Monday, 05 October 2020
Using a brief, highly engaging dance imitation video game, a team of researchers have developed a tool to help determine if a child has an autism spectrum condition (ASC).
Researchers created and tested a Computerized Assessment of Motor Imitation (CAMI) using Kinect Xbox motion-tracking technology. This new method automatically measures a child’s imitation ability as they play a one-minute game, in which they try to copy the actions of a model on a computer screen.
The findings, published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, showed that children with autism showed poorer imitation as compared to typically developing children. More strikingly, the CAMI method could identify autism diagnosis based solely on the children’s imitation performance with over 87% accuracy – a 13-point difference from more traditionally used human coding methods.
The team who developed the CAMI method is led by child neurologist Dr. Stewart Mostofsky from the Kennedy Krieger Institute, and includes psychologist Dr. Bahar Tuncgenc from the University of Nottingham, and computer vision experts from the Johns Hopkins University.
Dr Mostofsky from the Kennedy Krieger Institute said: “Imitating others is central to the development of social skills. But in individuals with ASC, imitation deficits are prevalent, and in fact, associated with core autistic traits.”
CAMI is an algorithm that automatically detects and evaluates the motions of important joints and returns a score that considers spatial position and timing differences between the child’s and the model’s movements. The researchers found that children’s CAMI performance was predictive of autism severity, such that poorer imitation correlated with higher core autism trait severity.
The findings support CAMI as an objective and highly scalable method for assessing motor imitation differences, that is more reliable than human observation alone. The CAMI method offers a fast and cost-effective method for assessing imitation ability automatically, without any expert input from clinicians or researchers. Moreover, it is a fun assessment – all that the children need to do is play an engaging video game on Kinect Xbox!
The researchers are now seeking funding to advance CAMI further so that it can assess imitation ability with 2D images obtained from off-the-shelf cameras at very low cost. They believe that this will be a major step towards increasing CAMI’s applicability in clinical and home settings.
“Autism diagnosis can be challenging and involve extensive effort,” Dr. Mostofsky said. “This study shows that a brief, highly-engaging video-game task that could easily be administered in clinical and home settings has potential to aid in autism diagnosis.”
The group’s work was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Story credits
More information is available from Dr Bahar Tuncgenc on bahar.tuncgenc@nottingham.ac.uk or Jane Icke, Media Relations Manager for the Faculty of Science at the University of Nottingham, on +44 (0)115 951 5751 or jane.icke@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
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We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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