It may be possible to detect autism by studying the pupils in a child’s eyes, according to research conducted at Kansas University and reported in the October issue of the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology.

KU psychology professor John Colombo and doctoral student Christa Anderson conducted a study in which they showed children, including a group of children with autism, various 4-inch images on a computer screen.

The researchers gauged each child’s level of attention by measuring how much their pupils dilated or constricted. They found that children with autism spectrum disorder showed the strongest response to images of other faces, especially other children’s faces.

Colombo is associate director for cognitive neuroscience at the Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies.