Cartoons could help spot autism 卡通有助发现自闭症

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Watching how a toddler responds to animations could help diagnose autism, research has suggested.

研究显示，观察幼儿如何回应动画，有助诊断自闭症。

Babies usually start paying attention to movement soon after birth, and pick up information from the cues they see but children with autism often do not.

婴儿出生後不久，通常会开始注意动作，也会从看到的线索之中取得资讯，不过有自闭症的孩童通常不会这样。

A study, published in Nature, where two-year-olds were shown manipulated animations found those with autism focussed on movement linked to sound.

刊登於自然期刊的一项研究，让两岁孩童观看被处理过的动画，发现自闭症孩童，专注於与声音相关的动作。

In the Yale study, researchers created five versions of animated children’s games, each with sound. On the other half of the screen, the same animation was presented upside down and in reverse, but with the same audio as the upright version.

在这项耶鲁研究中，研究人员设计了5种孩童游戏的动画版本，每种都有声音。萤幕的另一半画面，同样的动画被上下丶正反颠倒地播放，不过声音与直立的版本相同。

Previous studies have shown that, normally, children’s attention is drawn to such changes from around eight months old.

过去的研究发现，通常大约8个月以上的孩童，注意力会受到这种改变吸引。

Twenty-one toddlers with autistic-spectrum disorders （ASD）, 39 who were developing normally and 16 who had developmental problems but did not have autism were studied.

21名有泛自闭症障碍症候群（ASD）的幼儿丶39名发育正常的幼儿丶16名有发育问题但没有自闭症的幼儿接受研究。

Both the toddlers who were developing normally and those with developmental problems showed a clear preference for looking at the upright animations. However the toddlers with ASD showed no preference and looked backwards and forwards between the two halves of the screen.

发育正常以及有发育问题的幼儿，明显偏好注视直立动画；但自闭症幼儿无此偏好，而是会来回观看两边萤幕。

新闻辞典

spot：动词，找到丶发现。例句：If you spot any mistakes in the article just mark them with a pencil.（如果你在文章里发现错误，就用铅笔画出来。）

preference：名词，偏好。

backwards and forwards ：片语，来回地。例句：Paul paced anxiously backwards and forwards.（保罗紧张地来回踱步。）