Summary Statement : Eye Movements Give Clues about Autism and Williams Syndrome
Thursday, September 25, 2008
By: Robin Gurley

Details : Two disorders studied in conjunction provide insight

A new study by psychologists Deborah Riby and Peter Hancock at Newcastle University uses cutting-edge methods in eye tracking to investigate the unusual social preferences and behaviors in people with Williams syndrome and autism, according to an article in Scientific American.

Studying the two contrasting disorders together can provide unique insights. “Individuals with autism tend to be socially withdrawn, lack communication skills and find it difficult to understand what others are feeling or thinking. People with Williams syndrome, in contrast, are often hyper-sociable, have good language skills, and are good at understanding certain social cues, such as facial expressions,” explains the article.

Eye tracking measures where a person is looking. Though it has been used in earlier studies of social attention in people with autism, this is the first use of the technology with Williams syndrome.

Previous studies have found that people with autism spend more time looking at non-social objects and less time looking at eyes. The new study expanded on these ideas by asking participants to view good-quality photographs of a range of different social situations. While viewing the photographs, participants’ eye movements were monitored and recorded using a state-of-the-art eye tracker.

“Results of the Riby and Hancock study showed that participants with autism and Williams syndrome both exhibited eye movements that significantly differed from the norm,” states Scientific American. “As expected, people with autism spent less time viewing faces. In contrast, those with Williams syndrome spent significantly more time peering at faces than is typical, and they paid particular attention to the eyes. Riby and Hancock suggest that a lack of attention to eyes in autism, and a contrasting abundance of attention in Williams syndrome, may help explain why people with Williams syndrome tend to be so much better than those with autism in understanding gaze cues and expressions.”