Social cognition in autism: Face tuning

A real-time environmental translator for emotion recognition in autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves challenges in communication and social interaction, including challenges in recognizing emotions. Existing technological solutions aim to improve social behaviors in individuals with ASD by providing learning aids. This paper presents a real-time environmental translator designed to enhance social behaviors in individuals with ASD using sensory substitution. Our system utilizes vibrotactile and visual feedback to interpret and convey emotional states through vibration patterns emitted from small vibration motors on the user's temple, complemented by color-coded displays of emotional intensity. It can detect seven emotions: neutral, sad, happy, angry, disgust, surprise, and fear. Testing with adults with ASD showed they could adapt to the system in about 19 min, enabling them to intuitively and immediately recognize others' emotions. This innovative approach presents a promising advancement in emotion recognition technology for individuals with ASD, offering potential benefits in enhancing their social interactions and communication skills.

Face processing in animal models: implications for autism spectrum disorder

Processing facial features is crucial to identify social partners (prey, predators, or conspecifics) and recognize and accurately interpret emotional expressions. Numerous studies in both human and non-human primates provided evidence promoting the notion of inherent mechanisms for detecting facial features. These mechanisms support a representation of faces independent of prior experiences and are vital for subsequent development in social and language domains. Moreover, deficits in processing faces are a reliable biomarker of autism spectrum disorder, appearing early and correlating with symptom severity. Face processing, however, is not only a prerogative of humans: other species also show remarkable face detection abilities. In this review, we present an overview of the current literature on face detection in vertebrate models that could be relevant to the study of autism.

Sex differences in social brain neural responses in autism: temporal profiles of configural face-processing within data-driven time windows

Face-processing timing differences may underlie visual social attention differences between autistic and non-autistic people, and males and females. This study investigates the timing of the effects of neurotype and sex on face-processing, and their dependence on age. We analysed EEG data during upright and inverted photographs of faces from 492 participants from the Longitudinal European Autism Project (141 neurotypical males, 76 neurotypical females, 202 autistic males, 73 autistic females; age 6-30 years). We detected timings of sex/diagnosis effects on event-related potential amplitudes at the posterior-temporal channel P8 with Bootstrapped Cluster-based Permutation Analysis and conducted Growth Curve Analysis (GCA) to investigate the timecourse and dependence on age of neural signals. The periods of influence of neurotype and sex overlapped but differed in onset (respectively, 260 and 310 ms post-stimulus), with sex effects lasting longer. GCA revealed a smaller and later amplitude peak in autistic female children compared to non-autistic female children; this difference decreased in adolescence and was not significant in adulthood. No age-dependent neurotype difference was significant in males. These findings indicate that sex and neurotype influence longer latency face processing and implicates cognitive rather than perceptual processing. Sex may have more overarching effects than neurotype on configural face processing.

A behavioral advantage for the face pareidolia illusion in peripheral vision

Investigation of visual illusions helps us understand how we process visual information. For example, face pareidolia, the misperception of illusory faces in objects, could be used to understand how we process real faces. However, it remains unclear whether this illusion emerges from errors in face detection or from slower, cognitive processes. Here, our logic is straightforward; if examples of face pareidolia activate the mechanisms that rapidly detect faces in visual environments, then participants will look at objects more quickly when the objects also contain illusory faces. To test this hypothesis, we sampled continuous eye movements during a fast saccadic choice task-participants were required to select either faces or food items. During this task, pairs of stimuli were positioned close to the initial fixation point or further away, in the periphery. As expected, the participants were faster to look at face targets than food targets. Importantly, we also discovered an advantage for food items with illusory faces but, this advantage was limited to the peripheral condition. These findings are among the first to demonstrate that the face pareidolia illusion persists in the periphery and, thus, it is likely to be a consequence of erroneous face detection.

Dynamic brain communication underwriting face pareidolia

Face pareidolia is a tendency to seeing faces in nonface images that reflects high tuning to a face scheme. Yet, studies of the brain networks underwriting face pareidolia are scarce. Here, we examined the time course and dynamic topography of gamma oscillatory neuromagnetic activity while administering a task with nonface images resembling a face. Images were presented either with canonical orientation or with display inversion that heavily impedes face pareidolia. At early processing stages, the peaks in gamma activity (40 to 45 Hz) to images either triggering or not face pareidolia originate mainly from the right medioventral and lateral occipital cortices, rostral and caudal cuneus gyri, and medial superior occipital gyrus. Yet, the difference occurred at later processing stages in the high-frequency range of 80 to 85 Hz over a set of the areas constituting the social brain. The findings speak rather for a relatively late neural network playing a key role in face pareidolia. Strikingly, a cutting-edge analysis of brain connectivity unfolding over time reveals mutual feedforward and feedback intra- and interhemispheric communication not only within the social brain but also within the extended large-scale network of down- and upstream regions. In particular, the superior temporal sulcus and insula strongly engage in communication with other brain regions either as signal transmitters or recipients throughout the whole processing of face-pareidolia images.

The domestic chick as an animal model of autism spectrum disorder: building adaptive social perceptions through prenatally formed predispositions

Equipped with an early social predisposition immediately post-birth, humans typically form associations with mothers and other family members through exposure learning, canalized by a prenatally formed predisposition of visual preference to biological motion, face configuration, and other cues of animacy. If impaired, reduced preferences can lead to social interaction impairments such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) via misguided canalization. Despite being taxonomically distant, domestic chicks could also follow a homologous developmental trajectory toward adaptive socialization through imprinting, which is guided via predisposed preferences similar to those of humans, thereby suggesting that chicks are a valid animal model of ASD. In addition to the phenotypic similarities in predisposition with human newborns, accumulating evidence on the responsible molecular mechanisms suggests the construct validity of the chick model. Considering the recent progress in the evo-devo studies in vertebrates, we reviewed the advantages and limitations of the chick model of developmental mental diseases in humans.

Relationship between autistic traits and letter-recognition under attention to face-likeness: study using a henohenomoheji-type compound stimulus

This study aimed to clarify the relationship between autistic traits and letter information processing, specifically, the components of faces when attention is paid to face-like information. We created a new "henohenomoheji-type compound stimulus," in which letters are placed in positions in such a way as to resemble a face. In Experiment 1, we examined the relationship between autistic traits and the participants' performance in a letter-recognition task in which a henohenomoheji-type compound stimulus was used. The results showed a significant moderate negative correlation between Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Japanese Version (AQ-J) scores and letter-recognition sensitivity when the compound stimuli were arranged like a face. The letter-detection task was employed in Experiment 2 to examine how autistic traits affect tasks' performance with a lower cognitive load than in Experiment 1. We found no correlation between AQ-J scores and letter-detection sensitivity with or without face-like features. These results suggest that paying attention to faces reduces the participants' performance in letter recognition, which represents a higher cognitive load in individuals with higher autistic traits. A major implication of this study is that the henohenomoheji-type compound stimuli can be applied to several cognitive tasks, such as cognitive processing in individuals with autistic traits.

Do subtle cultural differences sculpt face pareidolia?

Face tuning to non-face images such as shadows or grilled toasts is termed face pareidolia. Face-pareidolia images represent a valuable tool for investigation of social cognition in mental disorders. Here we examined (i) whether, and, if so, how face pareidolia is affected by subtle cultural differences; and (ii) whether this impact is modulated by gender. With this purpose in mind, females and males from Northern Italy were administered a set of Face-n-Thing images, photographs of objects such as houses or waves to a varying degree resembling a face. Participants were presented with pareidolia images with canonical upright orientation and display inversion that heavily affects face pareidolia. In a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm, beholders had to indicate whether each image resembled a face. The outcome was compared with the findings obtained in the Southwest of Germany. With upright orientation, neither cultural background nor gender affected face pareidolia. As expected, display inversion generally mired face pareidolia. Yet, while display inversion led to a drastic reduction of face impression in German males as compared to females, in Italians, no gender differences were found. In a nutshell, subtle cultural differences do not sculpt face pareidolia, but instead affect face impression in a gender-specific way under unusual viewing conditions. Clarification of the origins of these effects requires tailored brain imaging work. Implications for transcultural psychiatry, in particular, for schizophrenia research, are highlighted and discussed.

Face pareidolia in male schizophrenia

Faces are valuable signals for efficient social interaction. Yet, social cognition including the sensitivity to a coarse face scheme may be deviant in schizophrenia (SZ). Tuning to faces in non-face images such as shadows, grilled toasts, or ink blots is termed face pareidolia. This phenomenon is poorly investigated in SZ. Here face tuning was assessed in 44 male participants with SZ and person-by-person matched controls by using recently created Face-n-Thing images (photographs of non-face objects to a varying degree resembling a face). The advantage of these images is that single components do not automatically trigger face processing. Participants were administered a set of images with upright and inverted (180° in the image plane) orientation. In a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm, they had to indicate whether an image resembled a face. The findings showed that: (i) With upright orientation, SZ patients exhibited deficits in face tuning: they provided much fewer face responses than controls. (ii) Inversion generally hindered face pareidolia. However, while in neurotypical males, inversion led to a drastic drop in face impression, in SZ, the impact of orientation was reduced. (iii) Finally, in accord with the signal detection theory analysis, the sensitivity index (d-prime) was lower in SZ, whereas no difference occurred in decision criterion. The outcome suggests altered face pareidolia in SZ is caused by lower face sensitivity rather than by alterations in cognitive bias. Comparison of these findings with earlier evidence confirms that tuning to social signals is lower in SZ, and warrants tailored brain imaging research.

Neural circuits underpinning face tuning in male depression

Reading bodies and faces is essential for efficient social interactions, though it may be thought-provoking for individuals with depression. Yet aberrations in the face sensitivity and underwriting neural circuits are not well understood, in particular, in male depression. Here, we use cutting-edge analyses of time course and dynamic topography of gamma oscillatory neuromagnetic cortical activity during administration of a task with Arcimboldo-like images. No difference in face tuning was found between individuals with depression and their neurotypical peers. Furthermore, this behavioral outcome nicely dovetails with magnetoencephalographic data: at early processing stages, the gamma oscillatory response to images resembling a face was rather similar in patients and controls. These bursts originated primarily from the right medioventral occipital cortex and lateral occipital cortex. At later processing stages, however, its topography altered remarkably in depression with profound engagement of the frontal circuits. Yet the primary difference in depressive individuals as compared with their neurotypical peers occurred over the left middle temporal cortices, a part of the social brain, engaged in feature integration and meaning retrieval. The outcome suggests compensatory recruitment of neural resources in male depression.

Reading language of the eyes

The need for assessment of social skills in clinical and neurotypical populations has led to the widespread, and still increasing use of the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test' (RMET) developed more than two decades ago by Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues for evaluation of social cognition in autism. By analyzing most recent clinical and brain imaging data, we illuminate a set of factors decisive for using the RMET. Converging evidence indicates: (i) In neurotypical individuals, RMET scores are tightly correlated with other social skills (empathy, emotional intelligence, and body language reading); (ii) The RMET assesses recognition of facial affect, but also heavily relies on receptive language skills, semantic knowledge, and memory; (iii) RMET performance is underwritten by the large-scale ensembles of neural networks well-outside the social brain; (iv) The RMET is limited in its capacity to differentiate between neuropsychiatric conditions as well as between stages and severity of a single disorder, though it reliably distinguishes individuals with altered social cognition or elevated pathological traits from neurotypical persons; (v) Merely gender (as a social construct) rather than neurobiological sex influences performance on the RMET; (vi) RMET scores do not substantially decline in healthy aging, and they are higher with higher education level, cognitive abilities, literacy, and mental well-being; (vii) Accuracy on the RMET, and engagement of the social brain, are greater when emotions are expressed and recognized by individuals with similar cultural/ethnic background. Further research is required to better inform usage of the RMET as a tool for swift and reliable examination of social cognition. In light of comparable visual input from the RMET images and faces covered by masks due to COVID-19 regulations, the analysis is of value for keeping efficient social interaction during the current pandemic, in particular, in professional settings related to social communication.

[Representation of the oral sphere in medical comics, the child's perception]

Medical comics are a suitable educational tool for paediatric populations. The emotions conveyed by the characters should not evoke negative feelings, which could then be associated with care or caregivers. The eyes and mouth are the first areas of the face to be analysed. One study attempted to assess the ability of children to perceive the emotions of one of the protagonists through the representation of their mouth.

Altered dynamic functional connectivity of insular subregions could predict symptom severity of male patients with autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties with social communication and restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior. This disorder was characterized by widespread abnormalities involving distributed brain networks. As one such key network node, the insular cortex has been regarded as a research focus of ASD neuropathology. The insula is a functionally complex brain structure. However, it is not fully clear if dynamic characteristics of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) signals in insular heterogeneous could be used to depict abnormalities in ASD. To address this question, we investigated dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) of 12 insular subregions. Data were obtained from 44 individuals with ASD and 65 typically developing age-matched controls (TDC). We assessed dFC by sliding-window method and quantified its temporal variability. Multivariable linear regression models were constructed to determine whether dFC support complementary information about symptom severity of individuals with ASD rather than static functional connectivity (sFC). The results showed that individuals with ASD exhibited dFC and sFC alterations in distinct insular subregions. Some brain regions showed only abnormal dFC but not sFC with insular subregions. These abnormal dFC could significantly predict the symptom severity of individuals with ASD. Our findings might advance our knowledge about the potential of insular heterogeneity and dynamic characteristics in understanding the neuropathology mechanism of ASD and in developing neuroimaging biomarkers for clinical applications.

Acquired Prosopagnosia with Structurally Intact and Functional Fusiform Face Area and with Face Identity-Specific Configuration Processing Deficits

Prosopagnosia or loss of face perception and recognition is still poorly understood and rare single cases of acquired prosopagnosia can provide a unique window on the behavioural and brain basis of normal face perception. The present study of a new case of acquired prosopagnosia with bilateral occipito-temporal lesions but a structurally intact FFA and OFA investigated whether the lesion overlapped with the face network and whether the structurally intact FFA showed a face selective response. We also investigated the behavioral correlates of the neural findings and assessed configural processing in the context of facial and non-facial identity recognition, expression recognition and memory, also focusing on the face-selectivity of each specific deficit. The findings reveal a face-selective response in the FFA, despite lesions in the face perception network. At the behavioural level, the results showed impaired configural processing for facial identity, but not for other stimulus categories and not for facial expression recognition. These findings challenge a critical role of the FFA for face identity processing and support a domain-specific account of configural processing.

Reading Covered Faces

Covering faces with masks, due to mandatory pandemic safety regulations, we can no longer rely on the habitual daily-life information. This may be thought-provoking for healthy people, but particularly challenging for individuals with neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions. Au fait research on reading covered faces reveals that: 1) wearing masks hampers facial affect recognition, though it leaves reliable inferring basic emotional expressions; 2) by buffering facial affect, masks lead to narrowing of emotional spectrum and dampen veridical evaluation of counterparts; 3) masks may affect perceived face attractiveness; 4) covered (either by masks or other veils) faces have a certain signal function introducing perceptual biases and prejudices; 5) reading covered faces is gender- and age-specific, being more challenging for males and more variable even in healthy aging; 6) the hampering effects of masks on social cognition occur over the globe; and 7) reading covered faces is likely to be supported by the large-scale assemblies of the neural circuits far beyond the social brain. Challenges and limitations of ongoing research and parallels to the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test are assessed. Clarification of how masks affect face reading in the real world, where we deal with dynamic faces and have entrée to additional valuable social signals such as body language, as well as the specificity of neural networks underlying reading covered faces calls for further tailored research.

Social cognition in individuals born preterm

Faces hold a substantial value for effective social interactions and sharing. Covering faces with masks, due to COVID-19 regulations, may lead to difficulties in using social signals, in particular, in individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions. Daily-life social participation of individuals who were born preterm is of immense importance for their quality of life. Here we examined face tuning in individuals (aged 12.79 ± 1.89 years) who were born preterm and exhibited signs of periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), a dominant form of brain injury in preterm birth survivors. For assessing the face sensitivity in this population, we implemented a recently developed experimental tool, a set of Face-n-Food images bordering on the style of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. The key benefit of these images is that single components do not trigger face processing. Although a coarse face schema is thought to be hardwired in the brain, former preterms exhibit substantial shortages in the face tuning not only compared with typically developing controls but also with individuals with autistic spectrum disorders. The lack of correlations between the face sensitivity and other cognitive abilities indicates that these deficits are domain-specific. This underscores impact of preterm birth sequelae for social functioning at large. Comparison of the findings with data in individuals with other neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric conditions provides novel insights into the origins of deficient face processing.

Personality in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Associations With Face Memory Deficit and Theory of Mind

OBJECTIVE

To examine the personality profiles of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a standard personality assessment and to investigate the association between personality, ASD-related face memory deficit (FMD), and theory of mind (ToM). In a broader context, to examine whether there are distinct clinical phenotypes in the ASD population that have implications for personality development and treatment.

METHOD

Fifty-five adults with ASD and 22 neurotypical (NT) adults underwent a battery of neuropsychological tests, including measures of personality, face memory, and ToM. We compared ASD and NT groups in terms of their Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) profiles. Additional analyses focused on the association between specific PAI scales and FMD. Performance on the Eyes Test was compared across groups and was examined in relation to FMD.

RESULTS

Adults with ASD demonstrated significant elevations on several PAI scales compared with NT adults. The presence of FMD was associated with differing PAI profiles among the ASD adults. The ASD adults with FMD scored significantly higher on scales that are sensitive to positive impression management and treatment rejection and significantly lower on scales that are sensitive to borderline personality, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and stress. There was a significant association between performance on the Eyes Test and FMD in the ASD group.

CONCLUSION

Adults with ASD have a unique personality profile. Further, ASD adults with FMD have reduced insight into their difficulties with emotional processing and may not be as sensitive as ASD adults without FMD to the emotions of others.

Face Tuning in Depression

The latest COVID-19 pandemic reveals that unexpected changes elevate depression bringing people apart, but also calling for social sharing. Yet the impact of depression on social cognition and functioning is not well understood. Assessment of social cognition is crucial not only for a better understanding of major depressive disorder (MDD), but also for screening, intervention, and remediation. Here by applying a novel experimental tool, a Face-n-Food task comprising a set of images bordering on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo style, we assessed the face tuning in patients with MDD and person-by-person matched controls. The key benefit of these images is that single components do not trigger face processing. Contrary to common beliefs, the outcome indicates that individuals with depression express intact face responsiveness. Yet, while in depression face sensitivity is tied with perceptual organization, in typical development, it is knotted with social cognition capabilities. Face tuning in depression, therefore, may rely upon altered behavioral strategies and underwriting brain mechanisms. To exclude a possible camouflaging effect of female social skills, we examined gender impact. Neither in depression nor in typical individuals had females excelled in face tuning. The outcome sheds light on the origins of the face sensitivity and alterations in social functioning in depression and mental well-being at large. Aberrant social functioning in depression is likely to be the result of deeply-rooted maladaptive strategies rather than of poor sensitivity to social signals. This has implications for mental well-being under the current pandemic conditions.

A visual search advantage for illusory faces in objects

Face detection is a priority of both the human and primate visual system. However, occasionally we misperceive faces in inanimate objects -- "face pareidolia". A key feature of these 'false positives' is that face perception occurs in the absence of visual features typical of real faces. Human faces are known to be located faster than objects in visual search. Here we used a visual search paradigm to test whether illusory faces share this advantage. Search times were faster for illusory faces than for matched objects amongst both matched (Experiment 1) and diverse (Experiment 2) distractors, however search times for real human faces were faster and more efficient than objects with or without an illusory face. Importantly, this result indicates that illusory faces are processed quickly enough by the human brain to confer a visual search advantage, suggesting the engagement of a broadly-tuned mechanism that facilitates rapid face detection in cluttered environments.

Do you see the “face”? Individual differences in face pareidolia

People tend to see faces from non-face objects or meaningless patterns. Such illusory face perception is called face pareidolia. Previous studies have revealed an interesting fact that there are huge individual differences in face pareidolia experience among the population. Here, we review previous findings on individual differences in face pareidolia experience from four categories: sex differences, developmental factors, personality traits and neurodevelopmental factors. We further discuss underlying cognitive or neural mechanisms to explain why some perceive the objects as faces while others do not. The individual differences in face pareidolia could not only offer scientific insights on how the brain works to process face information, but also suggest potential clinical applications.

Face pareidolia in the brain: Impact of gender and orientation

Research on face sensitivity is of particular relevance during the rapidly evolving Covid-19 pandemic leading to social isolation, but also calling for intact interaction and sharing. Humans possess high sensitivity even to a coarse face scheme, seeing faces in non-face images where real faces do not exist. The advantage of non-face images is that single components do not trigger face processing. Here by implementing a novel set of Face-n-Thing images, we examined (i) how face tuning alters with changing display orientation, and (ii) whether it is affected by observers’ gender. Young females and males were presented with a set of Face-n-Thing images either with canonical upright orientation or inverted 180° in the image plane. Face impression was substantially impeded by display inversion. Furthermore, whereas with upright display orientation, no gender differences were found, with inversion, Face-n-Thing images elicited face impression in females significantly more often. The outcome sheds light on the origins of the face inversion effect in general. Moreover, the findings open a way for examination of face sensitivity and underwriting brain networks in neuropsychiatric conditions related to the current pandemic (such as depression and anxiety), most of which are gender/sex-specific.

Discrepancies between explicit and implicit evaluation of aesthetic perception ability in individuals with autism: a potential way to improve social functioning

Background

The capacity to evaluate beauty plays a crucial role in social behaviour and social relationships. It is known that some characteristics of beauty are important social cues that can induce stereotypes or promote different behavioural expectations. Another crucial capacity for success in social interactions is empathy, i.e. the ability to understand and share others’ mental and emotional states. Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have an impairment of empathic ability. We showed in a previous study that empathy and aesthetic perception abilities closely related. Indeed, beauty can affect different aspects of empathic behaviour, and empathy can mediate the aesthetic perception in typically developing (TD) individuals. Thus, this study evaluates the ability of aesthetic perception in ASD individuals compared to TD individuals, using the Golden Beauty behavioural task adapted for eye-tracking in order to acquire both explicit and implicit evidences. In both groups, the relationship between empathic and aesthetic perception abilities was also evaluated.

Methods

Ten ASD individuals (age ± SD:20.7 ± 4.64) and ten TD individuals (age ± SD:20.17 ± 0.98) participated in the study. Participants underwent empathy tasks and then the Golden Beauty task. To assess differences in the participants’ performance, we carried out a repeated measures general linear model.

Results

At the explicit level, our behavioural results show an impairment in aesthetic perception ability in ASD individuals. This inability could have relevance for their ability to experience pleasure during social interactions. However, at the implicit level (eye-tracking results), ASD individuals conserved a good ability to feel aesthetic pleasure during the Golden Beauty task, thus indicating a discrepancy between the explicit and implicit evaluation of the beauty task. Finally, beauty perception appears to be linked to empathy when neither of these capacities is compromised, as demonstrated in the TD group. In contrast, this link is missed in ASD individuals.

Conclusion

Overall, our results clearly show that individuals with autism are not completely blind to aesthetic pleasure: in fact, they retain an implicit ability to experience beauty. These findings could pave the way for the development of new protocols to rehabilitate ASD social functioning, exploiting their conserved implicit aesthetic perception.

Face pareidolia in schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Faces convey valuable daily life social signals. As in most psychiatric conditions, non-verbal social cognition or its components including face processing may be aberrant in schizophrenia (SZ). Social participation of individuals with SZ is vital for their quality of life, and remediation of social abilities in this population is of high relevance both for society and clinical care.

METHOD

Tuning to faces in non-face images such as shadows, grilled toasts, or ink blots is called face pareidolia. Humans possess high sensitivity to facial signals: even fetuses and infants are well tuned to coarse face cues. Here we assessed face tuning in individuals with SZ and person-by-person matched controls by using a new experimental tool, a set of food-plate images bordering on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo style. The key benefit of these images is that single components do not trigger face processing.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The outcome indicates that individuals with SZ exhibit aberrant face tuning in face-like non-face images (χ²(1) = 17.44, p = 0.0001) that can hamper adaptive interaction with peers and social participation hindering, in turn, clinical remediation. Face response rate in SZ patients was related to the scores on the event arrangement task tapping social cognition (Pearson product-moment correlation, r = 0.602, p = 0.01) and on picture completion task assessing visual perceptual organization (Spearman's rho = 0.614, p = 0.009). Therefore, poor performance on the face tuning task is unlikely to be accounted for by deviant general cognitive abilities, but rather by impairments in perceptual integration and social cognition. Comparison of these findings with data in autism and other neuropsychiatric conditions provides novel insights on the origins of face tuning in SZ and triggers brain imaging research.

Social Cognition in Down Syndrome: Face Tuning in Face-Like Non-Face Images

Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are widely believed to possess considerable socialization strengths. However, the findings on social cognition capabilities are controversial. In the present study, we investigated whether individuals with DS exhibit shortage in face tuning, one of the indispensable components of social cognition. For this purpose, we implemented a recently developed Face-n-Food paradigm with food-plate images composed of food ingredients such as fruits and vegetables. The key benefit of such face-like non-face images is that single elements do not facilitate face processing. In a spontaneous recognition task, 25 children with DS aged 9 to 18 years were presented with a set of Face-n-Food images bordering on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo style. The set of images was administered in a predetermined order from the least to most resembling a face. In DS individuals, thresholds for recognition of the Face-n-Food images as a face were drastically higher as compared not only with typically developing controls, but also with individuals with autistic spectrum disorders and Williams-Beuren syndrome. This outcome represents a significant step toward better conceptualization of the visual social world in DS and neurodevelopmental disorders in general.

Neuropsychological assessment in autism spectrum disorder and related conditions

Neuropsychological assessment provides a profound analysis of cognitive functioning in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals on the autistic spectrum often show a high level of anxiety and are frequently affected by comorbidities that influence their quality of life. Yet, they also have cognitive strengths that should be identified in order to develop effective support strategies. This article presents an overview of five cognitive areas that are essential for neuropsychological evaluation (ie, intelligence, attention, executive function, social cognition, and praxis) and explores the underlying causes of behavioral problems in persons with ASD. Furthermore, it stresses the importance of meticulous neuropsychological testing with regard to cognitive remediation, a method that can help to enhance single cognitive processes in a targeted manner. Objective test results suggest it might be possible to promote an improved sense of coherence. In line with the salutogenic model, this may be fundamental for human health and well-being.

Amygdala lesions eliminate viewing preferences for faces in rhesus monkeys

In free-viewing experiments, primates orient preferentially toward faces and face-like stimuli. To investigate the neural basis of this behavior, we measured the spontaneous viewing preferences of monkeys with selective bilateral amygdala lesions. The results revealed that when faces and nonface objects were presented simultaneously, monkeys with amygdala lesions had no viewing preference for either conspecific faces or illusory facial features in everyday objects. Instead of directing eye movements toward socially relevant features in natural images, we found that, after amygdala loss, monkeys are biased toward features with increased low-level salience. We conclude that the amygdala has a role in our earliest specialized response to faces, a behavior thought to be a precursor for efficient social communication and essential for the development of face-selective cortex.

Even subtle cultural differences affect face tuning

Culture shapes social cognition in many ways. Yet cultural impact on face tuning remains largely unclear. Here typically developing females and males from the French-speaking part of Switzerland were presented with a set of Arcimboldo-like Face-n-Food images composed of food ingredients and in different degree resembling a face. The outcome had been compared with previous findings obtained in young adults of the South-West Germany. In that study, males exhibit higher thresholds for face tuning on the Face-n-Food task than females. In Swiss participants, no gender differences exist in face tuning. Strikingly, males from the French-speaking part of Switzerland possess higher sensitivity to faces than their German peers, whereas no difference in face tuning occurs between females. The outcome indicates that even relatively subtle cultural differences as well as culture by gender interaction can modulate social cognition. Clarification of the nature of cultural impact on face tuning as well as social cognition at large is of substantial value for understanding a wide range of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions.

Seeing More Than Human: Autism and Anthropomorphic Theory of Mind

Theory of mind (ToM) is defined as the process of taking another's perspective. Anthropomorphism can be seen as the extension of ToM to non-human entities. This review examines the literature concerning ToM and anthropomorphism in relation to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), specifically addressing the questions of how and why those on the spectrum both show an increased interest for anthropomorphism and may even show improved ToM abilities when judging the mental states of anthropomorphic characters. This review highlights that while individuals with ASD traditionally show deficits on a wide range of ToM tests, such as recognizing facial emotions, such ToM deficits may be ameliorated if the stimuli presented is cartoon or animal-like rather than in human form. Individuals with ASD show a greater interest in anthropomorphic characters and process the features of these characters using methods typically reserved for human stimuli. Personal accounts of individuals with ASD also suggest they may identify more closely with animals than other humans. It is shown how the social motivations hypothesized to underlie the anthropomorphizing of non-human targets may lead those on the spectrum to seek social connections and therefore gain ToM experience and expertise amongst unlikely sources.

Second Version of Google Glass as a Wearable Socio-Affective Aid: Positive School Desirability, High Usability, and Theoretical Framework in a Sample of Children with Autism

BACKGROUND

Computerized smartglasses are being developed as an assistive technology for daily activities in children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While smartglasses may be able to help with educational and behavioral needs, their usability and acceptability in children with ASD is largely unknown. There have been reports of negative social perceptions surrounding smartglasses use in mainstream populations, a concern given that assistive technologies may already carry their own stigma. Children with ASD may also have a range of additional behavioral, developmental, and social challenges when asked to use this emerging technology in school and home settings.

OBJECTIVE

The usability and acceptability of Glass Enterprise Edition (Glass), the successor to Google Glass smartglasses, were explored in children with ASD and their caregivers.

METHODS

Eight children with ASD and their caregivers were recruited to attend a demonstration session with Glass smartglasses the week they were publicly released. The children had a wide range of ability, including limited speech to speaking, and represented a full range of school ages (6 to 17 years). Children and caregivers were interviewed about their experience of using the smartglasses and whether they would use them at school and home.

RESULTS

All 8 children succeeded in using Glass and did not feel stressed (8/8, 100%) or experience any overwhelming sensory or emotional issues during the session (8/8, 100%). All 8 children (8/8, 100%) endorsed that they would be willing to wear and use the device in both home and school settings. Caregivers felt the experience was fun for the children (8/8, 100%), and most caregivers felt the experience was better than they had expected (6/8, 75%).

CONCLUSIONS

A wide age and ability range of children with ASD used Glass immediately after it was released and found it to be usable and acceptable. Despite concerns about potential stigma or social acceptability, all of the children were prepared to use the technology in both home and school settings. Encouragingly, most caregivers noted a very positive response. There were no behavioral, developmental, or social- or stigma-related concerns during or after the session. Smartglasses may be a useful future technology for children with ASD and are readily accepted for use by children with ASD and their caregivers.

Neuropsychological assessment in autism spectrum disorder and related conditions

Neuropsychological assessment provides a profound analysis of cognitive functioning in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals on the autistic spectrum often show a high level of anxiety and are frequently affected by comorbidities that influence their quality of life. Yet, they also have cognitive strengths that should be identified in order to develop effective support strategies. This article presents an overview of five cognitive areas that are essential for neuropsychological evaluation (ie, intelligence, attention, executive function, social cognition, and praxis) and explores the underlying causes of behavioral problems in persons with ASD. Furthermore, it stresses the importance of meticulous neuropsychological testing with regard to cognitive remediation, a method that can help to enhance single cognitive processes in a targeted manner. Objective test results suggest it might be possible to promote an improved sense of coherence. In line with the salutogenic model, this may be fundamental for human health and well-being.