observational measures of parental input, global cognitive development, linguistic development, and ASD behaviors using the Autism Observation Scale- Infants, and follow children until potential diagnosis at 24 and 36 months using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. We will examine group differences between infant groups. We will examine individual infants' developmental trajectories, linking early biases to later abilities, an examine the mediating role of parental input. This project's long-term goal is to help early identification of atypical development at an individual level in high-risk infants before overt ASD behaviors emerge by focusing on fundamental perceptual biases, and ultimately guide early intervention across a broad ASD phenotype. This research thus aims to identify high-risk infants before the full ASD behavioral profile can be characterized through standard observational protocols.

描述（由申请人提供）：通常发育中的婴儿具有基本的知觉偏差，这些知觉偏差将他们的注意力引导到社会相关的刺激，例如声音和面孔。诊断为自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的儿童在对自己物种（同种）的声音和面孔的听觉和视觉处理方面表现出明显的缺陷。我们提出了一个前瞻性的，实验性的，纵向的方法，检查是否婴儿缺乏基本的知觉偏见，以出席的听觉和视觉特征的同种更有可能发展缺陷的社会沟通技能的特征ASD神经病学。通过关注基础和物种典型的感知过程而不是复杂的技能，我们希望与现有的高风险兄弟姐妹研究相比，能够发现更早的可靠标记和机械理解。 这项建议有两个短期目标。第一个目标是通过检查他们如何感知声音和面孔，以及他们自己物种的社会相关特征，来帮助识别那些患有ASD典型的后期社会障碍风险增加的非常年幼的婴儿。第二个目标是揭示基本偏见的缺陷可能会增加ASD典型的后期社会障碍风险的机制。这种前瞻性的实验方法与目前的观察方法，如父母和医生报告的检查表，但通过检查发育机制可以指导干预。为了实现这些目标，我们专注于被诊断患有ASD的儿童的晚出生兄弟姐妹（他们有19%的复发风险，并且认知或语言困难的可能性增加），以及典型发育的兄弟姐妹的对照组。我们将测试婴儿在4- 6个月时是否表现出对生物刺激的听力偏好（人类的语言比非语言声音，人类的面孔比非面孔）;他们是否在7-9个月时表现出对同种刺激的偏好（人类语言相对于非人类灵长类动物发声，人类面孔相对于非人类灵长类动物面孔）;以及他们是否在10-12个月时理解语音和面部的功能方面（将语音与人脸相匹配，并理解语音可以让人们进行交流）。在这些年龄段，我们将使用自闭症观察量表-婴儿收集父母输入，整体认知发展，语言发展和ASD行为的观察指标，并使用自闭症诊断观察时间表随访儿童，直到24和36个月时可能被诊断。我们将研究婴儿群体之间的群体差异。我们将研究个别婴儿的发展轨迹，将早期偏见与后来的能力联系起来，并研究父母输入的中介作用。该项目的长期目标是帮助在显性ASD之前早期识别高危婴儿个体水平的非典型发育 通过关注基本的感知偏差，行为出现，并最终指导广泛的ASD表型的早期干预。因此，这项研究的目的是在通过标准的观察方案确定完整的ASD行为特征之前识别高危婴儿。