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Updated: May 25, 2026

Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome
Published on: July 31, 2016
Multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy shows reduced activation in the prefrontal cortex during facial expression
Yoshihiro Nakadoi1, Satsuki Sumitani, Yukina Watanabe
1Department of Psychiatry, Course of Integrated Brain Sciences, Institute of Health Biosciences, University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
Aim:
The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether individuals with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) show differential activation during an emotional activation task compared with age- and sex-matched controls, by measuring changes in the concentration of oxygenated (oxyHb) and deoxygenated (deoxyHb) hemoglobin, using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).
Methods:
Fourteen patients with PDD and 14 age- and sex-matched healthy controls participated in the study. The relative changes of concentrations of oxyHb and deoxyHb were measured on NIRS during an implicit processing task of fearful expression using Japanese standard faces.
Results:
PDD patients had significantly reduced oxyHb changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared to healthy controls.
Conclusion:
PFC dysfunction may exist in PDD.
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