title: Visual event-related potentials to biological motion stimuli in autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: Atypical visual processing of biological motion contributes to social impairments in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, the exact temporal sequence of deficits of cortical biological motion processing in ASD has not been studied to date. We used 64-channel electroencephalography to study event-related potentials associated with human motion perception in 17 children and adolescents with ASD and 21 typical controls. A spatio-temporal source analysis was performed to assess the brain structures involved in these processes. We expected altered activity already during early stimulus processing and reduced activity during subsequent biological motion specific processes in ASD. In response to both, random and biological motion, the P100 amplitude was decreased suggesting unspecific deficits in visual processing, and the occipito-temporal N200 showed atypical lateralization in ASD suggesting altered hemispheric specialization. A slow positive deflection after 400 ms, reflecting top-down processes, and human motion-specific dipole activation differed slightly between groups, with reduced and more diffuse activation in the ASD-group. The latter could be an indicator of a disrupted neuronal network for biological motion processing in ADS. Furthermore, early visual processing (P100) seems to be correlated to biological motion-specific activation. This emphasizes the relevance of early sensory processing for higher order processing deficits in ASD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, JW Goethe University Frankfurt, Deutschordenstrasse 50, Frankfurt 60528, Germany, Department of Neuroradiology, Saarland University Hospital, Kirrbergerstraße, Homburg/Saar 66424, Germany, and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Technology Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, Dresden 01307, Germany Anne.Kroeger@kgu.de.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kröger
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, JW Goethe University Frankfurt, Deutschordenstrasse 50, Frankfurt 60528, Germany, Department of Neuroradiology, Saarland University Hospital, Kirrbergerstraße, Homburg/Saar 66424, Germany, and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Technology Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, Dresden 01307, Germany.
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bletsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, JW Goethe University Frankfurt, Deutschordenstrasse 50, Frankfurt 60528, Germany, Department of Neuroradiology, Saarland University Hospital, Kirrbergerstraße, Homburg/Saar 66424, Germany, and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Technology Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, Dresden 01307, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Krick
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, JW Goethe University Frankfurt, Deutschordenstrasse 50, Frankfurt 60528, Germany, Department of Neuroradiology, Saarland University Hospital, Kirrbergerstraße, Homburg/Saar 66424, Germany, and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Technology Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, Dresden 01307, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siniatchkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, JW Goethe University Frankfurt, Deutschordenstrasse 50, Frankfurt 60528, Germany, Department of Neuroradiology, Saarland University Hospital, Kirrbergerstraße, Homburg/Saar 66424, Germany, and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Technology Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, Dresden 01307, Germany.
authors.forename: Tomasz A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Jarczok
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, JW Goethe University Frankfurt, Deutschordenstrasse 50, Frankfurt 60528, Germany, Department of Neuroradiology, Saarland University Hospital, Kirrbergerstraße, Homburg/Saar 66424, Germany, and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Technology Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, Dresden 01307, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Freitag
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, JW Goethe University Frankfurt, Deutschordenstrasse 50, Frankfurt 60528, Germany, Department of Neuroradiology, Saarland University Hospital, Kirrbergerstraße, Homburg/Saar 66424, Germany, and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Technology Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, Dresden 01307, GermanyDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, JW Goethe University Frankfurt, Deutschordenstrasse 50, Frankfurt 60528, Germany, Department of Neuroradiology, Saarland University Hospital, Kirrbergerstraße, Homburg/Saar 66424, Germany, and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Technology Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, Dresden 01307, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bender
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012938:Social Perception
keywords: N200; P100; event-related-potentials; hemisphere-asymmetry; motion perception