title: Morphing technique reveals intact perception of object motion and disturbed perception of emotional expressions by low-functioning adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
abstract: A morphing procedure has been designed to compare directly the perception of emotional expressions and of moving objects. Morphing tasks were presented to 12 low-functioning teenagers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (LF ASD) compared to 12 developmental age-matched typical children and a group presenting ceiling performance. In a first study, when presented with morphed stimuli of objects and emotional faces, LF ASD showed an intact perception of object change of state together with an impaired perception of emotional facial change of state. In a second study, an eye-tracker recorded visual exploration of morphed emotional stimuli displayed by a human face and a robotic set-up. Facing the morphed robotic stimuli, LF ASD displayed equal duration of fixations toward emotional regions and toward mechanical sources of motion, while the typical groups tracked the emotional regions only. Altogether the findings of the two studies suggest that individuals with ASD process motion rather than emotional signals when facing facial expressions.
authors.affiliation: CHArt-LUTIN Cognitions Humaine et Artificielle, University of Paris 8, 2 rue de la Liberté, 93526 Saint Denis Cedex 02, France. Electronic address: borahan81@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: CHArt-LUTIN Cognitions Humaine et Artificielle, University of Paris 8, 2 rue de la Liberté, 93526 Saint Denis Cedex 02, France.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tijus
authors.affiliation: La Maison pour les Personnes Autistes du département d'Eure et Loir, Les Hôpitaux de Chartres, 1 rue Saint Martin au Val, 28000 Chartres, France.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Le Barillier
authors.affiliation: CHArt-LUTIN Cognitions Humaine et Artificielle, University of Paris 8, 2 rue de la Liberté, 93526 Saint Denis Cedex 02, France; CNRS UMR 7225, INSERM U 11-27, UPMC UnivParis06, ICM, Social and Affective Neurosciences Laboratory, CHU-Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 bd de l'Hôpital, 759013 Paris, France. Electronic address: jacqueline.nadel@upmc.fr.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nadel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004644:Emotions; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D005149:Facial Expression; D000066499:Facial Recognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Autism; Emotional expressions; Eye tracking; Morphing; Objects; Robot