Sensory Processing Patterns and Fusiform Activity During Face Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

A growing body of evidence has indicated that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit abnormal reactions to sensory stimuli and impaired face processing. Although behavioral studies have reported that individual differences in sensory processing patterns are correlated with performance in face processing tasks, the neural substrates underlying the association between sensory processing patterns and face processing remain unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the present study examined the relationships between sensory processing patterns assessed with the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP) and brain activity during a one-back task with two types of stimuli (face or house pictures). We enrolled 18 Japanese adults with ASD and 19 age-and IQ-matched controls. Sensation Avoiding scores, which were assessed using the AASP, were positively correlated with right fusiform activity during the presentation of pictures of faces in the ASD group, but not in the control group. This suggests that abnormal sensory processing patterns in ASD are associated with abnormal face-related brain activity, possibly resulting in impaired face processing.

Abnormal amygdala functional connectivity and deep learning classification in multifrequency bands in autism spectrum disorder: A multisite functional magnetic resonance imaging study

“…The FG and amygdala are part of the facial perception network and play critical roles in face processing (Dziobek et al, 2010). Previous studies have found that patients with ASD show activation in the amygdala and FG when presented with faces (Hadjikhani et al, 2004;Kuno-Fujita et al, 2020). Researchers have found that the neural activity of the FG is regulated by the amygdala , and impaired connectivity between the FG and amygdala in patients with ASD has greatly impacted emotional face recognition (Schultz, 2005).…”

Effects of Sensory Distraction and Salience Priming on Emotion Identification in Autism: an fMRI Study

“…One recent study found that atypical event-related potential (ERP) correlates of face processing in children with familial risk for ASD were associated with greater parent reported social-communication and sensory di culties (Shepard et al, 2020). Another study found that self-reported sensation avoiding was correlated with greater right fusiform activity while looking at faces in adults with ASD but not in controls (Kuno-Fujita et al, 2020). However, to our knowledge the neural basis of facial emotion identi cation in ASD in the presence of competing aversive sensory stimuli has not yet been examined.…”

Autism and the Sensory Disruption of Social Experience

“…Despite having been largely forgotten as the history of autism research progressed, recent research suggests that sensory differences occur in over 90% of autistic individuals and impact fundamental areas of functioning, such as perception, action, engagement in everyday activities, and social interaction ( Leekam et al, 2007 ; Baranek et al, 2008 ; Robertson and Baron-Cohen, 2017 ). In addition, the autism literature suggests that sensory differences are implicated in a wide array of social difficulties in autism ( Woynaroski et al, 2013 ; Dakopolos and Jahromi, 2019 ; Kuno-Fujita et al, 2020 ; Lin, 2020 ). Autistic self-reports have highlighted the importance of subtle and pervasive sensory differences for understanding social difficulties ( Cesaroni and Garber, 1991 ; Williams, 1992 ; Hale and Hale, 1999 ; Biklen, 2005 ; Grandin, 2006 ).…”