Loss of social gaze responsivity in adults with high-functioning autism

Making use of nonverbal cues like social gaze behavior allows to communicate intuitively, spontaneously and fast in social encounters. This ability is assumed to be impaired in persons suffering from autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). Question: The present study investigated the responsivity to social gaze on a behavioral and autonomous level. Methods: Virtual characters were presented in short video animations that systematically varied with respect to gaze duration which the test person was looked at by virtual characters ranging from 1 to 4 seconds. 16 patients with high-functioning autism (HFA) were compared…