Autism and the development of face processing

Abstract

Autism is a pervasive developmental condition, characterized by impairments in non-verbal communication, social relationships and stereotypical patterns of behavior. A large body of evidence suggests that several aspects of face processing are impaired in autism, including anomalies in gaze processing, memory for facial identity and recognition of facial expressions of emotion. In search of neural markers of anomalous face processing in autism, much interest has focused on a network of brain regions that are implicated in social cognition and face processing. In this review, we will focus on three such regions, namely the STS for its role in processing gaze and facial movements, the FFA in face detection and identification and the amygdala in processing facial expressions of emotion. Much evidence suggests that a better understanding of the normal development of these specialized regions is essential for discovering the neural bases of face processing anomalies in autism. Thus, we will also examine the available literature on the normal development of face processing. Key unknowns in this research area are the neuro-developmental processes, the role of experience and the interactions among components of the face processing system in shaping each of the specialized regions for processing faces during normal development and in autism. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease.

Face engagement during infancy predicts later face recognition ability in younger siblings of children with autism

“…Alternatively, early abnormalities in gaze behaviour of the high-risk children (e.g. a focus on irrelevant features of the face such as the hairline and ears) might reduce exposure to internal face features (Golarai et al, 2006) while also increasing the total amount of looking. As the images used in the pop-out task were too small to define separate AOIs around the facial features we investigated the face-scanning patterns of the same group of infants using gaze data that was recorded when they observed the still image of a face during a different task administered during the same testing session (for more information about the task see Elsabbagh et al, 2013b).…”

Optical-imaging-based neurofeedback to enhance therapeutic intervention in adolescents with autism: methodology and initial data

“…As previous studies have shown, higher signal in the prefrontal and temporal cortices is considered a likely state or trait biomarker for impaired facial processing abilities in individuals with ASD. 36,37 Thus, as the measured signal decreases during training, it would indicate normalization of brain activity. These results suggest that the fNIRS-based neurofeedback might help with the normalization of brain activity in children with ASD.…”

“…For individuals with ASD, the face recognition networks usually include aberrant activation in the fusiform face area and significantly increased activation in the PFC, temporal cortex, or primary visual cortex as compared with TD individuals. 36,37 Among these key brain regions, fNIRS can detect only cortical regions underlying the scalp and skull because of the limited penetration depth of the technique. Therefore, we utilized the brain signal measured from the prefrontal and temporal cortices in our study.…”

How and Why is Autism Spectrum Disorder Misdiagnosed in Adult Patients? - From Diagnostic Problem to Management for Adjustment -

“…Therefore, the severity of ASD symptom does not necessarily correlate with subjective psychological stress or risk of psychiatric comorbidity since individuals with mild or atypical autistic traits may have been covertly suffering from mental health problems associated with interpersonal friction or maladaptation to society. Even if an adult patient does not have a medical history with an ASD diagnosis in childhood, repetitive discouraging experiences emotional dysregulation [108,109], executive dysfunction [51,110], and deficits in cognition of facial emotion [111], whereas BPD also comprises emotional dysregulation, executive dysfunction (i.e., impairments in attention, flexibility, learning, and planning), and deficits in cognition of facial emotion [112][113]. Additionally, another study showed that patients with ASD and patients with personality disorders (almost all subjects were patients with cluster B or cluster C personality disorder) did not differ in their ability to read and regulate emotions [114].…”