PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Pupillary contagion occurs when one\'s pupil size unconsciously adapts to the pupil size of an observed individual and is presumed to reflect the transfer of arousal. Importantly, when estimating pupil contagion, low level stimuli properties need to be controlled for, to ensure that observations of pupillary changes are due to internal change in arousal rather than the external differences between stimuli. Here, naturalistic images of children\'s faces depicting either small or large pupils were presented to a group of children and adolescents with a wide range of autistic traits, a third of whom had been diagnosed with autism. We examined the extent to which pupillary contagion reflects autonomic nervous system reaction through pupil size change, heart rate and skin conductance response. Our second aim was to determine the association between arousal reaction to stimuli and degree of autistic traits. Results show that pupil contagion and concomitant heart rate change, but not skin conductance change, was evident when gaze was restricted to the eye region of face stimuli. A positive association was also observed between pupillary contagion and autistic traits when participants\' gaze was constrained to the eye region. Findings add to a broader understanding of the mechanisms underlying pupillary contagion and its association with autism.
摘要：
当一个人的瞳孔大小无意识地适应被观察个体的瞳孔大小并被认为反映了唤醒的转移时，就会发生瞳孔传染。重要的是,在估计瞳孔传染时，低水平的刺激特性需要控制，以确保对瞳孔变化的观察是由于唤醒的内部变化而不是刺激之间的外部差异。这里,自然的儿童的脸描绘无论是小或大的学生被呈现给一组儿童和青少年与广泛的自闭症特征，其中三分之一被诊断为自闭症。我们检查了瞳孔感染通过瞳孔大小变化反映自主神经系统反应的程度，心率和皮肤电导反应。我们的第二个目的是确定对刺激的唤醒反应与自闭症特征程度之间的关联。结果表明，瞳孔感染和伴随的心率变化，但不是皮肤电导变化，当凝视仅限于面部刺激的眼睛区域时，很明显。当参与者的视线被限制在眼睛区域时，瞳孔传染与自闭症特征之间也存在正相关。研究结果增加了对瞳孔传染及其与自闭症关联的潜在机制的更广泛理解。
