Cited by 53Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchFace Recognition and PerceptionGenetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Individual differences in symptom severity and behavior predict neural activation during face processing in adolescents with autism

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Scherf, K. Suzanne, Elbich, Daniel, Minshew, Nancy, Behrmann, Marlene·2015·NeuroImage Clinical

Abstract

Despite the impressive literature describing atypical neural activation in visuoperceptual face processing regions in autism, almost nothing is known about whether these perturbations extend to more affective regions in the circuitry and whether they bear any relationship to symptom severity or atypical behavior. Using fMRI, we compared face-, object-, and house-related activation in adolescent males with high-functioning autism (HFA) and typically developing (TD) matched controls. HFA adolescents exhibited hypo-activation throughout the core visuoperceptual regions, particularly in the right hemisphere, as well as in some of the affective/motivational face-processing regions, including the posterior cingulate cortex and right anterior temporal lobe. Conclusions about the relative hyper- or hypo-activation of the amygdala depended on the nature of the contrast that was used to define the activation. Individual differences in symptom severity predicted the magnitude of face activation, particularly in the right fusiform gyrus. Also, among the HFA adolescents, face recognition performance predicted the magnitude of face activation in the right anterior temporal lobe, a region that supports face individuation in TD adults. Our findings reveal a systematic relation between the magnitude of neural dysfunction, severity of autism symptoms, and variation in face recognition behavior in adolescents with autism. In so doing, we uncover brain-behavior relations that underlie one of the most prominent social deficits in autism and help resolve discrepancies in the literature.

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Authors
Scherf, K. S., Elbich, D., Minshew, N., & Behrmann, M.
Affiliations
  • Pennsylvania State University (US)
  • University of Pittsburgh (US)
  • Carnegie Mellon University (US)
Corresponding author
Scherf, K. Suzanne
Venue
NeuroImage Clinical
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015
Volume
7
Pages
53-67
ISSN
2213-1582 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1966367079
Cited by
53
References
89
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5
FWCI
2.23
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • NeuroImage Clinical (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • KiltHub Repository (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • KiltHub Repository
Funders
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P01/U19 HD35469-07, U19HD035469)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, high-functioning autism, face processing, face recognition (cognition), individual differences, symptom severity, adolescents, amygdala, fusiform gyrus, anterior temporal lobe, posterior cingulate cortex, right hemisphere, face individuation, social dysfunction, brain-behavior relationship
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Autistic Disorder, Brain, Child, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Individuality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual

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