Single-Neuron Correlates of Atypical Face Processing in Autism

• Published in: Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 2013-11, Vol.80 (4), p.887-899
• Main Authors: Rutishauser, Ueli, Tudusciuc, Oana, Wang, Shuo, Mamelak, Adam N., Ross, Ian B., Adolphs, Ralph
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algorithms; Amygdala - cytology; Amygdala - physiology; Autism; Autistic Disorder - physiopathology; Autistic Disorder - psychology; Behavior; Data analysis; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Electrodes, Implanted; Electrophysiological Phenomena; Face; Fixation, Ocular - physiology; Humans; Hypotheses; Medical imaging; Neurons; Ocular Physiological Phenomena; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Reaction Time - physiology; Recognition (Psychology) - physiology; Visual Perception - physiology
• ISSN: 0896-6273; 1097-4199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.08.029

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show abnormal processing of faces. A range of morphometric, histological, and neuroimaging studies suggest the hypothesis that this abnormality may be linked to the amygdala. We recorded data from single neurons within the amygdalae of two rare neurosurgical patients with ASD. While basic electrophysiological response parameters were normal, there were specific and striking abnormalities in how individual facial features drove neuronal response. Compared to control patients, a population of neurons in the two ASD patients responded significantly more to the mouth, but less to the eyes. Moreover, we found a second class of face-responsive neurons for which responses to faces appeared normal. The findings confirm the amygdala’s pivotal role in abnormal face processing by people with ASD at the cellular level and suggest that dysfunction may be traced to a specific subpopulation of neurons with altered selectivity for the features of faces. •Single neurons in the amygdalae of two patients with autism were recorded•Amygdala neurons in patients with autism were hypersensitive to the mouth region•These same neurons showed reduced sensitivity to the eye region of faces•Only a specific population of amygdala neurons appears to be abnormal in autism Rutishauser et al. record single-neuron responses to faces in the amygdalae of two patients with autism and five patients without autism and find that the neurons respond more to the mouth, but less to the eyes, compared to controls without autism. This suggests that specific amygdala cells contribute to abnormal face processing in autism.