title: Social perception in autism spectrum disorders: impaired category selectivity for dynamic but not static images in ventral temporal cortex.
abstract: Studies of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) reveal dysfunction in the neural systems mediating object processing (particularly faces) and social cognition, but few investigations have systematically assessed the specificity of the dysfunction. We compared cortical responses in typically developing adolescents and those with ASD to stimuli from distinct conceptual domains known to elicit category-related activity in separate neural systems. In Experiment 1, subjects made category decisions to photographs, videos, and point-light displays of people and tools. In Experiment 2, subjects interpreted displays of simple, geometric shapes in motion depicting social or mechanical interactions. In both experiments, we found a selective deficit in the ASD subjects for dynamic social stimuli (videos and point-light displays of people, moving geometric shapes), but not static images, in the functionally localized lateral region of the right fusiform gyrus, including the fusiform face area. In contrast, no group differences were found in response to either static images or dynamic stimuli in other brain regions associated with face and social processing (e.g. posterior superior temporal sulcus, amygdala), suggesting disordered connectivity between these regions and the fusiform gyrus in ASD. This possibility was confirmed by functional connectivity analysis.
authors.affiliation: NIMH, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, Bethesda, MD 20850.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weisberg
authors.forename: Shawn C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Milleville
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kenworthy
authors.forename: Gregory L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Gotts
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Beauchamp
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012938:Social Perception; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult