The autistic brain processes faces differently than scientists thought
A major new study reveals that autistic children’s brains process faces differently, and those differences may begin earlier than scientists previously thought. Researchers found that brain signals associated with recognizing faces become more specialized as neurotypical children grow older, but show much less change in autistic children. The discovery could help explain why some autistic people have difficulty…
Key points
- A study of about 400 autistic children found that brain signals tied to face recognition were less distinct than in neurotypical children.
- Neurotypical children's face responses became more specialized with age, while autistic children did not show the same developmental pattern.
- Researchers say the differences appear at earlier stages of visual processing than the N170 signal previously studied.
A large new study published in Nature Mental Health has found that autistic children's brains respond to human faces in ways that are less clearly distinguishable than those of neurotypical children. The research, led by James McPartland, PhD, of Yale, examined electrical brain activity across the entire scalp in roughly 400 autistic children.
The team used data from the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials and recorded brain activity with 128 electrodes while children viewed faces and everyday objects. Machine learning was then used to test whether the recordings revealed what each child was looking at.
A different developmental path
In neurotypical children, brain activity made it easier to tell when a child was viewing a face, and this ability improved with age. Autistic children showed less distinct face-related signals and did not follow the same age-related pattern.
The researchers also found signs that face-processing differences begin before the N170 signal, a brain response that appears about 170 milliseconds after seeing a face and was the focus of much earlier work.
This is the first time we've leveraged the full volume of very rich information provided by an EEG recording to understand face perception and autism
— James McPartland
Possible uses and limits
The findings could eventually inform autism diagnosis and support, though the researchers say more study is needed before clinical use. They note that autism does not necessarily create difficulties requiring intervention, while some autistic people do face challenges with recognizing faces or reading expressions.
McPartland described the work as an early step toward a new biomarker. The study was written by Isabella Backman, with materials provided by Yale School of Medicine.
