Attenuated social attention is a key marker of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recent neuroimaging findings also emphasize an altered processing of sensory salience in ASD. The locus coeruleus–norepinephrine system (LC-NE) has been established as a modulator of this sensory salience processing (SSP). We tested the hypothesis that altered LC-NE functioning contributes to different SSP and results in diverging social attention in ASD. We analyzed the baseline eye-tracking data of the EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project (LEAP) for subgroups of autistic participants (n = 166, age = 6–30 years, IQ = 61–138, gender [female/male] = 41/125) or neurotypical development (TD; n = 166, age = 6–30 years, IQ = 63–138, gender [female/male] = 49/117) that were matched for demographic variables and data quality. Participants watched brief movie scenes (k = 85) depicting humans in social situations (human) or without humans (non-human). SSP was estimated by gazes on physical and motion salience and a corresponding pupillary response that indexes phasic activity of the LC-NE. Social attention is estimated by gazes on faces via manual areas of interest definition. SSP is compared between groups and related to social attention by linear mixed models that consider temporal dynamics within scenes. Models are controlled for comorbid psychopathology, gaze behavior, and luminance. We found no group differences in gazes on salience, whereas pupillary responses were associated with altered gazes on physical and motion salience. In ASD compared to TD, we observed pupillary responses that were higher for non-human scenes and lower for human scenes. In ASD, we observed lower gazes on faces across the duration of the scenes. Crucially, this different social attention was influenced by gazes on physical salience and moderated by pupillary responses. The naturalistic study design precluded experimental manipulations and stimulus control, while effect sizes were small to moderate. Covariate effects of age and IQ indicate that the findings differ between age and developmental subgroups. Pupillary responses as a proxy of LC-NE phasic activity during visual attention are suggested to modulate sensory salience processing and contribute to attenuated social attention in ASD.

中文翻译：

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感觉显着性处理缓和了自闭症谱系障碍患者面部注视的减弱：一项病例对照研究

社会注意力减弱是自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的一个关键标志。最近的神经影像学发现也强调了 ASD 中感觉显着性的改变处理。蓝斑-去甲肾上腺素系统 (LC-NE) 已被确定为这种感觉显着性处理 (SSP) 的调节剂。我们测试了改变 LC-NE 功能导致不同 SSP 并导致 ASD 社会关注不同的假设。我们分析了 EU-AIMS 纵向欧洲自闭症项目 (LEAP) 针对自闭症参与者亚组的基线眼动数据（n = 166，年龄 = 6-30 岁，IQ = 61-138，性别 [女性/男性] = 41/125）或神经典型发育（TD；n = 166，年龄 = 6-30 岁，IQ = 63-138，性别 [女性/男性] = 49/117）与人口统计变量和数据质量相匹配。参与者观看了简短的电影场景 (k = 85)，这些场景描绘了人类在社交场合（人类）或没有人类（非人类）的情况。SSP 是通过注视身体和运动显着性以及相应的瞳孔反应来估计的，该反应指示 LC-NE 的相位活动。通过手动定义兴趣区域，通过注视面部来估计社会关注度。SSP 在群体之间进行比较，并通过考虑场景内时间动态的线性混合模型与社会关注相关。控制模型的共病精神病理学、凝视行为和亮度。我们发现在注视显着性方面没有群体差异，而瞳孔反应与对身体和运动显着性的注视改变有关。与 TD 相比，在 ASD 中，我们观察到非人类场景的瞳孔反应更高，人类场景的瞳孔反应更低。在自闭症中，在整个场景的持续时间内，我们观察到面部的注视较低。至关重要的是，这种不同的社会关注受到注视身体显着性的影响，并受到瞳孔反应的调节。自然主义研究设计排除了实验操作和刺激控制，而效果大小从小到中等。年龄和智商的协变量效应表明，研究结果在年龄和发育亚组之间存在差异。建议将瞳孔反应作为视觉注意期间 LC-NE 阶段性活动的代理来调节感觉显着性处理并有助于减弱 ASD 中的社会注意力。自然主义研究设计排除了实验操作和刺激控制，而效果大小从小到中等。年龄和智商的协变量效应表明，研究结果在年龄和发育亚组之间存在差异。建议将瞳孔反应作为视觉注意期间 LC-NE 阶段性活动的代理来调节感觉显着性处理并有助于减弱 ASD 中的社会注意力。自然主义研究设计排除了实验操作和刺激控制，而效果大小从小到中等。年龄和智商的协变量效应表明，研究结果在年龄和发育亚组之间存在差异。建议将瞳孔反应作为视觉注意期间 LC-NE 阶段性活动的代理来调节感觉显着性处理并有助于减弱 ASD 中的社会注意力。