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Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Advance Access published online on May 19, 2009
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, doi:10.1093/scan/nsp002
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© The Author (2009). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

ERP responses differentiate inverted but not upright face processing in adults with ASD

Sara Jane Webb1,2, Kristen Merkle2, Michael Murias1,2, Todd Richards2,3, Elizabeth Aylward2,3 and Geraldine Dawson1,2,4

1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 2UW Autism Center, 3Department of Radiology and 4Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have documented deficits in face processing, face memory and abnormal activation of the neural circuitry that supports these functions. To examine speed of processing of faces in ASD, high density event-related brain potentials were recorded to images of faces, inverted faces and non-face objects from 32 high-functioning adults with ASD and controls. Participants were instructed to focus on a cross hair prior to stimulus onset; the cross-hair location directed the participant's eye gaze to the eye region at stimulus onset. Although the ASD group preformed more poorly on behavioral tests of face and object memory, both groups demonstrated similar ERP responses, characterized by greater (positive) P1 and (negative) N170 amplitude to faces vs houses. N170 speed of processing to faces did not differ between groups. However, only the control group demonstrated differential responses to upright vs inverted faces. For the ASD group, the differential response to inverted vs upright faces was associated with better performance on face memory and self-reported social skills. It is possible that the use of attention cues may facilitate face processing in high-functioning adults with ASD, suggesting that the underlying neural circuitry can be activated in adults with ASD under specific demands.

Keywords: event-related potential; P100; N170; autism; face processing

Correspondence should be addressed to Sara Jane Webb, Box 357920, CHDD; Seattle, WA 98195, USA. E-mail: sjwebb{at}u.washington.edu

Received February 25, 2008. Accepted December 31, 2008.


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