BACKGROUND Atypical face processing is a prominent feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but is not universal and is subject to individual variability. This heterogeneity could be accounted for by reliable yet unidentified subgroups within the diverse population of individuals with ASD. Alexithymia, which is characterized by difficulties in emotion recognition and identification, serves as a potential grouping factor. Recent research demonstrates that emotion recognition impairments in ASD are predicted by its comorbidity with alexithymia. The current study assessed the relative influence of autistic versus alexithymic traits on neural indices of face and emotion perception. METHODS Capitalizing upon the temporal sensitivity of event-related potentials (ERPs), it investigates the distinct contributions of alexithymic versus autistic traits at specific stages of emotional face processing in 27 typically developing adults (18 female). ERP components reflecting sequential stages of perceptual processing (P100, N170 and N250) were recorded in response to fear and neutral faces. RESULTS The results indicated that autistic traits were associated with structural encoding of faces (N170), whereas alexithymic traits were associated with more complex emotion decoding (N250). CONCLUSIONS These findings have important implications for deconstructing heterogeneity within ASD.

中文翻译：

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自闭症和运动障碍特征会调节人脸感知的不同方面。

背景技术非典型面部处理是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的突出特征，但不是普遍的，并且受个体变异性的影响。这种异质性可以由ASD个体人群中可靠但尚未确定的亚组来解释。以情感识别和识别方面的困难为特征的Alexethymia可能是一个潜在的分组因素。最近的研究表明，ASD的情绪识别障碍是由其与无力症合并症预测的。当前的研究评估了自闭症和无神论者特征对面部和情绪感知神经指数的相对影响。方法利用事件相关电位（ERP）的时间敏感性，该研究调查了27名典型的发育中成年人（18名女性）在面部表情处理的特定阶段，无神论者和自闭症特征的不同贡献。记录了反映感知处理的连续阶段的ERP组件（P100，N170和N250），以应对恐惧和中立的面孔。结果结果表明，自闭特征与面部结构编码有关（N170），而无神论特征与较复杂的情绪解码有关（N250）。结论这些发现对解构ASD的异质性具有重要意义。结果结果表明，自闭特征与面部结构编码有关（N170），而无神论特征与较复杂的情绪解码有关（N250）。结论这些发现对解构ASD的异质性具有重要意义。结果结果表明，自闭特征与面部结构编码有关（N170），而无神论特征与较复杂的情绪解码有关（N250）。结论这些发现对解构ASD的异质性具有重要意义。