@article {181, title = {Atypical social referencing in infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders.}, journal = {J Autism Dev Disord}, volume = {42}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Dec}, pages = {2611-21}, abstract = {

Social referencing was investigated in 18-month-old siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; "high-risk infants"). Infants were exposed to novel toys, which were emotionally tagged via adults{\textquoteright} facial and vocal signals. Infants{\textquoteright} information seeking (initiation of joint attention with an adult) and their approach/withdrawal behavior toward the toys before versus after the adults{\textquoteright} emotional signals was measured. Compared to both typically developing infants and high-risk infants without ASD, infants later diagnosed with ASD engaged in slower information seeking, suggesting that this aspect of referencing may be an early indicator of ASD. High-risk infants, both those who were and those who were not later diagnosed with ASD, exhibited impairments in regulating their behavior based on the adults{\textquoteright} emotional signals, suggesting that this aspect of social referencing may reflect an endophenotype for ASD.

}, keywords = {Attention, Child, Child Development, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Child, Preschool, Emotions, Endophenotypes, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant Behavior, Male, Risk Factors, Siblings, Social Behavior}, issn = {1573-3432}, doi = {10.1007/s10803-012-1518-8}, author = {Cornew, Lauren and Dobkins, Karen R and Akshoomoff, Natacha and McCleery, Joseph P and Carver, Leslie J} } @article {194, title = {Atypical face versus object processing and hemispheric asymmetries in 10-month-old infants at risk for autism.}, journal = {Biol Psychiatry}, volume = {66}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Nov 15}, pages = {950-7}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have documented atypicalities in face/object processing in children and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). To investigate whether such atypicalities may reflect a genetically mediated risk factor present early in development, we measured face/object processing in 10-month-old high-risk infants who carry some of the genes associated with ASD because they have an older sibling diagnosed with the disorder.

METHODS: We employed event-related potentials (ERPs) to measure cortical responses to pictures of faces and objects, the objects being toys. Latencies and amplitudes of four ERP components (P100, N290, P400, and Nc) were compared between 20 high-risk infants and 20 low-risk control subjects (infants with no family history of ASD).

RESULTS: Responses to faces versus objects differed between high- and low-risk infants for the latencies of the N290 and P400. Differences were driven by faster responses to faces than objects in low-risk, but not high-risk, infants (P400) and, conversely, faster responses to objects than faces in high-risk, but not low-risk, infants (N290). Object responses were also faster in high-risk than low-risk infants (both N290 and P400). Left versus right hemisphere responses also differed between high- and low-risk infants for the amplitudes of the P100, N290, and P400; collapsed across faces/objects, low-risk, but not high-risk, infants exhibited hemisphere asymmetries.

CONCLUSIONS: Genetic risk for ASD is associated with atypical face versus object processing and an atypical lack of hemispheric asymmetry early in life. These atypicalities might contribute to development of the disorder.

}, keywords = {Analysis of Variance, Autistic Disorder, Brain, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Child, Child, Preschool, Electroencephalography, Evoked Potentials, Face, Female, Fourier Analysis, Functional Laterality, Humans, Infant, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Risk}, issn = {1873-2402}, doi = {10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.07.031}, author = {McCleery, Joseph P and Akshoomoff, Natacha and Dobkins, Karen R and Carver, Leslie J} }