A New Virtual Environment Paradigm for High-Functioning Autism Intended to Help Attentional Disengagement in a Social Context

Background and Purpose. This article presents a review of the question regarding the link between social communication difficulties and altered executive functions (ie, cognitive functions involved in the control of behavior, such as planning, inhibition, working memory, etc) in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD). Model Description and Evaluation. We first analyze the difficulties experienced by individuals with HFASD in processing contextual cues during social conversations. We extend this approach to include verbal and nonverbal communication. We then focus on alterations in the ability to process facial expressions during an ongoing conversation. This ability involves attentional resources that are discussed in light of the executive dysfunction attributed to autism spectrum disorders. On this basis, we hypothesize that the difficulties in appreciating the synergy between facial expressions and speech could be linked to impairments in shifting attention from one to the other. Outcomes. A new experimental paradigm designed for testing this hypothesis is presented. It relies on a virtual environment system based on eye-tracking technology that enables users to control the visual display via their gaze. The intent behind this apparatus is to compensate for the deficits in shifting attention attributed to autism spectrum disorders. Discussion and Conclusion. We describe the procedure devised for testing this new virtual environment paradigm and discuss the technological choices taken in order to comply with the issues addressed in HFASD. We conclude with preliminary observational data supporting the potential therapeutic use of this virtual environment system.