The influence of sound on joint attention in individuals with high autistic traits: Evidence from eye movements and fNIRS.

Researchers studied how sound helps people with different levels of autism traits share attention with others. They used eye-tracking and brain scans on about 40-50 people. Sound improved attention-sharing for everyone, but people's brains worked differently depending on their autism traits. Those with fewer autism traits used their frontal brain areas more with sound, while those with more autism traits used different brain areas as a backup system.

This crossover study examined how sound cues influence joint attention (JA) abilities in individuals with high versus low autistic traits using eye-tracking and brain imaging (fNIRS). The study included 22-28 participants with high Autism Spectrum Quotient scores and 19-22 with low scores across two experiments. Results showed sound cues improved JA performance for all participants, increasing visual attention duration. However, brain activation patterns differed significantly between groups: individuals with low autistic traits showed increased prefrontal cortex activation during sound-enhanced JA tasks, while those with high autistic traits demonstrated compensatory temporal lobe activation during non-JA conditions with sound.

These findings suggest dual neural pathways for processing multimodal JA information, supporting the autism trait continuum hypothesis.

Findings support incorporating auditory cues into joint attention interventions and suggest that individuals across the autism spectrum may benefit from multimodal approaches, though through different neural mechanisms. This research provides preliminary evidence for personalized intervention strategies based on individual neural processing patterns.

Small sample sizes (19-28 per group), subclinical population rather than diagnosed ASD, crossover design details not fully specified, single-session assessment without long-term follow-up, and unclear generalizability to clinical autism populations.

Individuals with subclinical autistic traits demonstrate joint attention (JA) impairments analogous to those observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study investigated whether sound cues enhance JA performance in high Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) individuals and characterized the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying this modulation. A crossover experimental design was implemented across two modalities. Experiment 1 (eye movements) included 22 high AQ and 22 low AQ subjects, while Experiment 2 (functional near-infrared spectroscopy, fNIRS) involved 28 high AQ and 19 low AQ subjects.

Multimodal analyses compared gaze patterns and the activation of prefrontal-temporal cortical during sound v.s silent JA tasks. a) under sound JA, all subjects had longer dwell time than silent JA. b) under sound JA, low AQ had more activation of dorsolateral prefrontal than silent JA. c) under sound JA, low AQ had more activation of dorsolateral prefrontal than high AQ. d) under non-JA, the sound cues made high AQ had more activation of temporal than silent condition. Sound influences JA processing through dual-pathway mechanisms: augmenting prefrontal attentional control in low AQ while inducing compensatory temporal activation in high AQ. This neurofunctional dichotomy supports the autism trait continuum hypothesis and validates the feasibility of multimodal paradigms for simulating core ASD symptoms, laying a methodological foundation for developing novel intervention strategies.