Estimation of the degree of autism spectrum disorder by the slow phase of optokinetic nystagmus in typical adults

Kei Kanari; Moe Kikuchi-Ito

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07751

Estimation of the degree of autism spectrum disorder by the slow phase of optokinetic nystagmus in typical adults

Heliyon. 2021 Aug 10;7(8):e07751. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07751. eCollection 2021 Aug.

Authors

Kei Kanari^{1

2}, Moe Kikuchi-Ito³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Fundamental Engineering, Utsunomiya University, 7-1-2, Yoto, Utsunomiya, Tochigi 321-8585, Japan.
² Department of Information and Communications Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 G2-3, Nagatsuda-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8502, Japan.
³ Kichijoji Clover Clinic, 2-25-7, Kichijoji Hon-cho, Musashino, Tokyo 180-0004, Japan.

Abstract

Atypical eye movement patterns demonstrated by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have the potential to serve as biomarkers for ASD diagnosis. However, instead of estimating individual differences in the degree of ASD from those patterns, many researchers have compared ASD groups with typical development groups. This study investigates the relationship between the Autism-spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores in typical adults, which can evaluate the degree of the traits associated with ASD, as well as the properties of optokinetic nystagmus (OKN), including the gain of the slow phase, the peak velocity and duration of the fast phase, the frequency, and the mean eye position of OKN. A random dot pattern that moved in one direction was presented on the display, and the participants' eye movements were measured. The results showed a negative correlation between subjects' AQ scores and the gain of slow-phase OKN. In addition, the correlations between subjects' AQ scores and the properties of OKN fast phase were not significant. These results indicate that the gain of slow-phase OKN could be a biomarker that estimates individual differences in the degree of ASD, reflected in our findings which considered AQ scores in typical adults.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Autism-spectrum quotient; Biomarker; Optokinetic nystagmus.