Angelina Vernetti holds a B.Sc. in Cell Biology from the University of Angers, an M.Sc. in Neurosciences from the University of Toulouse, and a Ph.D. in Developmental Neuropsychology from Birkbeck, University of London. She is a Research Scientist in the Social and Affective Neuroscience of Autism program at Yale School of Medicine’s Child Study Center, led by Prof. Chawarska. Her work focuses on understanding the early social and cognitive challenges faced by young children with autism, using screen based and live eye-tracking, physiological recording, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy to study social attention, reinforcement learning, emotional regulation, and language processing—ultimately aiming to support more effective interventions.

Real-World Social Cues and Altered Temporal Brain Dynamics: fNIRS Assessment of Speech–Gaze Integration in Toddlers with Autism

Background. In autism, diminished attention to child-directed speech and direct gaze suggest altered processing of ostensive cues for social engagement. Yet few studies have examined their combined effects on activation of brain areas involved in processing multimodal social stimuli in early development. Methods. Toddlers with autism (n=19) and typically developing (TD) peers (n=34) underwent fNIRS (NIRx-NIRSport2) while viewing videos of a female actor delivering child-directed speech alone (DG-SP+), direct gaze only (DG+SP-), both speech and gaze (DG+SP+), or neither cue (DG-SP-). Cortical hemodynamics in bilateral STG were analyzed alongside autism severity scores and language measures. Results. Across all conditions, toddlers with autism showed atypical STG lateralization with heightened right STG activation, particularly when speech was present compared to their TD peers. The largest hemispheric difference emerged when speech and gaze were combined, mirroring the complexity of real-world social interactions. In the combined sample, left STG activation correlated positively with receptive language only in DG+SP+, while higher right STG activation was linked to lower language scores and increased autism symptoms across conditions. Conclusion. These findings underscore the need to study combinations of dynamic social cues—as they occur in everyday interactions—using methodologies like fNIRS to advance our understanding of early neurodevelopmental differences in autism.