Gaze perception from head and pupil rotations in 2D and 3D: Typical development and the impact of autism spectrum disorder.

The study of gaze perception has largely focused on a single cue (the eyes) in two-dimensional settings. While this literature suggests that 2D gaze perception is shaped by atypical development, as in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), gaze perception is in reality contextually-sensitive, perceived as an emergent feature conveyed by the rotation of the pupils and head. We examined gaze perception in this integrative context, across development, among children and adolescents developing typically or with ASD with both 2D and 3D stimuli. We found that both groups utilized head and pupil rotations to judge gaze on a 2D face. But when evaluating the gaze of a physically-present, 3D robot, the same ASD observers used eye cues less than their typically-developing peers. This demonstrates that emergent gaze perception is a slowly developing process that is surprisingly intact, albeit weakened in ASD, and illustrates how new technology can bridge visual and clinical science.

Structural Bases of Zoonotic and Zooanthroponotic Transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

The emergence of multiple variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) highlights the importance of possible animal-to-human (zoonotic) and human-to-animal (zooanthroponotic) transmission and potential spread within animal species. A range of animal species have been verified for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility, either in vitro or in vivo. However, the molecular bases of such a broad host spectrum for the SARS-CoV-2 remains elusive. Here, we structurally and genetically analysed the interaction between the spike protein, with a particular focus on receptor binding domains (RBDs), of SARS-CoV-2 and its receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) for all conceivably susceptible groups of animals to gauge the structural bases of the SARS-CoV-2 host spectrum. We describe our findings in the context of existing animal infection-based models to provide a foundation on the possible virus persistence in animals and their implications in the future eradication of COVID-19.

Anger bias in the evaluation of crowds.

People are good at categorizing the emotions of individuals and crowds of faces. People also make mistakes when classifying emotion. When they do so with judgments of individuals, these errors tend to be negatively biased, potentially serving a protective function. For example, a face with a subtle expression is more likely to be categorized as angry than happy. Yet surprisingly little is known about the errors people make when evaluating multiple faces. We found that perceivers were biased to classify faces as angry, especially when evaluating crowds. This amplified bias depended on uncertainty, occurring when categorization was difficult, and it reached peak intensity for crowds with four members. Drift diffusion modeling revealed the mechanisms behind this bias, including an early response component and more efficient processing of anger from crowds with subtle expressions. Our findings introduce bias as an important new dimension for understanding how perceivers make judgments about crowds. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Perceiving gaze from head and eye rotations: An integrative challenge for children and adults.

Gaze is an emergent visual feature. A person's gaze direction is perceived not just based on the rotation of their eyes, but also their head. At least among adults, this integrative process appears to be flexible such that one feature can be weighted more heavily than the other depending on the circumstances. Yet it is unclear how this weighting might vary across individuals or across development. When children engage emergent gaze, do they prioritize cues from the head and eyes similarly to adults? Is the perception of gaze among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) emergent, or is it reliant on a single feature? Sixty adults (M = 29.86 years-of-age), thirty-seven typically developing children and adolescents (M = 9.3 years-of-age; range = 7-15), and eighteen children with ASD (M = 9.72 years-of-age; range = 7-15) viewed faces with leftward, rightward, or direct head rotations in conjunction with leftward or rightward pupil rotations, and then indicated whether the face was looking leftward or rightward. All individuals, across development and ASD status, used head rotation to infer gaze direction, albeit with some individual differences. However, the use of pupil rotation was heavily dependent on age. Finally, children with ASD used pupil rotation significantly less than typically developing (TD) children when inferring gaze direction, even after accounting for age. Our approach provides a novel framework for understanding individual and group differences in gaze as it is actually perceived-as an emergent feature. Furthermore, this study begins to address an important gap in ASD literature, taking the first look at emergent gaze perception in this population.

Emergent perception of gaze direction across time.

To determine where another person is looking, the visual system engages a process of emergent integration, pooling information across space from both the head and eyes. Gaze is dynamic, however, and in order to achieve a temporally stabilized metric of a person's direction of attention, this integrative process might also occur across time. Here, we tested and confirmed this prediction. Even when seen separately and in succession, the rotation of a head attracted the perceived gaze of a pair of eyes. This integration depended on temporal continuity-attraction decayed with longer delays between the face parts and prolonged viewing of the head reduced integration. Nevertheless, gaze integration persisted across delays of 2 s and even occurred against a backdrop of changing emotional expression. Gaze is a complex feature that orchestrates social interactions over time. Our results demonstrate that the representation and perception of emergent gaze is dynamic as well. (PsycINFO Database Record