Social trait judgment and affect recognition from static faces and video vignettes in schizophrenia

AbstractThe human amygdala and hippocampus play a key role in face processing. However, it has been unknown how the neurons in the human amygdala and hippocampus encode facial feature information and directs eye movements to salient facial features such as the eyes and mouth. In this study, we identified a population of neurons that differentiated fixations on the eyes vs. mouth. The response of these feature-selective neurons was not dependent on fixation order, and eye-preferring and mouth-preferring neurons were not of different neuronal types. We found another population of neurons that differentiated saccades to the eyes vs. mouth. Population decoding confirmed our results and further revealed the temporal dynamics of face feature coding. Interestingly, we found that the amygdala and hippocampus played a different role in encoding face features. Lastly, we revealed two functional roles of feature-selective neurons that they encoded the salient region for face recognition and they encoded perceived social trait judgment. Together, we revealed and characterized a new class of neurons that encoded facial features. These neurons may play an important role in social perception and recognition of faces.

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Distinct neurocognitive bases for social trait judgments of faces in autism spectrum disorder

10.1101/2021.11.18.469134 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hongbo Yu ◽

Runnan Cao ◽

Chujun Lin ◽

Shuo Wang

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Autistic Traits ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Personality Dimensions ◽

The Social ◽

Neurophysiological Data ◽

And Control ◽

Trait Judgment ◽

Social Trait

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties in social processes, interactions, and communication. Yet, the neurocognitive bases underlying these difficulties are unclear. Here, we triangulated the trans-diagnostic approach to personality, social trait judgments of faces, and neurophysiology to investigate (1) the relative position of autistic traits in a comprehensive social-affective personality space and (2) the distinct associations between the social-affective personality dimensions and social trait judgment from faces in individuals with ASD and neurotypical individuals. We collected personality and facial judgment data from a large sample of online participants (N = 89 self-identified ASD; N = 308 neurotypical controls). Factor analysis with 33 sub-scales of 10 social-affective personality questionnaires identified a 4-dimensional personality space. This analysis revealed that ASD and control participants did not differ significantly along the personality dimensions of empathy and prosociality, antisociality, or social agreeableness. However, the associations between these dimensions and judgments of facial trustworthiness and warmth differed across groups. Neurophysiological data also indicated that ASD and control participants might rely on distinct neuronal representations for judging trustworthiness and warmth from faces. These results suggest that the atypical association between social-affective personality and social trait judgment from faces may contribute to the social and affective difficulties associated with ASD.

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