NEUROBIOLOGY OF FACIAL EXPRESSION IN AUTISM

本研究将探讨自闭症患者面部运动和情绪表达受损的神经生物学基础。自闭症患者通常在情感表达方面有明显的缺陷，包括有限的范围和不恰当地使用面部表情来表达情感和意图。对自闭症患者面部模仿和神经功能的研究表明，情感面部表情的损害可能部分归因于潜在的运动功能障碍。拟议的研究将测试自闭症患者面部运动受损的两种相互竞争的模型：控制面部表情肌肉组织的脑干结构功能障碍与皮层水平的神经功能障碍。这些目标将在两个样本中进行检验：高功能自闭症儿童与年龄、智商、性别和种族匹配的正常发育儿童进行比较，低功能自闭症儿童与非特异性智力迟钝儿童进行比较。面部运动将通过对离散的面部运动和这些运动在情感面部表情中的协调进行定量分析来检查。无意义的面部表情将在模仿面部神经特定分支的动作时进行评估。情感面部表情将在自发、诱导和模仿六种典型情绪的表达中进行测量。情绪表达的沟通价值也将通过na' ve评分者对参与者的表达进行定性分析来评估。神经系统参与面部表情的模型将通过对脑神经功能的全面和定量评估来进一步研究。最后，这个项目将检查

The proposed research will examine the neurobiological bases of impaired facial movement and emotional expressiveness in autism. Individuals with autism typically have significant impairments in emotional expression, including limited range and inappropriate use of facial expressions to communicate affect and intentions. Research on facial imitation and neurological functioning in autism suggests that impairment in affective facial expression may be due in part to an underlying motor dysfunction. The proposed research will test two competing models of impaired facial motility in autism: dysfunction of brainstem structures that control the musculature of facial expression versus neurological dysfunction at a cortical level. These aims will be examined in two samples: children with high functioning autism compared to typically developing children matched on age, VIQ, gender, and race, and children with low functioning autism similarly matched to children with non-specific mental retardation. Facial motility will be examined through a quantitative analysis of discrete facial movements and the coordination of these movements in affective facial expressions. Nonmeaningful facial expressions will be assessed during imitation of movements that correspond to specific branches of the facial nerve. Affective facial expressions will be measured during spontaneous, elicited, and imitated expressions of six canonical emotions. The communicative value of emotional expressions will also be assessed through qualitative analyses of participants' expressions by na'fve raters. Models of neurological involvement in facial expressiveness will further be examined through a comprehensive and quantitative evaluation of cranial nerve function. Finally, this project will examine several early developmental genes that are important in the formation and function of the brainstem and cerebellum, and thus may influence facial movement abnormalities in autism. By specifying the nature of impaired facial motility in autism, this research will have implications for early intervention and may help in the identification of endophenotypes of this disorder.