面部表情对孤独症谱系障碍个体注视追随的影响

The Effects of Facial Expressions on Gaze Following in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

注视追随对人际交往的顺利开展和个体一系列高级认知能力的发展至关重要。作为一类核心技能,注视追随往往受到面部表情的调节。现有研究采用目标刺激定位的空间线索任务进行,结果发现,面部表情对典型发育个体注视追随的影响受到实验材料呈现方式的调节,而孤独症谱系障碍(autism spectrum disorder,ASD)个体的注视追随不管在任何呈现方式下均不受他人面部表情的影响,这可能是由于ASD个体先天的皮下通路过度激活而后天形成的皮层通路发展异常所致。未来研究应关注线索-目标时间间隔、性别因素在面部表情调节作用中的影响,开展多模态神经影像学技术,综合探究面部表情对ASD个体注视追随影响的神经机制。教育实践应加强ASD个体对情绪面孔注视追随能力的提升,深化ASD个体对面孔情绪和注视线索社会性含义的理解。

Gaze following is critical to the successful performance of interpersonal interactions and the development of a range of higher cognitive abilities in individuals.As a core class of skills,gaze following is often modulated by facial expressions.Existing studies have used a Posner cueing task with target stimulus localization and found that the effect of facial expression on gaze following in general individuals was modulated by the presentation of experimental materials,whereas the gaze following of individuals with autism spectrum disorder(ASD)was not affected by the facial expression of other people in all presentations.This may be due to the hyperactivation of the subcortical pathway in individuals with ASD that is congenital and the abnormal development of the cortical pathway that develops later in life.Future research should focus on the influence of stimulus-onset asynchrony and gender factors in the regulation of facial expressions,and carry out multimodal neuroimaging techniques to comprehensively investigate the neural mechanisms of facial expressions on gaze following in individuals with ASD.In educational practice,attention should be paid to improving the ability of ASD individuals to follow the gaze of emotional faces,and deepen their understanding of the social meanings of facial expressions and gaze cues.