Functional imbalance of visual pathways indicates alternative face processing strategies in autism

被引:197
作者
Hubl, D
Bölte, S
Feineis-Matthews, S
Lanfermann, H
Federspiel, A
Strik, W
Poustka, F
Dierks, T
机构
[1] Univ Hosp Clin Psychiat, Dept Psychiat Neurophysiol, CH-3000 Bern, Switzerland
[2] Goethe Univ Frankfurt, Dept Radiol, Inst Neuroradiol, D-6000 Frankfurt, Germany
[3] Goethe Univ Frankfurt, Dept Child & Adolescent Psychiat, D-6000 Frankfurt, Germany
关键词
D O I
10.1212/01.WNL.0000091862.22033.1A
中图分类号
R74 [神经病学与精神病学];
学科分类号
摘要
Objective: To investigate whether autistic subjects show a different pattern of neural activity than healthy individuals during processing of faces and complex patterns. Methods: Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes accompanying visual processing of faces and complex patterns were analyzed in an autistic group (n=7; 25.3 [6.9] years) and a control group (n=7; 27.7 [7.8] years). Results: Compared with unaffected subjects, autistic subjects demonstrated lower BOLD signals in the fusiform gyrus, most prominently during face processing, and higher signals in the more object-related medial occipital gyrus. Further signal increases in autistic subjects vs controls were found in regions highly important for visual search: the superior parietal lobule and the medial frontal gyrus, where the frontal eye fields are located. Conclusions: The cortical activation pattern during face processing indicates deficits in the face-specific regions, with higher activations in regions involved in visual search. These findings reflect different strategies for visual processing, supporting models that propose a predisposition to local rather than global modes of information processing in autism.
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页码:1232 / 1237
页数:6
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