Newsletter: Winter 2016
Welcome to the third edition of the autism@icn newsletter. The team has had a busy winter collaborating with autism researchers across the world (see ‘Events’ for details of a recent trip to Japan), writing articles (see ‘Publication Highlight’) and preparing for this year’s set of studies (see ‘Take part in research’). There have also been some new additions to the autism@icn team who you may meet if you take part in some of the studies this year (See ‘Spotlight On’). To hear more about the latest news from autism@icn, follow us on Twitter.
Latest findings
Does eye-contact influence how much you like someone?
A pair of eyes looking at you can mean lots of different things. A couple staring at each other across a dinner table usually has a different meaning than a pair of boxers staring at each other before a fight.
Latest findings
Does eye-contact influence how much you like someone?
A pair of eyes looking at you can mean lots of different things. A couple staring at each other across a dinner table usually has a different meaning than a pair of boxers staring at each other before a fight.
Dr Alexandra Georgescu (right), who joined the autism@icn team this year, was interested to see what effect the length of eye-contact would have on how much people liked someone. In her study, participants looked at the face of a virtual character who gave them eye contact for either one second or four seconds. Afterwards participants had to rate how much they liked the virtual character.
Alexandra used eye-tracking to show that adults with and without an autism diagnosis looked at the eyes of the virtual character to the same extent. But she also found some differences between the two groups. People without autism liked the virtual character more if she had looked at them for longer. Whereas, people with autism tended to like the virtual character the same amount, regardless of whether she looked at them for one second or four seconds. This shows that some people with autism may be sensitive to eye-contact as they do look at the eyes of other people. But the way some people with autism use eye-contact, for example, when forming their impression of someone, may be different than some people without autism.
“There is great variation in people with autism in terms of how they use and respond to eye-contact. For example, some report finding eye-contact unpleasant or aversive, as opposed to merely uninteresting or uninformative. Future research could help us to understand how these different attitudes towards eye contact develop,” said Alexandra.
Research Day 2016
If you are registered on the autism@icn database, Paul Forbes, the autism research coordinator, may be contacting you in the next few months to invite you to take part in the 2016 autism@icn Research Day. This will be very similar to last year. Participants will come to the ICN for a day of studies and be reimbursed for their time as well as for their lunch and reasonable travel expenses.
If you know anyone with or without a diagnosis of autism who may be interested in taking part in the Research Day, please email Paul via: [email protected]
Spotlight on...
The autism@icn team is a diverse group of researchers interested in understanding autism. In each newsletter we highlight the role of one of our team members. In this issue, it’s Ylva Valden.
Alexandra used eye-tracking to show that adults with and without an autism diagnosis looked at the eyes of the virtual character to the same extent. But she also found some differences between the two groups. People without autism liked the virtual character more if she had looked at them for longer. Whereas, people with autism tended to like the virtual character the same amount, regardless of whether she looked at them for one second or four seconds. This shows that some people with autism may be sensitive to eye-contact as they do look at the eyes of other people. But the way some people with autism use eye-contact, for example, when forming their impression of someone, may be different than some people without autism.
“There is great variation in people with autism in terms of how they use and respond to eye-contact. For example, some report finding eye-contact unpleasant or aversive, as opposed to merely uninteresting or uninformative. Future research could help us to understand how these different attitudes towards eye contact develop,” said Alexandra.
Research Day 2016
If you are registered on the autism@icn database, Paul Forbes, the autism research coordinator, may be contacting you in the next few months to invite you to take part in the 2016 autism@icn Research Day. This will be very similar to last year. Participants will come to the ICN for a day of studies and be reimbursed for their time as well as for their lunch and reasonable travel expenses.
If you know anyone with or without a diagnosis of autism who may be interested in taking part in the Research Day, please email Paul via: [email protected]
Spotlight on...
The autism@icn team is a diverse group of researchers interested in understanding autism. In each newsletter we highlight the role of one of our team members. In this issue, it’s Ylva Valden.
Ylva is a new research assistant at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging. She is going to be helping Dr Rebecca Lawson with her fMRI study that will be running in the next few months and she is really looking forward to it (see below 'Take part in research').
Fun Fact: Ylva dabbles in art and she once made a huge sculpture of a stalactite entirely out of Christmas baubles. The sculpture currently lives in her parents' garage, which now looks a lot more festive than before.
For more information about the autism@icn team, please click here.
Events
autism@icn in Japan
Fun Fact: Ylva dabbles in art and she once made a huge sculpture of a stalactite entirely out of Christmas baubles. The sculpture currently lives in her parents' garage, which now looks a lot more festive than before.
For more information about the autism@icn team, please click here.
Events
autism@icn in Japan
Three members of the autism@icn team, Antonia Hamilton, Sujatha Krishnan-Barman and Paul Forbes, went to Tokyo in January to take part in the UCL-NTT Deep Brain Communication Project. This is a collaboration between researchers at the ICN and those at NTT’s Research and Development Laboratories. Antonia gave a talk at NTT’s laboratories and also at the Showa University Karasuyama Hospital, which has the biggest autism centre in Japan. Her PhD students, Sujatha and Paul, attended some very interesting talks, tried out some exciting lab equipment and also sampled some tasty sushi (see above)!
Shallice Prize
Shallice Prize
Congratulations to Ainslie Johnstone (left) who won the 2015 Shallice Prize!
This is awarded to the best performing student on the ICN’s MSc course. Her project looked at dark adaptation in autism. She was supervised by Becky Lawson.
Ainslie is now pursuing a PhD at the University of Oxford.
Publication highlight
Many of the research projects conducted within the autism@icn team are published in scientific journals. In each issue we will highlight a publication of particular interest.
How does the brain deal with loud and quiet sounds?
When we first walk into a room we might notice the hum of the air conditioning unit, or the drone of traffic from outside, but after a while most people ‘adapt’ to these sounds and stop hearing them at all. Might there be differences in how people with and without a diagnosis of autism adapt to the loudness of sounds and might this relate to sensory sensitivity? Becky Lawson, Sarah White and their colleagues were interested to find out.
The first type of loud adaptation they were interested in is called "simple loudness adaptation ." This is when a quiet sound seems like it gets quieter over time (when in fact it is at the same volume). The second type of loudness adaptation they investigated is called “induced loudness adaptation ”. This is when loud sounds seem to get quieter in comparison to an even louder sound.
Becky and her colleagues thought they might find some differences in autism because many people with autism report being sensitive to sounds. They didn't find any differences between the groups in induced loudness adaptation but they did for simple loudness adaptation. For participants with a diagnosis of autism a quiet sound seemed to get quieter at a slower rate, or, to put it another way, stay louder for longer. Interestingly, the degree to which people with autism adapted to the sound was related to how much they avoided loud or unpleasant sounds in daily life. Becky thinks this might be why sounds that most people would consider only slightly bothersome can be extremely disturbing to some people on the autism spectrum.
The paper is:
Lawson, R. P. et al. (2015). A striking reduction of simple loudness adaptation in autism. Scientific Reports, 5, 16157
For a complete list of publications from the autism@icn group, click here
If you would like a copy of any of these publications please email [email protected]
Take part in research
Would you like a picture of your brain?
This is awarded to the best performing student on the ICN’s MSc course. Her project looked at dark adaptation in autism. She was supervised by Becky Lawson.
Ainslie is now pursuing a PhD at the University of Oxford.
Publication highlight
Many of the research projects conducted within the autism@icn team are published in scientific journals. In each issue we will highlight a publication of particular interest.
How does the brain deal with loud and quiet sounds?
When we first walk into a room we might notice the hum of the air conditioning unit, or the drone of traffic from outside, but after a while most people ‘adapt’ to these sounds and stop hearing them at all. Might there be differences in how people with and without a diagnosis of autism adapt to the loudness of sounds and might this relate to sensory sensitivity? Becky Lawson, Sarah White and their colleagues were interested to find out.
The first type of loud adaptation they were interested in is called "simple loudness adaptation ." This is when a quiet sound seems like it gets quieter over time (when in fact it is at the same volume). The second type of loudness adaptation they investigated is called “induced loudness adaptation ”. This is when loud sounds seem to get quieter in comparison to an even louder sound.
Becky and her colleagues thought they might find some differences in autism because many people with autism report being sensitive to sounds. They didn't find any differences between the groups in induced loudness adaptation but they did for simple loudness adaptation. For participants with a diagnosis of autism a quiet sound seemed to get quieter at a slower rate, or, to put it another way, stay louder for longer. Interestingly, the degree to which people with autism adapted to the sound was related to how much they avoided loud or unpleasant sounds in daily life. Becky thinks this might be why sounds that most people would consider only slightly bothersome can be extremely disturbing to some people on the autism spectrum.
The paper is:
Lawson, R. P. et al. (2015). A striking reduction of simple loudness adaptation in autism. Scientific Reports, 5, 16157
For a complete list of publications from the autism@icn group, click here
If you would like a copy of any of these publications please email [email protected]
Take part in research
Would you like a picture of your brain?
Becky Lawson’s scanning study, which she is running with Ylva Valden, is now under way! Becky and Ylva would like to thank everyone who has already contacted them. The study involves doing some tasks in the MRI scanner and participants will also have the chance to get a picture of their brain. If you would like to be considered to take part, please contact Ylva via email on [email protected]