Neural correlates of face processing in etiologically-distinct 12-month-old infants at high-risk of autism spectrum disorder

Maggie W Guy; John E Richards; Bridgette L Tonnsen; Jane E Roberts

doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2017.03.002

Neural correlates of face processing in etiologically-distinct 12-month-old infants at high-risk of autism spectrum disorder

Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2018 Jan:29:61-71. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2017.03.002. Epub 2017 Mar 16.

Authors

Maggie W Guy¹, John E Richards², Bridgette L Tonnsen², Jane E Roberts²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology and Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, United States. Electronic address: guymw@mailbox.sc.edu.
² Department of Psychology and Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, United States.

Abstract

Neural correlates of face processing were examined in 12-month-olds at high-risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including 21 siblings of children with ASD (ASIBs) and 15 infants with fragile X syndrome (FXS), as well as 21 low-risk (LR) controls. Event-related potentials were recorded to familiar and novel face and toy stimuli. All infants demonstrated greater N290 amplitude to faces than toys. At the Nc component, LR infants showed greater amplitude to novel stimuli than to their mother's face and own toy, whereas infants with FXS showed the opposite pattern of responses and ASIBs did not differentiate based on familiarity. These results reflect developing face specialization across high- and low-risk infants and reveal neural patterns that distinguish between groups at high-risk for ASD.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorders; Event-related potentials; Face processing; Infancy.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Autism Spectrum Disorder / psychology*
Evoked Potentials
Facial Recognition*
Female
Humans
Infant
Male
Recognition, Psychology*
Risk
Siblings / psychology

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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