SOCIAL dysfunction in autism is severe and likely involves abnormalities in multiple neural regions. One important constituent of social interchanges is processing of information provided by the face.
Neural systems that normally mediate face processing have been vigorously investigated1-5 and results from neuroimaging studies of normal subjects provide robust evidence that face processing involves increased activation of the fusiform gyrus (FG). The noted consistency across normal individuals and different paradigms is such that some scientists claim that the FG is selective for faces.6
In this context of high certainty about normal functional patterns, Schultz et al7 conducted the first neuroimaging study to test whether autism involves abnormal neurofunctional activation during face processing. The consistent literature in normal subjects provided an opportunity seldom experienced in research on the brain bases of autism, namely, confidence about interpreting whether functional magnetic resonance imaging results from patients with autism deviate from normal.
As compared . . . [Full Text of this Article]
