Social-valence-related increased attention in rett syndrome cynomolgus monkeys: An eye-tracking study.
Eye-tracking shows RTT model monkeys stare longer at socially strong faces, giving clinicians a fast, measurable social-attention marker.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Zhang et al. (2019) used eye-tracking cameras to watch Rett syndrome monkeys look at pictures.
The pictures showed faces with high or low social pull.
Scientists measured how long the monkeys stared at each face.
What they found
The RTT monkeys looked longer at the high-social faces than control monkeys did.
This extra staring gives a clear, number-based sign of social attention in RTt.
How this fits with other research
Nickerson et al. (2015) studied girls with RTT by watching old home videos. They saw that some toddlers with preserved speech later showed more name-turning than typical RTT toddlers. Bo’s lab data now backs up the idea that social attention can stay strong in RTT, just shown in a new way.
Weissman-Fogel et al. (2015) proved that where clients look can tell us what they want. Bo uses the same eye-track tool, but for diagnosis instead of reinforcer choice.
Ridley et al. (2022) asked parents about odd eye-contact quirks in Williams syndrome. Bo’s study adds hard gaze-time numbers, giving a partner piece to parent reports.
Why it matters
You now have an easy, objective marker for social interest in RTT: longer looks at high-valence faces.
Add short eye-tracking clips to your intake or progress checks. If gaze time rises after an intervention, social attention may be improving.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The cognitive phenotypes of Rett syndrome (RTT) remain unclarified compared with the well-defined genetic etiology. Recent clinical studies suggest the eye-tracking method as a promising avenue to quantify the visual phenotypes of the syndrome. The present study explored various aspects of visual attention of the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 gene mutant RTT monkeys with the eye-tracking procedure. Comprehensive testing paradigms, including social valence comparison (SVC), visual paired comparison (VPC), and social recognition memory (SRM), were utilized to investigate their attentional features to social stimuli with differential valence, the novelty preferences, and short-term recognition memory, respectively. To explore the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the eye-tracking findings, we assessed changes of the brain subregion volumes and neurotransmitter concentrations. Compared with control monkeys, RTT monkeys demonstrated increased viewing on the more salient stare faces than profile faces in the SVC test, and increased viewing on the whole presented images composed of monkey faces in the VPC and SRM tests. Brain imaging revealed reduced bilateral occipital gyrus in RTT monkeys. The exploratory neurotransmitter analyses revealed no significant changes of various neurotransmitter concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of RTT monkeys. The eye-tracking results suggested social-valence-related increased attention in RTT monkeys, supplementing the cognitive phenotypes associated with the syndrome. Further investigations from broader perspectives are required to uncover the underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Autism Res 2019, 00: 1-13. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Altered expressions of the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene are usually associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders, Rett syndrome (RTT), and so forth. The present eye-tracking study found social-valence-related increased attention in our firstly established MECP2 mutant RTT monkeys. The novel findings supplement the cognitive phenotypes and potentially benefit the behavioral interventions of the RTT syndrome.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2019 · doi:10.1002/aur.2189