scholarly journals An eye gaze-modulated neural source highly impaired in autism spectrum disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Lio ◽  
Martina Corazzol ◽  
Roberta Fadda ◽  
Giuseppe Doneddu ◽  
Caroline Demily ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Learning Algorithm ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Superior Temporal Sulcus ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
The Face ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Decoding Accuracy

Attention to faces and eye contact are key behaviors for establishing social bonds in humans. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is characterized by poor communication skills, impaired face processing and gaze avoidance. The biological alterations underlying these impairments are still unclear. Using electroencephalography, multi-variate pattern classification and blind source separation methods we searched for face and face components related neural signals that could best discriminate neurotypicals and ASD visual processing. We isolated a face-specific neural signal in the superior temporal sulcus peaking at 240ms after stimulus onset. A machine learning algorithm applied on the extracted neural component reached 74% decoding accuracy at the same latencies, dissociating neurotypicals from ASD subjects in whom this signal was weak. By manipulating attention to face parts we found that the signal-evoked power in neurotypicals varied as a function of the distance of the eyes in the face stimulus with respect to the viewers' fovea. Such selective face and face-components neural modulations were not found in ASD individuals although they showed early face related P100 and N170 signals. These findings show that dedicated cortical mechanisms related to face perception set neural priority for attention to eyes and that these mechanisms are altered in individuals with ASD.

scholarly journals Non-expert ratings of infant and parent emotion: Concordance with expert coding and relevance to early autism risk

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason K. Baker ◽  
John D. Haltigan ◽  
Ryan Brewster ◽  
James Jaccard ◽  
Daniel Messinger
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Parent Ratings ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Coding Systems ◽  
Behavioral Coding ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
The Face ◽  
High Concordance ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Expert Ratings

This study investigated a novel approach to obtaining data on parent and infant emotion during the Face-to-Face/Still-Face paradigm, and examined these data in light of previous findings regarding early autism risk. One-hundred and eighty eight non-expert students rated 38 parents and infant siblings of children who did (20) or did not (18) have autism spectrum disorders. Ratings averaged across 10 non-experts exhibited high concordance with expert facial-action codes for infant emotion, and 20 non-experts were required for reliable parent ratings. Findings replicated the well-established still-face effect and identified subtle risk associations consonant with results from previous investigations. The unique information offered by intuitive non-expert ratings is discussed as an alternative to complex and costly behavioral coding systems.

scholarly journals Dissociation of early and late face-related processes in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Williams syndrome

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Gomez ◽  
Guillaume Lio ◽  
Manuela Costa ◽  
Angela Sirigu ◽  
Caroline Demily
Keyword(s):  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Face Features ◽  
Early Signal ◽  
Reverse Pattern ◽  
The Face ◽  
Evoked Activity ◽  
Multivariate Pattern

Abstract Williams syndrome (WS) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are psychiatric conditions associated with atypical but opposite face-to-face interactions patterns: WS patients overly stare at others, ASD individuals escape eye contact. Whether these behaviors result from dissociable visual processes within the occipito-temporal pathways is unknown. Using high-density electroencephalography, multivariate pattern classification and group blind source separation, we searched for face-related neural signals that could best discriminate WS (N = 14), ASD (N = 14) and neurotypical populations (N = 14). We found two peaks in neurotypical participants: the first at 170ms, an early signal known to be implicated in low-level face features, the second at 260ms, a late component implicated in decoding salient face social cues. The late 260ms signal varied as a function of the distance of the eyes in the face stimulus with respect to the viewers’ fovea, meaning that it was strongest when the eyes were projected on the fovea and weakest when projected in the retinal periphery. Remarkably, both components were found distinctly impaired and preserved in WS and ASD. In WS, we could weakly decode the 170ms signal probably due to their relatively poor ability to process faces’ morphology while the late 260ms component shown to be eye sensitive was highly significant. The reverse pattern was observed in ASD participants who showed neurotypical like early 170ms evoked activity but impaired late evoked 260ms signal. Our study reveals a dissociation between WS and ASD patients and point at different neural origins for their social impairments.

Perception of eye gaze direction in a case of acquired prosopagnosia

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Fall 2019) ◽  
pp. 105-119
Author(s):  
Britt Erni ◽  
Roland Maurer ◽  
Dirk Kerzel ◽  
Nicolas Burra
Keyword(s):  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Superior Temporal Sulcus ◽  
Brain Lesions ◽  
Gaze Direction ◽  
Healthy Women ◽  
Social Settings ◽  
The Face

The ability to perceive the direction of eye gaze is critical in social settings. Brain lesions in the superior temporal sulcus (STS) impair this ability. We investigated the perception of gaze direction of PS, a patient suffering from acquired prosopagnosia (Rossion et al., 2003). Despite lesions in the face network, the STS was spared in PS. We assessed perception of gaze direction in PS with upright, inverted, and contrast-reversed faces. Compared to the performance of 11 healthy women matched for age and education, PS demonstrated abnormal discrimination of gaze direction with upright and contrast-reversed faces, but not with inverted faces. Our findings suggest that the inability of the patient to process faces holistically weakened her perception of gaze direction, especially in demanding tasks.

scholarly journals Visual processing and attention rather than face and emotion processing play a distinct role in ASD: an EEG study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adyasha Tejaswi Khuntia ◽  
Rechu Divakar ◽  
Fabio Apicella ◽  
Filippo Muratori ◽  
Koel Das
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Emotion Processing ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Perceptual Task ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Multivariate Pattern Analysis ◽  
Social Reciprocity ◽  
Multivariate Pattern

AbstractAutism Spectrum Disorder results in deficit in social interaction, non-verbal communication and social reciprocity. Cognitive tasks pertaining to emotion processing are often preferred to distinguish the ASD children from the typically developing ones. We analysed the role of face and emotion processing in ASD and explored the feasibility of using EEG as a neural marker for detecting ASD. Subjects performed a visual perceptual task with face and nonface stimuli. Successful ASD detection was possible as early as 50 ms. post stimulus onset. Alpha and Beta oscillations seem to best identify autistic individuals. Multivariate pattern analysis and source localization studies points to the role of early visual processing and attention rather than emotion and face processing in detecting autism.

scholarly journals Normal Face Detection Over a Range of Luminance Contrasts in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Norton ◽  
Ryan K. McBain ◽  
Grace E. Murray ◽  
Juna Khang ◽  
Ziqing Zong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Face Detection ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Sinusoidal Grating ◽  
Detection Ability ◽  
Visual Contrast ◽  
Adolescents With Autism ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Age Range

Face recognition is impaired in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), but the reason for this remains unclear. One possibility is that impairments in the ability to visually detect faces might be a factor. As a preliminary study in this vein, we measured face detection ability as a function of visual contrast level in 13 individuals with ASD, aged 13–18, and 18 neurotypical controls (NCs) in the same age range. We also measured contrast sensitivity, using sinusoidal grating stimuli, as a control task. Individuals with ASD did not differ from controls in face detection (p > 0.9) or contrast detection (p > 0.2) ability. Performance on contrast and face detection was significantly correlated in ASD but not in NC. Results suggest that the ability to visually detect faces is not altered in ASD overall, but that alterations in basic visual processing may affect face detection ability in some individuals with ASD.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document