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

Elevated amygdala response to faces and gaze aversion in autism spectrum disorder

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Tottenham, Nim, Hertzig, Margaret E., Gillespie-Lynch, Kristen, Gilhooly, Tara, Millner, Alexander J., Casey, B.J.·2014·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are often associated with impairments in judgment of facial expressions. This impairment is often accompanied by diminished eye contact and atypical amygdala responses to face stimuli. The current study used a within-subjects design to examine the effects of natural viewing and an experimental eye-gaze manipulation on amygdala responses to faces. Individuals with ASD showed less gaze toward the eye region of faces relative to a control group. Among individuals with ASD, reduced eye gaze was associated with higher threat ratings of neutral faces. Amygdala signal was elevated in the ASD group relative to controls. This elevated response was further potentiated by experimentally manipulating gaze to the eye region. Potentiation by the gaze manipulation was largest for those individuals who exhibited the least amount of naturally occurring gaze toward the eye region and was associated with their subjective threat ratings. Effects were largest for neutral faces, highlighting the importance of examining neutral faces in the pathophysiology of autism and questioning their use as control stimuli with this population. Overall, our findings provide support for the notion that gaze direction modulates affective response to faces in ASD.

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  • In humans, alterations in amygdala responses to positive and negative emotions have been reported in neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism and schizophrenia, in association with OXTR genetic variants or following intranasal OXT.

    “In humans, alterations in amygdala responses to positive and negative emotions have been reported in neuropsychiatric conditions, such as autism and schizophrenia [72,73], in association with OXTR genetic variants [41,102] or following intranasal OXT [33,36,38,103].”

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Authors
Tottenham, N., Hertzig, M. E., Gillespie-Lynch, K., Gilhooly, T., Millner, A. J., & Casey, B. J.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • St. John's University (US)
Venue
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
Published
2013-04-16
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
106-117
ISSN
  • 1749-5016 (ISSN-L)
  • 1749-5024
OpenAlex
W2133553417
Cited by
144
References
98
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 3
FWCI
6.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
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, amygdala, face perception, gaze aversion, gaze, neutral faces, threat detection, gaze direction, social cognition
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Amygdala, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Escape Reaction, Face, Facial Expression, Female, Fixation, Ocular, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Young Adult

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