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Updated: Jun 5, 2026
08:31
Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome
Published on: July 31, 2016
Face processing abilities in relatives of individuals with ASD.
Simon Wallace1, Catherine Sebastian, Elizabeth Pellicano
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Headington, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Summary
Relatives of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit atypical face processing, including difficulties with facial discrimination and emotion recognition. These findings suggest potential cognitive endophenotypes for ASD.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Genetics
Background:
- Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience challenges in social cognition, including face processing.
- Previous research indicates potential face-processing deficits in relatives of individuals with ASD, but comprehensive assessments are lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nature and extent of face-processing difficulties in relatives of individuals with ASD.
- To compare face processing abilities across three groups: relatives of individuals with ASD, adults with ASD, and typically developing adults.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 22 parents/adult siblings of individuals with ASD, 26 adults with ASD, and 26 typically developing adults.
- Assessment of face discrimination, facial expression recognition (specifically fear and disgust), and judgment of eye-gaze direction.
Main Results:
- Relatives of individuals with ASD showed reduced ability in discriminating subtle facial differences compared to controls, but were better than adults with ASD.
- Relatives demonstrated significant impairments in recognizing fear and disgust expressions and exhibited atypical sensitivity to eye-gaze direction, mirroring patterns seen in adults with ASD.
Conclusions:
- Atypical face processing patterns are present in some relatives of individuals with ASD.
- These observed face-processing difficulties may represent a cognitive endophenotype associated with autism spectrum disorder.
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