Enhanced pupillary light reflex in infancy is associated with autism diagnosis in toddlerhood

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting around 1% of the population. We previously discovered that infant siblings of children with ASD had stronger pupillary light reflexes compared to low-risk infants, a result which contrasts sharply with the weak pupillary ligh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2018-05, Vol.9 (1), p.1678-5, Article 1678
Main Authors: Nyström, Pär, Gliga, Teodora, Nilsson Jobs, Elisabeth, Gredebäck, Gustaf, Charman, Tony, Johnson, Mark H., Bölte, Sven, Falck-Ytter, Terje
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378/2571
692/53
692/699/476/1373
Adults
Autism
Autistic Disorder - diagnosis
Autistic Disorder - physiopathology
Child, Preschool
Children
Diagnosis
Etiology
Female
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Infants
Light
Male
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
multidisciplinary
Neurodevelopmental disorders
Pupil
Pupillometry
Reflex, Pupillary
Reflexes
Risk assessment
Risk groups
Risk management
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Siblings
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Summary:Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting around 1% of the population. We previously discovered that infant siblings of children with ASD had stronger pupillary light reflexes compared to low-risk infants, a result which contrasts sharply with the weak pupillary light reflex typically seen in both children and adults with ASD. Here, we show that on average the relative constriction of the pupillary light reflex is larger in 9–10-month-old high risk infant siblings who receive an ASD diagnosis at 36 months, compared both to those who do not and to low-risk controls. We also found that the magnitude of the pupillary light reflex in infancy is associated with symptom severity at follow-up. This study indicates an important role of sensory atypicalities in the etiology of ASD, and suggests that pupillometry, if further developed and refined, could facilitate risk assessment in infants. Previous studies showed that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have atypicalities in the pupillary light reflex (PLR). This study uses longitudinal monitoring of infants at risk for ASD to show that PLR magnitude at 10 months of age is associated with later ASD diagnosis and symptom severity.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-018-03985-4