TY - JOUR
T1 - Location, location, location
T2 - Alterations in the functional topography of face- but not object-or place-related cortex in adolescents with autism
AU - Suzanne Scherf, K.
AU - Luna, Beatriz
AU - Minshew, Nancy
AU - Behrmann, Marlene
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - In autism, impairments in face processing are a relatively recent discovery, but have quickly become a widely accepted aspect of the behavioral profi le. Only a handful of studies have investigated potential atypicalities in autism in the development of the neural substrates mediating face processing. High-functioning individuals with autism (HFA) and matched typically developing (TD) controls watched dynamic movie vignettes of faces, common objects, buildings, and scenes of navigation while undergoing an fMRI scan. With these data, we mapped the functional topography of category-selective activation for faces bilaterally in the fusiform gyrus, occipital face area, and posterior superior temporal sulcus. Additionally, we mapped categoryselective activation for objects in the lateral occipital area and for places in the parahippocampal place area in the two groups. Our fi ndings do not indicate a generalized disruption in the development of the entire ventral visual pathway in autism. Instead, our results suggest that the functional topography of face-related cortex is selectively disrupted in autism and that this alteration is present in early adolescence. Furthermore, for those HFA adolescents who do exhibit face-selective activation, this activation tends to be located in traditionally object-related regions, which supports the hypothesis that perceptual processing of faces in autism may be more akin to the perceptual processing of common objects in TD individuals.
AB - In autism, impairments in face processing are a relatively recent discovery, but have quickly become a widely accepted aspect of the behavioral profi le. Only a handful of studies have investigated potential atypicalities in autism in the development of the neural substrates mediating face processing. High-functioning individuals with autism (HFA) and matched typically developing (TD) controls watched dynamic movie vignettes of faces, common objects, buildings, and scenes of navigation while undergoing an fMRI scan. With these data, we mapped the functional topography of category-selective activation for faces bilaterally in the fusiform gyrus, occipital face area, and posterior superior temporal sulcus. Additionally, we mapped categoryselective activation for objects in the lateral occipital area and for places in the parahippocampal place area in the two groups. Our fi ndings do not indicate a generalized disruption in the development of the entire ventral visual pathway in autism. Instead, our results suggest that the functional topography of face-related cortex is selectively disrupted in autism and that this alteration is present in early adolescence. Furthermore, for those HFA adolescents who do exhibit face-selective activation, this activation tends to be located in traditionally object-related regions, which supports the hypothesis that perceptual processing of faces in autism may be more akin to the perceptual processing of common objects in TD individuals.
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U2 - 10.3389/fnhum.2010.00026
DO - 10.3389/fnhum.2010.00026
M3 - Article
C2 - 20631857
AN - SCOPUS:79952314470
SN - 1662-5161
VL - 4
JO - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
ER -