Distinct neurocognitive bases for social trait judgments of faces in autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties in social processes, interactions, and communication. Yet, the neurocognitive bases underlying these difficulties are unclear. Here, we triangulated the ‘trans-diagnostic’ approach to personality, social trait judgments of faces, and neurophysiology to investigate (1) the relative position of autistic traits in a comprehensive social-affective personality space, and (2) the distinct associations between the social-affective personality dimensions and social trait judgment from faces in individuals with ASD and neurotypical individuals. We collected personality and facial judgment data from a large sample of online participants (N = 89 self-identified ASD; N = 307 neurotypical controls). Factor analysis with 33 subscales of 10 social-affective personality questionnaires identified a 4-dimensional personality space. This analysis revealed that ASD and control participants did not differ significantly along the personality dimensions of empathy and prosociality, antisociality, or social agreeableness. However, the ASD participants exhibited a weaker association between prosocial personality dimensions and judgments of facial trustworthiness and warmth than the control participants. Neurophysiological data also indicated that ASD participants had a weaker association with neuronal representations for trustworthiness and warmth from faces. These results suggest that the atypical association between social-affective personality and social trait judgment from faces may contribute to the social and affective difficulties associated with ASD.

Multimodal investigations of human face perception in neurotypical and autistic adults

“…Critically, the scores for the personality factors were significantly correlated with individual tendencies in social trait judgments (as depicted in Fig. 6B) [41]. Furthermore, our trans-diagnostic approach indicates that these personality dimensions (factors) show qualitatively similar association patterns with social trait judgments from faces in both people who self-identify as ASD and those who do not.…”

“…Using this approach, our study has revealed a connection between personality factors and social trait judgment [41]. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis on the 33 subscales from 10 established personality questionnaires related to autistic traits, affect and social deficits, prosociality (and the lack thereof), and empathy.…”

“…We identified a 4-factor latent structure that best characterized the variance in personality data (as shown in Fig. 6A) [41]. The four orthogonal personality dimensions were interpreted as autistic trait and social avoidance, empathy and prosociality, anti-sociality, and social agreeableness (Fig.…”

“…Although there is a plethora of literature showing impaired neural face processing in ASD [137][138][139][140], few studies have shown the neural mechanisms for atypical social trait judgment in ASD. To address this question, we recently conducted two correlational studies [41,125], focusing on the amygdala, which has long been hypothesized to underlie deficits in face processing in ASD [141,142]. We explored whether consensus social trait judgment ratings from participants with ASD can predict neural responses from the amygdala and hippocampus (the neural response is acquired from neurosurgical patients without ASD) and whether the predictability is diminished compared to controls.…”

“…Third, amygdala neurons encode important facial features such as the mouth and eyes that may have a significant role in face recognition and judgment [39]. Finally, amygdala neurons encode social trait judgments and a comprehensive social trait space that establishes the basis of first impressions [40,41].…”