Joint Attention Processing in Social Threat Scenarios

Inclusion criteria

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For ASD group:

• 3 years ≤ age ≤ 10 years;
• a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder based on clinical symptoms, confirmed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and other auxiliary diagnostic scales, including the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS);
• further confirmation of ASD symptoms by experimenters with established research reliability using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2), with severity scores reported;
• absence of comorbid physical diseases or other psychiatric disorders, including normal vision (or corrected-to-normal vision) and normal hearing;
• no receipt of medication, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) within the past three months.

For TD group:The inclusion criterion for the TD group was a score below the cutoff on the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS).

Exclusion criteria

-

For ASD group:

• age < 3 years or > 10 years;
• absence of a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and other auxiliary diagnostic scales, including the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS);
• failure to meet diagnostic criteria after confirmation of ASD symptoms by experimenters with established research reliability using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2);
• presence of comorbid physical diseases or other psychiatric disorders, or problems with vision (or corrected-to-normal vision) and hearing;
• receipt of medication, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) within the past three months.

For TD group:

children were excluded if their scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) exceeded the cutoff.