Neural processing of facial identity and expression in adults with and without autism: A multi-method approach

Abstract

Highlights We studied facial identity and expression processing in adults with and without autism. No group differences were observed on standard behavioural face processing tasks. No group differences were observed in average activity in face related brain areas. No group differences were observed in neural representations and repetition suppression. Minor group-differences were observed in functional connectivity, involving amygdala.

Differences in cortical processing of facial emotions in broader autism phenotype

“…Of note, and as we observed in a previous comparative study between children with and without autism [ 8 ], and in accord with previous findings [ 91 ], results showed no significant differences between the two groups of parents. However, unlike the case of pTD, pASD did not demonstrate an LPP saliency for congruent happiness stimuli.…”

“…Moreover, neural responses in STS are elicited by changes in head/gaze direction and also in emotional expression [ 92 ]. Thus, our results may indicate that perception of emotional facial expressions depends on a neural network that entails the perception of changeable features of the human face that are crucial for social communication [ 19 , 91 ]. The decrease in the modulation of the temporal brain region observed in pASD ( Fig 8 , bottom line, left row) may reveal that differences between ASD and neurotypical development in cortical processing of faces expressing emotion could be broader and more complex than a mere consequence of social difficulties, and should receive more attention in future research [ 23 , 27 , 31 , 61 – 63 ].…”

Functional selectivity for social interaction perception in the human superior temporal sulcus during natural viewing

“…Movies are entertaining and engaging making them an attractive stimulus for groups beyond neurotypical adults. Further, many high functioning individuals with autism look identical to neurotypical adults in simple social psychology and neuroscience tasks despite differences in their real-world social abilities (Hendriks et al, 2021; Moessnang et al, 2020; Scheeren et al, 2013). Movies may help us close the gap between simple lab-based tasks and the real world.…”

The impact of low vision on social function: The potential importance of lost visual social cues

“…Altered connectivity among within a wide distribution of cortical areas associated with face processing has also been observed. 54 , 55 One study found that 36% of individuals with ASD also had prosopagnosia, further worsening social function and potentially increasing social anxiety. 56 …”