Journal
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 101, Issue -, Pages 24-35Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.07.003
Keywords
Autism; Emotion; Pupil dilation; Unconscious; Subliminal; Implicit; Backwards masking; Eye tracking; Autonomic nervous system; Physiological responding; Pupillometry
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Recent theoretical conceptualisations have suggested that emotion processing impairments in autism stem from disruption to the sub-cortical, rapid emotion-processing system. We argue that a clear way to ascertain whether this system is affected in autism is by measuring unconscious emotional reactivity. Using backwards masking, we presented fearful expressions non-consciously (subliminally) as well as consciously (supraliminally), and measured pupillary responses as an index of emotional reactivity in 19 children with autism and 19 typically developing children, aged 2-5 years. The pupillary responses of the children with autism revealed reduced unconscious emotional reactivity, with no group differences on consciously presented emotion. Together, these results indicate a hyporesponsiveness to non-consciously presented emotion suggesting a fundamental difference in emotion processing in autism, which requires consciousness and more time. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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