research on face perception

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sent to me from af riend. I can't remember if nancy sent this in or not!

j

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>Face Perception Processes Appear Altered in Autism

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>WESTPORT, Apr 27 (Reuters Health) - Subjects with autism and those with

>Asperger syndrome show abnormal brain activity during visual tests

>comparing images of faces with patterns and objects such as cars and boats,

>researchers report in the April issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

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>Dr. T. Schultz and colleagues at Yale University, New Haven,

>Connecticut, note that " it has been argued that faces are a special class

>of object. " They say that " face perception is normally a holistic process, "

>whereas " object processing is more reliant on the analysis of discrete

>features. "

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> " It is well documented, " they add, " that the fusiform gyrus (FG) responds

>preferentially to faces. " Conversely, other brain regions including the

>posterior inferior temporal gyri (ITG) " seem to be involved in common

>object perception. "

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>The investigators used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine

>brain-activation patterns while 14 subjects with autism or Asperger

>syndrome made perceptual judgments on pairs of faces or objects. These were

>compared with findings in two groups of 14 normal controls.

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>During face discrimination, both control groups showed focal areas of

>activation in the right FG. The autism and Asperger syndrome group did not.

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>Furthermore, in controls, the ITG " was the area most strongly associated

>with object-specific perceptual discrimination. " However, " persons with

>autism or AS used their ITG more than controls did when they processed

>faces. " This, say the investigators, suggests that perception of faces in

>such conditions " is more like the perceptual processing of objects in

>persons free from social disability. "

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>Dr. Schultz commented in a statement, that " this finding is very compelling

>since it fits with our clinical experience of autism. " Those with autism

>and Asperger syndrome have very little interest in people and this

>disinterest " is reflected in the manner in which visual processing centers

>are organized in their brains. "

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>In an accompanying editorial, Drs. Pierce and Courchesne, of the

>University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, characterize the results

>as providing insight into " one of the most debilitating aspects of the

>disorder. " Future research on the neurologic bases for processing socially

>relevant information, they conclude, " will undoubtedly bring us closer to

>identifying etiologies, as well as effective treatments. "

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>Arch Gen Psychiatry 2000;57:331-340,344-346.

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