The development of social communication skills in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) is influenced by differences in face processing. For a study, researchers characterize the neural correlates of face processing in 12-month-old infants at familial risk of developing ASD by comparing face-sensitive event-related potentials (ERP) (Nc, N290, P400) between high-familial-risk infants who develop ASD (HR-ASD), high-familial-risk infants who do not develop ASD (HR-NoASD), and low-familial-risk infants (LR), determining the relationship between face-sensitive ERP components and the development of social communication skills. 12-month-old infants took part in a practice in which they were shown alternating photographs of their mother’s face and a stranger’s face while EEG data was taken (LR=45, HR-NoASD=41, HR-ASD=24). At 12 and 18 months, parent-reported and laboratory-observed social communication measures were acquired. ANOVA was used to investigate group differences in ERP responses, and multiple linear regressions with maternal education and outcome groups as factors were used to assess associations between ERP and behavioral measures. The amplitude difference between mother and stranger (Mother-Stranger) trials for each of the ERP components (Nc [negative-central], N290, and P400) was not statistically different between the 3 outcome groups (Nc P=0.72, N290 P=0.88, and P400 P=0.91). Marginal effects analyses revealed that, after controlling for maternal education and outcome group effects, a higher Nc Mother-Stranger response was related with superior expressive language skills on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning in the LR group (marginal effects dy/dx=1.15; P<0.01). In the HR-NoASD and HR-ASD groups, there were no significant relationships between the Nc and linguistic or social indicators. In the HR-ASD group, however, the amplitude difference between the Mother and Stranger P400 responses was positively associated with expressive (dy/dx=2.1, P<0.001) and receptive language skills at 12 months (dy/dx=1.68,P<0.005), but negatively associated with social affect scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (dy/dy=-1.22,P<0.001) at 18 months. Increased P400 response to Mother over Stranger faces favorably associated with present language and future social abilities in 12-months-old newborn siblings with ASD.
Link:link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s11689-021-09413-x
