Bright Lights, Silent Signals: Colour-Specific Attention–Arousal Decoupling in Autistic Children Revealed by Eye-Tracking and Pupillometry

Children with ASD allocate less dwell time and execute fewer, briefer fixations and saccades, especially when stimuli are highly saturated. Because effects persisted after stringent multiple-comparison correction and were independent of pupil size, they likely reflect how brightness changes guide eye movements and moment-to-moment arousal.