Terje Falck-Ytter

Terje Falck-Ytter is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Uppsala University, specializing in Developmental Psychology. With a PhD awarded in 2010 following clinical training in psychology, his research focuses on characterizing and understanding the development of infants later diagnosed with neurodevelopmental conditions, particularly autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

His primary research interests include developmental psychology, autism spectrum disorder, infant development, twin studies, genetics and environmental influences, eye tracking research, and neurodevelopmental conditions. His work investigates how genetic and environmental factors contribute to various developmentally informative measures early in life.

Falck-Ytter's extensive publication record demonstrates significant contributions to understanding social attention, sensory processing, and early biomarkers for autism. His research utilizes advanced methodologies including eye tracking, twin studies, and genetic analyses to uncover developmental pathways and early indicators of neurodevelopmental conditions. His work has practical implications for early detection and intervention strategies for children at risk.

• Infants' looking preferences for social versus non-social objects reflect genetic variation (2024)
• Social attention: Developmental foundations and relevance for autism spectrum disorder (2023)
• The sensory-first account of autism (2023)
• Joint attention in infancy and the emergence of autism (2019)
• Enhanced pupillary light reflex in infancy is associated with autism diagnosis in toddlerhood (2018)

Falck-Ytter leads the Babytwins Study Sweden (BATSS), a multi-method infant twin study examining genetic and environmental factors influencing infant brain and behavioral development. His research has been widely cited and has appeared in high-impact journals including Nature Human Behaviour, Nature Communications, and Biological Psychiatry.

His work bridges clinical practice and research, with implications for early identification and intervention strategies for children with neurodevelopmental conditions. He has mentored numerous researchers and collaborated extensively with international teams studying early autism markers across European populations.