Eye-tracking, autonomic, and electrophysiological correlates of emotional face processing in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

J Autism Dev Disord. 2013 Jan;43(1):188-99. doi: 10.1007/s10803-012-1565-1.

Abstract

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulty with social-emotional cues. This study examined the neural, behavioral, and autonomic correlates of emotional face processing in adolescents with ASD and typical development (TD) using eye-tracking and event-related potentials (ERPs) across two different paradigms. Scanning of faces was similar across groups in the first task, but the second task found that face-sensitive ERPs varied with emotional expressions only in TD. Further, ASD showed enhanced neural responding to non-social stimuli. In TD only, attention to eyes during eye-tracking related to faster face-sensitive ERPs in a separate task; in ASD, a significant positive association was found between autonomic activity and attention to mouths. Overall, ASD showed an atypical pattern of emotional face processing, with reduced neural differentiation between emotions and a reduced relationship between gaze behavior and neural processing of faces.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Attention / physiology
  • Child
  • Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / physiopathology*
  • Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / psychology
  • Emotions / physiology*
  • Evoked Potentials / physiology
  • Eye Movement Measurements
  • Eye Movements / physiology*
  • Facial Expression*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Reflex, Pupillary / physiology
  • Young Adult