Exploring Social Biomarkers in High-Functioning Adults with Autism and Asperger's Versus Healthy Controls: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Overview

Journal J Autism Dev Disord

Publisher Springer

Date 2020 Apr 13

PMID 32279223

Citations 5

Authors

Marta Del Valle Rubido

Eric Hollander

James T McCracken

Frederick Shic

Jana Noeldeke

Lauren Boak

Omar Khwaja

Shamil Sadikhov

Paulo Fontoura

Daniel Umbricht

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are lacking but would facilitate drug development for the core deficits of the disorder. We evaluated markers proposed for characterization of differences in social communication and interaction in adults with ASD versus healthy controls (HC) for utility as biomarkers. Data pooled from an observational study and baseline data from a placebo-controlled study were analyzed. Between-group differences were observed in eye-tracking tasks for activity monitoring, biomotion, human activity preference, composite score (p = 0.0001-0.037) and pupillometry (various tasks, p = 0.017-0.05). Impaired olfaction was more common in the ASD sample versus HC (p = 0.018). Our preliminary results suggest the potential use for stratification and response sub-analyses outcome-prediction of specific eye-tracking tasks, pupillometry and olfaction tests in ASD trials.

Citing Articles

The use of eye-tracking technology as a tool to evaluate social cognition in people with an intellectual disability: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Jenner L, Farran E, Welham A, Jones C, Moss J J Neurodev Disord. 2023; 15(1):42.

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The Selective Social Attention task in children with autism spectrum disorder: Results from the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials (ABC-CT) feasibility study.

Shic F, Barney E, Naples A, Dommer K, Chang S, Li B Autism Res. 2023; 16(11):2150-2159.

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Eye-Tracking Studies in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

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Large scale validation of an early-age eye-tracking biomarker of an autism spectrum disorder subtype.

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Gaze Following and Pupil Dilation as Early Diagnostic Markers of Autism in Toddlers.

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