26040
Visuomotor Integration: A Potential Biomarker of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Lab and Community-Based Settings
In recent years, sensorimotor features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have garnered increased attention. However, few studies have investigated how sensory and motor systems work in coordination, or how they differ between typical and atypical development and within various developmental disorders. To that end, we quantitatively assessed visuomotor integration–the use of visual information to guide motor behavior–and its influence on postural stability in two studies of individuals with ASD, typical development (TD), and Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). The first study took place in our virtual reality lab, and the second study took place at community, school, and clinical sites.
Objectives:
To define the relationship between postural control, eye movement, and visual context in ASD, and to determine whether this relationship varies between ASD, TD, and DCD.
Methods:
Study 1: 30 participants (10 ASD, 10 DCD, 10 TD) completed a variety of visuomotor integration tasks while wearing mobile eye-tracking glasses and standing on force plates in a full-body motion capture and immersive virtual reality system (Figure 1). These tasks required a range of behavioral responding, from “watch-only” conditions to “watch-and-move” conditions where participants engaged with the virtual environment via user-controlled objects.
Study 2: 50 participants (20 ASD, 10 DCD, 20 TD) completed a brief set of two visuomotor integration tasks while wearing mobile eye-tracking glasses and standing on a portable force platform. The first task tested postural control during quiet standing with vision unoccluded, occluded, and partially occluded. The second task tested postural control during a limits-of-stability task that required leaning to move a user-controlled object to static targets displayed on a screen. This community-based study used portable, low-cost equipment and rapid data collection (< 15 min per participant).
Results:
Across both studies, the ASD group had appreciable differences in quantitative measures of postural stability compared to the TD and DCD groups (Figure 2). These differences were particularly evident in tasks when visual context was unavailable or when the task required the use of information about visual motion (i.e., targets moving rather than static) to produce accurate responses. Eye movement differences were also evident, with the ASD group demonstrating difficulty maintaining visual pursuit of moving targets and a reduced ability to fixate static targets relative to DCD and TD groups.
Conclusions:
These data suggest that quantitative assessments of visuomotor integration may be a promising avenue of investigation as a biomarker to differentiate ASD from TD and other developmental disorders with shared motor features, like DCD. They also highlight the important role of visual information processing in the ability of individuals with ASD to maintain balance and to control intentional movements. While results from Study 1 provide a more detailed assessment of visuomotor integration in ASD, Study 2 demonstrates the feasibility of transferring these types of tasks and outcome measures to community settings including schools and clinics. A brief visuomotor screening of this nature may aid in identifying sensorimotor issues in individuals with ASD who have not received comprehensive evaluation, and may also facilitate individualized interventions tailored to meet specific sensorimotor needs.