Distinct Face-Processing Strategies in Parents of Autistic Children

Adolphs, Ralph; Spezio, Michael L.; Parlier, Morgan; Piven, Joseph

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.06.073

Cited by 114 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 24 publications

(36 reference statements)

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“…Although the experimenter closely monitored participants' gaze patterns to ensure that relatives from both groups were carefully inspecting the faces, it remains possible that relatives of children with ASD were attending to different parts of the faces compared with relatives of typically developing children. Adolphs et al (2008) showed that some parents of children with autism required more information from the mouth and less information from the eyes than parents of typically developing children to judge emotions. Perhaps, then, our relatives of children with ASD were not attending to the ''right'' part of the face.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It will be important for future studies to examine the relationship between degree of genetic liability and face-coding atypicalities more directly, by using larger samples, by controlling for family composition and by including dimensional ratings of autisticlike traits (cf. Adolphs et al, 2008, see Pellicano, 2008. Doing so should provide greater clarity regarding the neurocognitive pathways involved in the genetic liability for autism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One study has demonstrated distinct face-processing strategies during emotion recognition in relatives of individuals with ASD (Adolphs, Spezio, Parlier, & Piven, 2008). These authors showed that parents of typical children showed substantial use of the eyes when judging emotions like fear or happiness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These authors showed that parents of typical children showed substantial use of the eyes when judging emotions like fear or happiness. Yet parents of autistic children, especially those with an aloof personality, made much less use of the eyes when making these judgments, using more cues from the mouth (Adolphs et al, 2008), a strategy that closely mirrors the behaviour of individuals diagnosed with ASD (Spezio, Adolphs, Hurley, & Piven, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reduced face identity aftereffects in relatives of children with autism

et al. 2012

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a b s t r a c tAutism is a pervasive developmental condition with complex aetiology. To aid the discovery of genetic mechanisms, researchers have turned towards identifying potential endophenotypes -subtle neurobiological or neurocognitive traits present in individuals with autism and their ''unaffected'' relatives. Previous research has shown that relatives of individuals with autism exhibit face processing atypicalities, which are similar in nature albeit of lesser degree, to those found in children and adults with autism. Yet very few studies have examined the underlying mechanisms responsible for such atypicalities. Here, we investigated whether atypicalities in adaptive norm-based coding of faces are present in relatives of children with autism, similar to those previously reported in children with autism. To test this possibility, we administered a face identity aftereffect task in which adaptation to a particular face biases perception towards the opposite identity, so that a previously neutral face (i.e., the average face) takes on the computationally opposite identity. Parents and siblings of individuals with autism showed smaller aftereffects compared to parents and siblings of typically developing children, especially so when the adapting stimuli were located further away from the average face. In addition, both groups showed stronger aftereffects for adaptors far from the average than for adaptors closer to the average. These results suggest that, in relatives of children with autism, face-coding mechanism are similar (i.e., norm-based) but less efficient than in relatives of typical children. This finding points towards the possibility that diminished adaptive mechanisms might represent a neurocognitive endophenotype for autism.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reduced face identity aftereffects in relatives of children with autism

et al. 2012

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“…Moreover, in ASD as for other psychiatric disorders that are phenotypically complex and highly heritable, there is a growing consensus that research into the aetiology of the condition could benefit from the investigation of heritable markers (or endophenotypes, see Gottesman and Gould, 2003), that is traits that are also present in unaffected biological relatives of ASD but exhibited to a lesser degree (Adolphs et al, 2008;Geschwind, 2009;Sucksmith et al, 2011). In this domain of research, the so-called Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP), mild social and communication impairments have been suggested to be likely 'the most familial of autism-related traits' (Gerdts and Bernier, 2011, p.14).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating emotional impairments in adults with autism spectrum disorders and the broader autism phenotype

Berthoz

Lalanne

Crane

et al. 2013

Psychiatry Research

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There is an increasing interest in the socio-affective atypicalities observed in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this study was to further explore emotional responsiveness in adults with ASD using well-validated self-reports of alexithymia and extend these with consideration of anhedonia, and to determine whether these features are part of a broader autism phenotype. Thirty-eight adults with ASD, 87 parents of ASD individuals and 47 typical controls completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient, the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire, as well as the Chapman Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales. The ASD group differed from controls and parents on most measures, with the exception of physical and social anhedonia, relative to parents. Parents differed from controls on social anhedonia, and a higher proportion of parents were classed as alexithymic, relative to controls. Cluster analysis revealed that some parents share more similarities with ASD participants than with controls. The results suggest that socio-affective impairments are characteristic of ASD, and feature as part of the broader autism phenotype.

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Neurobehavioral Abnormalities in First-Degree Relatives of Individuals With Autism

Mosconi¹,

Kay²,

D'Cruz³

et al. 2010

Arch Gen Psychiatry

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Context Studying sensorimotor and neurocognitive impairments in unaffected family members of individuals with autism may help identify familial pathophysiological mechanisms associated with the disorder. Objective To determine whether atypical sensorimotor or neurocognitive characteristics associated with autism are present in first-degree relatives of individuals with autism. Design Case-control comparison of neurobehavioral functions. Setting University medical center. Participants Fifty-seven first-degree relatives of individuals with autism and 40 age-, sex-, and IQ-matched healthy control participants (aged 8–54 years). Main Outcome Measures Oculomotor tests of sensorimotor responses (saccades and smooth pursuit); procedural learning and response inhibition; neuropsychological tests of motor, memory, and executive functions; and psychological measures of social behavior, communication skills, and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Results On eye movement testing, family members demonstrated saccadic hypometria, reduced steady-state pursuit gain, and a higher rate of voluntary response inhibition errors relative to controls. They also showed lateralized deficits in procedural learning and open-loop pursuit gain (initial 100 milliseconds of pursuit) and increased variability in the accuracy of large-amplitude saccades that were confined to rightward movements. In neuropsychological studies, only executive functions were impaired relative to those of controls. Family members reported more communication abnormalities and obsessive-compulsive behaviors than controls. Deficits across oculomotor, neuropsychological, and psychological domains were relatively independent from one another. Conclusions Family members of individuals with autism demonstrate oculomotor abnormalities implicating pontocerebellar and frontostriatal circuits and left-lateralized alterations of frontotemporal circuitry and striatum. The left-lateralized alterations have not been identified in other neuropsychiatric disorders and are of interest given atypical brain lateralization and language development associated with the disorder. Similar oculomotor deficits have been reported in individuals with autism, suggesting that they may be familial and useful for studies of neurophysiological and genetic mechanisms in autism.

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Distinct Face-Processing Strategies in Parents of Autistic Children

Cited by 114 publications

References 24 publications

Reduced face identity aftereffects in relatives of children with autism

Reduced face identity aftereffects in relatives of children with autism

Investigating emotional impairments in adults with autism spectrum disorders and the broader autism phenotype

Neurobehavioral Abnormalities in First-Degree Relatives of Individuals With Autism

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