title: Automatic processing of emotional faces in high-functioning pervasive developmental disorders: An affective priming study.
abstract: This study examined automatic processing of emotional faces in individuals with high-functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorders (HFPDD) using an affective priming paradigm. Sixteen participants (HFPDD and matched controls) were presented with happy faces, fearful faces or objects in both subliminal and supraliminal exposure conditions, followed by Japanese ideographs for which the participants provided liking ratings. In the HFPDD group, affective priming was not found in either condition; the control group showed affective priming for both emotional faces under the subliminal condition and only for happy faces under the supraliminal condition. Results suggest that the social deficit in autism may derive in part from a failure in evaluating the emotional significance of emotional faces, a function for which the amygdala plays an important role.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Human-Environmental Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. kamioedu@mbox.nc.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamio
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fein
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D001332:Automatism; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014796:Visual Perception