Laterality biases to chimeric faces in Asperger syndrome: what is 'right' about face-processing?

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Developmental Disorders

Background:

• Facial processing typically shows a left visual field (LVF) bias, indicating right-hemisphere dominance.
• Distinct neural pathways are suggested for processing facial identity versus emotions.
• Asperger syndrome (AS) may involve atypical hemispheric specialization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate hemispheric face processing differences in adults with and without Asperger syndrome (AS).
• To examine the processing of facial identity and emotions using chimeric tasks in AS.
• To compare face processing biases between AS and control groups.

Main Methods:

• Utilized facial emotion and identity chimeric tasks.
• Compared performance between adults with AS and neurotypical controls.
• Included a non-social control task to assess general perceptual biases.

Main Results:

• Controls demonstrated an LVF bias for faces and no bias in the non-social task.
• The AS group showed an LVF bias for both facial emotion and identity tasks.
• The LVF bias for facial identity was reduced in the AS group compared to controls.
• The AS group exhibited an LVF bias in the non-social control task.

Conclusions:

• Adults with AS display a differential pattern of hemispheric face processing compared to controls.
• Right-hemisphere dominance for face processing may be atypical in AS, particularly for identity.
• AS is associated with altered visual field biases in both social and non-social perceptual tasks.