Facial processing deficits and social dysfunction: how are they related?

Abstract

Social and developmental disorders (SDD), which include the psychiatric diagnoses of autism and Asperger's syndrome and the neurological diagnosis of social-emotional processing disorder (SEPD), are characterized by impaired social function. Face perception per se and facial expression processing in particular are important for social interaction, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Criteria for Autism and Asperger's Disorder emphasizes both facial expression processing deficits and social dysfunction as features of these disorders. It is therefore unsurprising that previous studies of individuals with SDD have focused on the examination of facial expression recognition deficits. Facial expression perception was impaired in autistic individuals, for example (e.g. Hobson et al ., 1988). Furthermore, whilst many previous studies have highlighted the roles of specific neural regions, including the amygdala and fusiform gyrus, in normal facial expression and identity perception (e.g. Haxby et al ., 2000; Phillips et al ., 2003), neuroimaging studies in autistic individuals indicate impaired function in these regions (e.g. Critchley et al ., 2000; Pierce et al ., 2001; Hubl et al ., 2003) and abnormal amygdalar volumes (e.g. Howard et al ., 2000; Pierce et al ., 2001; Salmond et al ., 2003). These data …