Differential amygdala response to lower face in patients with autistic spectrum disorders: An fMRI study
Differential amygdala response to lower face in patients with autistic spectrum disorders: An fMRI study
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DOI：
10.1016/j.rasd.2010.10.005
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发表时间：
2011-04-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Wada, Yuji
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ishitobi, Makoto;Kosaka, Hirotaka;Wada, Yuji
许多功能性神经影像学证据表明，自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 在面部处理方面表现出明显的大脑异常。这些发现大部分是通过使用与整个面部相关的任务进行的研究获得的。然而，患有自闭症谱系障碍的人往往更多地依赖面部的各个部分来进行识别，而不是整体结构。因此，这种神经影像学证据可能反映了面部识别中不同的视觉注意系统。据推测，自闭症谱系障碍参与者和对照组参与者之间的大脑功能存在差异，面部识别任务分别呈现面部的各个部分。使用 3T-MR 扫描仪对 9 名患有高功能 ASD 的成年人和 24 名年龄匹配的正常对照参与者进行了研究。我们研究了处理整个面部和部分面部表现出积极或消极表情时的大脑激活情况。对照组显示整个面部双侧杏仁核激活，但面部部分区域未激活。自闭症谱系障碍组显示下面部（主要是嘴部区域）双侧杏仁核激活，但整个面部和上面部（主要是眼部区域）没有激活。这些发现表明，自闭症谱系障碍患者中存在杏仁核面部处理功能的差异。这种异常的杏仁核功能可能会导致凝视处理或情绪表达识别异常，这在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的临床表现中得到了体现。 (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. 保留所有权利。
Much functional neuroimaging evidence indicates that autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate marked brain abnormalities in face processing. Most of these findings were obtained from studies using tasks related to whole faces. However, individuals with ASD tend to rely more on individual parts of the face for identification than on the overall configuration. Therefore, this neuroimaging evidence might reflect differential visual attention systems in face recognition. It was hypothesized that differential brain function is shown between ASD and control participants with face recognition tasks presenting parts of faces separately. Nine adults with high-functioning ASD and 24 age-matched normal comparison participants were studied using a 3T-MR scanner. We investigated brain activation when processing whole faces and parts of faces displaying positive or negative expressions. The control group showed bilateral amygdalae activation to the whole face, but not to parts of the face. The ASD group showed bilateral amygdalae activation to the lower face (mainly mouth region), but not to the whole face and upper face (mainly eye region). These findings suggest that differential amygdala function for face processing exists in ASD. This aberrant amygdala function might cause abnormalities in gaze processing or recognition of emotional expressions, shown clinically in ASD. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.