Our genes shape the way we look at the world in the most literal sense, suggests a study in nature. Researchers recorded the eye movements of 338 toddlers as they watches videos of common scenes, like children playing and adults speaking. Eighty-two of the children were identical twins (who share the same DNA), 84 were fraternal twins (who are no more genetically similar than other siblings), 84 were non-sibling controls and 88 were children diagnosed with autism. Identical twins were much more likely than fraternal twins to move their eyes at the same time, in the same direction and to the same locations as their twin. The measure on which the identical twins were most similar–the amount of time they spent looking at people’s eyes and mouths–was the same measure on which the children with autism differed most from the children without autism, suggesting that a behavior linked with autism is directly affected by genetic differences. (Monitor on Psychology)

Susie Bean Gives