Face processing in young adults with autism and ADHD: An event related potentials study

Abstract

BackgroundAtypicalities in perception and interpretation of faces and emotional facial expressions have been reported in both autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during childhood and adulthood. Investigation of face processing during young adulthood (18 to 25 years), a transition period to full-fledged adulthood, could provide important information on the adult outcomes of autism and ADHD.MethodsIn this study, we investigated event-related potentials (ERPs) related to visual face processing in autism, ADHD, and co–occurring autism and ADHD in a large sample of young adults (N = 566). The groups were based on the Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults 2.0 (DIVA-2) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2). We analyzed ERPs from two passive viewing tasks previously used in childhood investigations: (1) upright and inverted faces with direct or averted gaze; (2) faces expressing different emotions.ResultsAcross both tasks, we consistently found lower amplitude and longer latency of N170 in participants with autism compared to those without. Longer P1 latencies and smaller P3 amplitudes in response to emotional expressions and longer P3 latencies for upright faces were also characteristic to the autistic group. Those with ADHD had longer N170 latencies, specific to the face-gaze task. Individuals with both autism and ADHD showed additional alterations in gaze modulation and a lack of the face inversion effect indexed by a delayed N170.ConclusionAlterations in N170 for autistic young adults is largely consistent with studies on autistic adults, and some studies in autistic children. These findings suggest that there are identifiable and measurable socio-functional atypicalities in young adults with autism.

The role of leadership level in college students’ facial emotion recognition: evidence from event-related potential analysis

“…Larger N170 indicates greater neural activity in encoding facial configuration, suggesting greater brain flexibility in processing facial structural information and representing better facial configuration encoding ability (Yang et al, 2020 ). Since emotion face recognition paradigms have been mostly conducted in special participant groups, the smaller N170 amplitudes elicited by patients with severe depression, ADHD, and schizophrenia compared to normal controls also indirectly concur with our experimental results (Aydin et al, 2023 ; Chen et al, 2022 ; Salisbury et al, 2019 ).…”

A neurophysiological signature of dynamic emotion recognition associated with social communication skills and cortical gamma-aminobutyric acid levels in children

“…Given the role of impaired face emotional recognition as a core feature in autism, our results have potential clinical significance. Prior studies have already supported the notion that classical N170 latencies could be an indicator of autism [e.g., Aydin et al, 2023 ]. Moreover, Mason et al (2022) provided results which emphasize the classical N170 component as a promising stratification marker in clinical trials, since N170 latencies have been associated to social difficulties from childhood to adolescence.…”

“…The paradigm employed here increases ecological validity and allows for a more naturalistic social cognition approach, which can further elucidate the role of the face sensitive N170 in autism. Studies have shown delayed N170 latencies in individuals with autism, reflecting less efficient face processing or incomplete developmental maturation ( Kala et al, 2021 ; Aydin et al, 2023 ; Farashi et al, 2023 ). Moreover, the right hemisphere N170 latency to upright faces was accepted into FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Biomarker Qualification Program ( Webb et al, 2023 ).…”

“…One non-invasive way to study how the brain processes facial expressions at high temporal resolution is through event-related potentials (ERPs) recordings ( Dzhelyova et al, 2017 ; Monteiro et al, 2017 ; Liu et al, 2018 ; Schindler and Bublatzky, 2020 ; Aydin et al, 2023 ). The N170 is a face sensitive ERP and has been related to high-level visual processes ( Kuefner et al, 2010 ; Farashi et al, 2023 ).…”

Intervention Effect of Group Sensory Integration Training on Social Responsiveness and N170 Event-Related Potential of Children with Autism

“…One area of interest in this field is the study of event-related potentials (ERPs). Notably, the N170 is an ERP component and a well-established marker of face processing that has been found to be abnormal in individuals with ASD [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Accordingly, the N170 component has shown promise as a potential biomarker for assessing face-processing abilities in individuals with ASD [ 16 ].…”