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Cited by 144Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchFace Recognition and PerceptionAction Observation and Synchronization

Atypicality of the N170 Event-Related Potential in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-analysis

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Kang, Erin, Keifer, Cara M., Levy, Emily J., Foss-Feig, Jennifer H., McPartland, James C., Lerner, Matthew D.·2018·Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
DOI 10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.11.003PMC PMC6089230
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Abstract

Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with impaired face processing. The N170 event-related potential (ERP) has been considered a promising neural marker of this impairment. However, no quantitative review to date has integrated the literature to assess whether the N170 response to faces in individuals with ASD differs from that of typically developing (TD) individuals. Methods This meta-analysis examined the corpus of literature investigating difference in N170 response to faces in individuals with ASD and without ASD. Data from 23 studies (N ASD = 374, N TD = 359) were reviewed. Meta-analysis was used to examine the effect size of the difference in N170 latency and amplitude among individuals with ASD and without ASD. Analyses were also conducted examining hemispheric differences, potential moderators, and publication bias. Results On average, N170 latencies to faces were delayed in individuals with ASD, but amplitudes did not differ for individuals with ASD and TD individuals. Moderator analyses revealed that N170 amplitudes were smaller in magnitude in the ASD participants relative to the TD participants in adult samples and in those with higher cognitive ability. However, effects differed as a function of hemisphere of recording. No evidence of publication bias was found. Conclusions Atypicality of N170-particularly latency-to faces appears to be a specific biomarker of social-communicative dysfunction in ASD and may relate to differential developmental experiences and use of compensatory cognitive mechanisms. Future research should examine phenotypic differences that contribute to N170 heterogeneity, as well as specificity of N170 differences in ASD versus non-ASD clinical populations, and N170 malleability with treatment.

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  • Experiments focusing on human-human interaction and human-machine interaction have been undertaken, but so far no study has made explicit use of such methods to study the electrophysiology of ASD.

    “Experiments focusing on human-human interaction 104 and human-machine interaction 105 have been undertaken but, so far, no study has ever made explicit use of such methods to study the electrophysiology of ASD.”

    From Autism spectrum disorder (2020) · cites this paper as [105]

    The Methods and Materials section describes studies using face stimuli and simultaneous EEG recording in people with ASD, but does not identify human–human or human–machine interaction methods. Searches for interaction methods and for the asserted absence of electrophysiology studies using them found no passage addressing either point. (LLM, conf=0.72)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Kang, E., Keifer, C. M., Levy, E. J., Foss-Feig, J. H., McPartland, J. C., & Lerner, M. D.
Affiliations
  • Stony Brook University (US)
  • Duke University (US)
  • Yale University (US)
Corresponding author
Kang, Erin
ORCID
Venue
Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2018-08
Volume
3
Issue
8
Pages
657-666
ISSN
2451-9022 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.11.003
PMC
PMC6089230
OpenAlex
W2770107448
Cited by
144
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 4
FWCI
0.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative SFARI (381283)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (R01MH110585)
  • National Institutes of Health (U19 MH108206, R01 MH107426, R01 MH100173)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, N170, face processing, event-related potentials, neural markers, hemispheric lateralization, cognitive ability
MeSH terms
Facial Recognition, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Cortex, Evoked Potentials, Humans

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