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Cited by 109Face Recognition and PerceptionAutism Spectrum Disorder ResearchWilliams Syndrome Research

Are patients with social developmental disorders prosopagnosic? Perceptual heterogeneity in the Asperger and socio-emotional processing disorders

Barton, J. J. S.·2004·Brain
DOI 10.1093/brain/awh194
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Abstract

It has been hypothesized that social developmental disorders (SDD) like autism, Asperger's disorder and the social-emotional processing disorder may be associated with prosopagnosic-like deficits in face recognition. We studied the ability to recognize famous faces in 24 adults with a variety of SDD diagnoses. We also measured their ability to discriminate changes in internal facial configuration, a perceptual function that is important in face recognition, and their imagery for famous faces, an index of their facial memory stores. We contrasted their performance with both healthy subjects and prosopagnosic patients. We also performed a cluster analysis of the SDD patients. One group of eight SDD subjects performed normally on all tests of face perception and recognition. The other 16 subjects were impaired in recognition, though most were better than prosopagnosic patients. One impaired SDD subgroup had poor perception of facial structure but relatively preserved imagery, resembling prosopagnosic patients with medial occipitotemporal lesions. Another subgroup had better perception than imagery, resembling one prosopagnosic with bilateral anterior temporal lesions. Overall, SDD subgroup membership by face recognition did not correlate with a particular SDD diagnosis or subjective ratings of social impairment. We conclude that the social disturbance in SDD does not invariably lead to impaired face recognition. Abnormal face recognition in some SDD subjects is related to impaired perception of facial structure in a manner suggestive of occipitotemporal dysfunction. Heterogeneity in the perceptual processing of faces may imply pathogenetic heterogeneity, with important implications for genetic and rehabilitative studies of SDD.

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Crossref · 10.1093/brain/awh194

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  • Variation in facial task performance may be implicated in some children with autism but not others.

    “Variation in facial task performance may be implicated in some children with autism 39, but not others 37.”

    From Subtyping cognitive profiles in Autism Spectrum Disorder using a Functional Random Forest algorithm (2018) · cites this paper as [37]

  • The finding that subgroup differences were similar in both ASD and TD samples may appear inconsistent with prior studies showing an effect of ASD on the relationship between cognitive measures and task performance.

    “Our finding that the differences between subgroups were similar in both ASD and TD samples may appear inconsistent with prior studies that show an effect of ASD on the relationship between cognitive measures and task performance12,27,37,38.”

    From Subtyping cognitive profiles in Autism Spectrum Disorder using a Functional Random Forest algorithm (2018) · cites this paper as [37]

  • This experiential effect is likely to vary between individuals and may give rise to the sorts of ability differences in ASD populations reported by Barton et al. (2004).

    “Clearly this experiential effect is likely to vary between individuals and may give rise to the sorts of ability differences in ASD populations reported by Barton et al. (2004).”

    From Vision in autism spectrum disorders (2009) · cites this paper as Barton et al. (2004)

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Authors
Barton, J. J. S.
Affiliations
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Barton, J. J. S.
ORCID
Barton, J. J. S.
Venue
Brain
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2004-06-16
Volume
127
Issue
8
Pages
1706-1716
ISSN
  • 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2156
DOI
10.1093/brain/awh194
OpenAlex
W2148282608
Cited by
109
References
62
Citations by year
2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 6
FWCI
2.87
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Brain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH069898)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (K08NS001920, 1 K08 NS01920-01A1)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Williams Syndrome Research
Keywords
prosopagnosia, face recognition (cognition), Asperger syndrome, autism spectrum disorder
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Autistic Disorder, Child, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Photic Stimulation, Social Perception, Cluster Analysis, Prosopagnosia, Asperger Syndrome, Recognition, Psychology

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