Feature Story

October 12, 2008

M.I.N.D. Institute researchers find important clue to learning deficit in children with autism

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has discovered an important clue to why children with autism spectrum disorders have trouble imitating others: they spend less time looking at the faces of people who are modeling new skills.

The study was conducted using high-technology eye-tracking headgear and software that measures with precision the point at which a child is looking when learning a task.

"We found that the children with autism focused on the demonstrator's action and looked at the demonstrator's face much less often than did typically developing children," said Giacomo Vivanti, a postdoctoral researcher at the M.I.N.D.

Imitation plays an important role in how children learn, as well as in how people interact socially, said M.I.N.D.

Institute researcher and senior study author Sally J. Rogers, who has been studying imitation impairment and autism for more than 20 years.

"This is a trait we see as early as we can diagnose autism, and it's one of the traits that is present even in mildly impaired adults," Rogers said.

Impaired imitation leads to additional impairments in sharing emotions, pretend play, pragmatic communication and understanding the emotional states of others.

For years, scientists thought that children with autism and related disorders had trouble with learning through imitation because they had poor motor skills or because they did not pay attention to the action being performed.

"We now understand more about how this imitation deficit might be working and, after more study, we may actually be able to address it in a way that helps children with autism develop a more natural set of behaviors," said Rogers, a UC Davis professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

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