Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40751179›Full record

ArticleJournal of neurodevelopmental disorders2025

Pupil responses to social stimuli are associated with adaptive behaviors across the first 24 months of life.

Rebecca Grzadzinski, Raymond S Carpenter, Josh Rutsohn, Alapika Jatkar, Kattia Mata, Ambika Bhatt, Maria M Ortiz-Juza, Madison R Dennehey, Donna Gilleskie, Jed T Elison and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Rebecca Grzadzinski *Department of Psychiatry, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. rebecca_grzadzinski@med.unc.edu.
Raymond S Carpenter *Department of Psychiatry, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Josh RutsohnDepartment of Biostatistics, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA.
Alapika JatkarCarolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Kattia MataCarolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Ambika BhattCarolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Maria M Ortiz-JuzaDepartment of Psychiatry, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Madison R DenneheyCarolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Donna GilleskieDepartment of Economics, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Jed T ElisonInstitute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Nicolas PégardCarolina Stress Initiative, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Jose Rodriguez-RomagueraDepartment of Psychiatry, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. jose_rodriguezromaguera@med.unc.edu.

Funding

Postdoctoral Research in Neurodevelopmental DisordersT32HD040127 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI BENJAMIN D PHILPOT, Mark D Shen · 2001 to 2026
$8.5M
Encoding social arousal within prepronociceptin circuits in the extended amygdalaR01MH132073 · NIMH · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI Jose Rodriguez-Romaguera · 2023 to 2026
$2.7M
Infant arousal as a predictor of functional outcomes in Down syndrome (DS)K23HD112809 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI GRZADZINSKI, REBECCA LYNN · 2023 to 2025
$586k
Howard Hughes Medical Institute GT15752National Institute of Child Health and Human Development T32HD040127NICHD NIH HHS K23 HD112809NICHD NIH HHS K23HD112809NICHD NIH HHS T32 HD040127NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH132073NIMH NIH HHS R01MH132073
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPupil changes in response to well-controlled stimuli can be used to understand processes that regulate attention, learning, and arousal. This study investigates whether pupil dynamics to social stimuli are associated with concurrent adaptive behavior in typically developing infants. To accomplish this, we developed and assessed pupillary responses to Stimuli for Early Social Arousal and Motivation in Infants (SESAMI).

methodsA sample of forty-six typically developing children aged six to twenty-four months were exposed to SESAMI. Infants were presented with either dynamic social faces or non-social stimuli that controlled for luminance, motion, and auditory exposure. A multi-level mixed effects model was used to fit pupillary response functions (PRFs) that measure the change in pupil size over time as the infants fixate on either a socially dynamic face or a non-social control. This model produces separate social and non-social PRFs for both the population and each individual. An average individual deviation score from the population PRF was calculated separately for social and non-social trials yielding the pupil response index (PRI). Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) were regressed on social and non-social individual PRIs while controlling for age and average fixation time. We tested whether the social PRI was a statistically significant predictor of adaptive behavior by comparing the model predicted VABS scores with observed scores.

resultsAn increase in PRI to social stimuli was significantly associated with better adaptive behaviors in typically developing children between 6 and 24 months of age.

conclusionsSESAMI combined with pupillometry and multi-level mixed effects modeling, provides a novel and scalable framework for quantifying individual differences in pupil changes in response to social stimuli relative to a population-level baseline. By demonstrating that pupil response indices during social fixations predict adaptive behaviors, we lay the foundation to test how these measures may help identify infants with intellectual and developmental disorders.

Indexed as

Adaptation, PsychologicalChild DevelopmentFacial RecognitionPupilSocial BehaviorArousalAttentionChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantMaleMotivationAutismAutism-spectrum disorderEye-trackingPupil changePupil dynamicsPupillometrySocial arousalSocial attention

Identifiers

PMID40751179
PMCPMC12317559

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.