People with autism often have difficulty with eye contact, but a new study shows that some typically-developing people do, too. Having a "decreased responsiveness to direct gaze" is linked to having more autistic traits in people who don't have autism, according to a research article published recently in the journal, Psychological Medicine.

The researchers concluded, "These results provide the first evidence that differences in gaze processing and the sensitivity to direct gaze are already present in individuals with subclinical levels of autistic traits. Furthermore, they lend support to the continuum view of the disorder and could potentially help in an earlier diagnosis of individuals at high risk for autism."¹