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To understand the pathophysiologic underpinnings of social anxiety and autism, and of their commonalities, researchers studied eye gaze and its neuroimaging correlates. Now, investigators have extended this work by dissecting the elements of social engagement in preclinical studies. They tested three paradigms in macaques genotyped for serotonin transporter promoter (HTTLPR) polymorphisms, which have similar effects in macaques and humans.
In the first paradigm, researchers measured eye gaze and pupil diameter in eight macaques, four with l/l alleles and four with s/l alleles, while they observed four pictures: a gray square and three pictures of familiar monkeys (faces of low- and high-status males and perinea of females). The s/l macaques …