Temporal characteristics of facial ensemble in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: examination from arousal and attentional allocation

This study investigated the effect of autistic traits on temporal ensemble, that is, the perception of the average expression from multiple changing expressions.MethodsWe conducted a simplified temporal-ensemble task and analyzed behavioral responses, pupil size, and viewing times for eyes of a face. Participants with and without diagnosis of ASD viewed serial presentations of facial expressions that randomly switched between emotional and neutral. The temporal ratio of the emotional expressions was manipulated. The participants estimated the intensity of the facial emotions for the overall presentation.ResultsWe obtained three major results: (a) many participants with ASD were less susceptible to the ratio of anger expression for temporal ensembles, (b) they produced significantly greater pupil size for angry expressions (within-participants comparison) and smaller pupil size for sad expressions (between-groups comparison), and (c) pupil size and viewing time to eyes were not correlated with the temporal ensemble.DiscussionThese results suggest atypical temporal integration of anger expression and arousal characteristics in individuals with ASD; however, the atypical integration is not fully explained by arousal or attentional allocation.

Source: Frontiers in Psychiatry - February 19, 2024 Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research