Event-Related Potential to Conscious and Nonconscious Emotional Face Perception in Females with Autistic-Like Traits

Abstract

This study explored the electrocortical correlates of conscious and nonconscious perceptions of emotionally laden faces in neurotypical adult women with varying levels of autistic-like traits (Autism Spectrum Quotient - AQ). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the viewing of backward-masked images for happy, neutral, and sad faces presented either below (16 ms - subliminal) or above the level of visual conscious awareness (167 ms - supraliminal). Sad compared to happy faces elicited larger frontal-central N1, N2, and occipital P3 waves. We observed larger N1 amplitudes to sad faces than to happy and neutral faces in High-AQ (but not Low-AQ) scorers. Additionally, High-AQ scorers had a relatively larger P3 at the occipital region to sad faces. Regardless of the AQ score, subliminal perceived emotional faces elicited shorter N1, N2, and P3 latencies than supraliminal faces. Happy and sad faces had shorter N170 latency in the supraliminal than subliminal condition. High-AQ participants had a longer N1 latency over the occipital region than Low-AQ ones. In Low-AQ individuals (but not in High-AQ ones), emotional recognition with female faces produced a longer N170 latency than with male faces. N4 latency was shorter to female faces than male faces. These findings are discussed in view of their clinical implications and extension to autism.

Asynchronous neural oscillations associated with subliminal affective face priming in autism spectrum disorder

“…[12] reported that the amplitude of occipital N1 was enhanced in response to subliminal fearful face stimuli in TD, whereas this subliminal effect was negative in ASD. Meanwhile, other studies have reported enhanced N170 amplitude with delayed latency for subliminal emotional faces in ASD [13,21]. On the basis of the current results, taken together with these previous findings, we speculate that rapid processing of subliminal emotional prime faces in the amygdala might be impaired and that emotional information is processed but with a delayed or weakened projection from the amygdala to occipitotemporal face-specific areas in ASD, even if subliminal fearful faces affect the processing of subsequent supraliminal faces.…”