The influence of sound on joint attention in individuals with high autistic traits: Evidence from eye movements and fNIRS
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Individuals with subclinical autistic traits demonstrate joint attention (JA) impairments analogous to those observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study investigated whether sound cues enhance JA performance in high Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) individuals and characterized the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying this modulation. METHODS: A crossover experimental design was implemented across two modalities. Experiment 1 (eye movements) included 22 high AQ and 22 low AQ subjects, while Experiment 2 (functional near-infrared spectroscopy, fNIRS) involved 28 high AQ and 19 low AQ subjects. Multimodal analyses compared gaze patterns and the activation of prefrontal-temporal cortical during sound v.s silent JA tasks. RESULTS: a) under sound JA, all subjects had longer dwell time than silent JA. b) under sound JA, low AQ had more activation of dorsolateral prefrontal than silent JA. c) under sound JA, low AQ had more activation of dorsolateral prefrontal than high AQ. d) under non-JA, the sound cues made high AQ had more activation of temporal than silent condition. CONCLUSION: Sound influences JA processing through dual-pathway mechanisms: augmenting prefrontal attentional control in low AQ while inducing compensatory temporal activation in high AQ. This neurofunctional dichotomy supports the autism trait continuum hypothesis and validates the feasibility of multimodal paradigms for simulating core ASD symptoms, laying a methodological foundation for developing novel intervention strategies.
Source: Acta Psychologica
Authors: Linfei Su, Tao Liu, Ling Wei
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,670
OpenAlex ID: W4413270246