Reduced neural sensitivity to rapid individual face discrimination in autism spectrum disorder
Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are characterized by impairments in social communication and interaction. Although difficulties at processing social signals from the face in ASD have been observed and emphasized for many years, there is a lot of inconsistency across both...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2019-01-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage: Clinical |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158218303590 |
| _version_ | 1818059853435764736 |
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| author | Sofie Vettori Milena Dzhelyova Stephanie Van der Donck Corentin Jacques Jean Steyaert Bruno Rossion Bart Boets |
| author_facet | Sofie Vettori Milena Dzhelyova Stephanie Van der Donck Corentin Jacques Jean Steyaert Bruno Rossion Bart Boets |
| author_sort | Sofie Vettori |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are characterized by impairments in social communication and interaction. Although difficulties at processing social signals from the face in ASD have been observed and emphasized for many years, there is a lot of inconsistency across both behavioral and neural studies. Methods: We recorded scalp electroencephalography (EEG) in 23 8-to-12 year old boys with ASD and 23 matched typically developing boys using a fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) paradigm, providing objective (i.e., frequency-tagged), fast (i.e., few minutes) and highly sensitive measures of rapid face categorization, without requiring any explicit face processing task. We tested both the sensitivity to rapidly (i.e., at a glance) categorize faces among other objects and to individuate unfamiliar faces. Outcomes: While general neural synchronization to the visual stimulation and neural responses indexing generic face categorization were undistinguishable between children with ASD and typically developing controls, neural responses indexing individual face discrimination over the occipito-temporal cortex were substantially reduced in the individuals with ASD. This difference vanished when faces were presented upside-down, due to the lack of significant face inversion effect in ASD. Interpretation: These data provide original evidence for a selective high-level impairment in individual face discrimination in ASD in an implicit task. The objective and rapid assessment of this function opens new perspectives for ASD diagnosis in clinical settings. Keywords: Autism, EEG, Face processing |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T13:23:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4533eabcc6a84f10bd65b360fcfcdc66 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2213-1582 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T13:23:07Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage: Clinical |
| spelling | doaj.art-4533eabcc6a84f10bd65b360fcfcdc662022-12-22T01:47:16ZengElsevierNeuroImage: Clinical2213-15822019-01-0121Reduced neural sensitivity to rapid individual face discrimination in autism spectrum disorderSofie Vettori0Milena Dzhelyova1Stephanie Van der Donck2Corentin Jacques3Jean Steyaert4Bruno Rossion5Bart Boets6Center for Developmental Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Corresponding authors at: Center for Developmental Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.Institute of Research in Psychological Science, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium; Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumCenter for Developmental Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumCenter for Developmental Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Institute of Research in Psychological Science, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, BelgiumCenter for Developmental Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumInstitute of Research in Psychological Science, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium; Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000 Nancy, France; Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, F-5400, FranceCenter for Developmental Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Corresponding authors at: Center for Developmental Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are characterized by impairments in social communication and interaction. Although difficulties at processing social signals from the face in ASD have been observed and emphasized for many years, there is a lot of inconsistency across both behavioral and neural studies. Methods: We recorded scalp electroencephalography (EEG) in 23 8-to-12 year old boys with ASD and 23 matched typically developing boys using a fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) paradigm, providing objective (i.e., frequency-tagged), fast (i.e., few minutes) and highly sensitive measures of rapid face categorization, without requiring any explicit face processing task. We tested both the sensitivity to rapidly (i.e., at a glance) categorize faces among other objects and to individuate unfamiliar faces. Outcomes: While general neural synchronization to the visual stimulation and neural responses indexing generic face categorization were undistinguishable between children with ASD and typically developing controls, neural responses indexing individual face discrimination over the occipito-temporal cortex were substantially reduced in the individuals with ASD. This difference vanished when faces were presented upside-down, due to the lack of significant face inversion effect in ASD. Interpretation: These data provide original evidence for a selective high-level impairment in individual face discrimination in ASD in an implicit task. The objective and rapid assessment of this function opens new perspectives for ASD diagnosis in clinical settings. Keywords: Autism, EEG, Face processinghttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158218303590 |
| spellingShingle | Sofie Vettori Milena Dzhelyova Stephanie Van der Donck Corentin Jacques Jean Steyaert Bruno Rossion Bart Boets Reduced neural sensitivity to rapid individual face discrimination in autism spectrum disorder NeuroImage: Clinical |
| title | Reduced neural sensitivity to rapid individual face discrimination in autism spectrum disorder |
| title_full | Reduced neural sensitivity to rapid individual face discrimination in autism spectrum disorder |
| title_fullStr | Reduced neural sensitivity to rapid individual face discrimination in autism spectrum disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reduced neural sensitivity to rapid individual face discrimination in autism spectrum disorder |
| title_short | Reduced neural sensitivity to rapid individual face discrimination in autism spectrum disorder |
| title_sort | reduced neural sensitivity to rapid individual face discrimination in autism spectrum disorder |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158218303590 |
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