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Updated: May 31, 2026
A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential (ERP) Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Published on: April 12, 2018
Different event-related potential responses during face processing between siblings of autistic individuals and
Esin Gürcan1, Sarah Watson1, M D Rutherford1
1Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Abstract:
Face processing anomalies in autism are well-documented at both behavioural and neural levels. Autism is heritable, and family members of autistic individuals may display autism-like characteristics. We examined early neural markers of face processing using Event-Related Potential (ERP) studies in infant siblings of autistic individuals (ASIBs) up to 12 months of age. We found that ASIBs exhibited longer N290 latency, marginally greater N290 amplitude, and reduced P400 amplitude responses after removing outliers compared to neurotypical (NT) infants. Marginally reduced Nc responses to mothers' faces were also observed, while Nc and P400 latencies did not differ significantly. Additionally, ASIBs showed greater left hemisphere dominance trends relative to NTs. These findings suggest that potential early neural markers of autism-related face processing differences are detectable in ASIBs within the first year of life.
