Frontiers in Psychology (Aug 2021)
Attentional Cueing and Executive Deficits Revealed by a Virtual Supermarket Task Coupled With Eye-Tracking in Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Susana Mouga,
- Susana Mouga,
- Susana Mouga,
- Susana Mouga,
- Isabel Catarina Duarte,
- Isabel Catarina Duarte,
- Cátia Café,
- Daniela Sousa,
- Daniela Sousa,
- Daniela Sousa,
- Frederico Duque,
- Frederico Duque,
- Frederico Duque,
- Frederico Duque,
- Frederico Duque,
- Guiomar Oliveira,
- Guiomar Oliveira,
- Guiomar Oliveira,
- Guiomar Oliveira,
- Guiomar Oliveira,
- Miguel Castelo-Branco,
- Miguel Castelo-Branco,
- Miguel Castelo-Branco
Affiliations
- Susana Mouga
- CIBIT - Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Susana Mouga
- Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Susana Mouga
- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology - Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Susana Mouga
- Neurodevelopmental and Autism Unit From Child Developmental Centre, Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Isabel Catarina Duarte
- CIBIT - Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Isabel Catarina Duarte
- Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Cátia Café
- Neurodevelopmental and Autism Unit From Child Developmental Centre, Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Daniela Sousa
- CIBIT - Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Daniela Sousa
- Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Daniela Sousa
- Neurodevelopmental and Autism Unit From Child Developmental Centre, Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Frederico Duque
- CIBIT - Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Frederico Duque
- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology - Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Frederico Duque
- Neurodevelopmental and Autism Unit From Child Developmental Centre, Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Frederico Duque
- Centro de Investigação e Formação Clínica, Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Frederico Duque
- Faculty of Medicine, University Clinic of Pediatrics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Guiomar Oliveira
- CIBIT - Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Guiomar Oliveira
- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology - Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Guiomar Oliveira
- Neurodevelopmental and Autism Unit From Child Developmental Centre, Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Guiomar Oliveira
- Centro de Investigação e Formação Clínica, Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Guiomar Oliveira
- Faculty of Medicine, University Clinic of Pediatrics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Miguel Castelo-Branco
- CIBIT - Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Miguel Castelo-Branco
- Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Miguel Castelo-Branco
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671507
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 12
Abstract
Executive functioning (EF) impairments in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impact on complex functions, such as social cognition. We assessed this link between EF, attentional cueing, and social cognition with a novel ecological task, “EcoSupermarketX.” Our task had three blocks of increasing executive load and incorporated social and non-social cues, with different degrees of saliency. Performance of ASD and typical neurodevelopment was compared. The ASD showed a significant performance dependence on the presence of contextual cues. Difficulties increased as a function of cognitive load. Between-group differences were found both for social and non-social salient cues. Eye-tracking measures showed significantly larger fixation time of more salient social cues in ASD. In sum, EcoSupermarketX is sensitive to detect EF and attentional cueing deficits in ASD.
Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder
- attentional cueing
- executive functioning
- social cognition
- eye-tracking
- ecological task
