Face Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific
Although many studies have reported face identity recognition deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), two fundamental question remains: 1) Is this deficit “process specific” for face memory in particular, or does it extend to perceptual discrimination of faces as well? And 2) Is the deficit “do...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science
2013
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81243 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3853-7885 |
| _version_ | 1811074728045051904 |
|---|---|
| author | Weigelt, Sarah Koldewyn, Kami Kanwisher, Nancy |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Weigelt, Sarah Koldewyn, Kami Kanwisher, Nancy |
| author_sort | Weigelt, Sarah |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Although many studies have reported face identity recognition deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), two fundamental question remains: 1) Is this deficit “process specific” for face memory in particular, or does it extend to perceptual discrimination of faces as well? And 2) Is the deficit “domain specific” for faces, or is it found more generally for other social or even nonsocial stimuli? The answers to these questions are important both for understanding the nature of autism and its developmental etiology, and for understanding the functional architecture of face processing in the typical brain. Here we show that children with ASD are impaired (compared to age and IQ-matched typical children) in face memory, but not face perception, demonstrating process specificity. Further, we find no deficit for either memory or perception of places or cars, indicating domain specificity. Importantly, we further showed deficits in both the perception and memory of bodies, suggesting that the relevant domain of deficit may be social rather than specifically facial. These results provide a more precise characterization of the cognitive phenotype of autism and further indicate a functional dissociation between face memory and face perception. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:54:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/81243 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:54:07Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/812432022-09-26T14:26:31Z Face Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific Weigelt, Sarah Koldewyn, Kami Kanwisher, Nancy Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT Koldewyn, Kami Kanwisher, Nancy Weigelt, Sarah Although many studies have reported face identity recognition deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), two fundamental question remains: 1) Is this deficit “process specific” for face memory in particular, or does it extend to perceptual discrimination of faces as well? And 2) Is the deficit “domain specific” for faces, or is it found more generally for other social or even nonsocial stimuli? The answers to these questions are important both for understanding the nature of autism and its developmental etiology, and for understanding the functional architecture of face processing in the typical brain. Here we show that children with ASD are impaired (compared to age and IQ-matched typical children) in face memory, but not face perception, demonstrating process specificity. Further, we find no deficit for either memory or perception of places or cars, indicating domain specificity. Importantly, we further showed deficits in both the perception and memory of bodies, suggesting that the relevant domain of deficit may be social rather than specifically facial. These results provide a more precise characterization of the cognitive phenotype of autism and further indicate a functional dissociation between face memory and face perception. Ellison Medical Foundation Simons Foundation 2013-09-30T16:44:22Z 2013-09-30T16:44:22Z 2013-09 2013-06 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1932-6203 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81243 Weigelt, Sarah, Kami Koldewyn, and Nancy Kanwisher. “Face Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific.” Edited by Marina Pavlova. PLoS ONE 8, no. 9 (September 11, 2013): e74541. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3853-7885 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074541 PLoS ONE Creative Commons Attribution http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ application/pdf Public Library of Science PLoS |
| spellingShingle | Weigelt, Sarah Koldewyn, Kami Kanwisher, Nancy Face Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific |
| title | Face Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific |
| title_full | Face Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific |
| title_fullStr | Face Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific |
| title_full_unstemmed | Face Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific |
| title_short | Face Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific |
| title_sort | face recognition deficits in autism spectrum disorders are both domain specific and process specific |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81243 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3853-7885 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT weigeltsarah facerecognitiondeficitsinautismspectrumdisordersarebothdomainspecificandprocessspecific AT koldewynkami facerecognitiondeficitsinautismspectrumdisordersarebothdomainspecificandprocessspecific AT kanwishernancy facerecognitiondeficitsinautismspectrumdisordersarebothdomainspecificandprocessspecific |