The integration of visual features is important for recognizing objects as a coherent whole, a key domain of difficulty in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We tested the hypothesis that ASD patients exhibit difficulties in facial emotional recognition via perceptual binding difficulties due to weak coherence. We assessed 18 ASD and 27 typically developing individuals for their ability to identify emotional expressions from faces in pictures moving behind a narrow vertical and horizontal slit. In this task, only a single local piece of facial information was provided at any one time through the slit. Using a voxel‐based analysis of neurite‐orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), we examined the relationship between NODDI index values at each voxel and the behavioral performance of ASD patients in the slit‐viewing paradigm. ASD patients demonstrated impaired recognition of facial emotional expression only in horizontal slit‐viewing. This deficit was associated with deficits in communication ability. Voxel‐based analysis revealed significant negative correlations between behavioral deficits in horizontal slit‐viewing and NODDI index values in clusters including the ventral occipital complex region, superior temporal/parietal association areas, and forceps major of the corpus callosum. Our results indicated deficits for the first time in perceptual integration of facial expression across hemispheres in ASD patients due to microstructural disturbances in the corpus callosum and areas related to viewing of the human face. This may underscore the difficulties faced by ASD patients in understanding the emotions of other people, contributing to impairments in communication ability in ASD patients. Autism Res 2020, 13: 729–740. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

中文翻译：

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通过神经元定向分散和密度成像评估的微结构异常与自闭症谱系障碍中的感知结合困难对面部情绪识别的缺陷有关。

视觉特征的整合对于将对象识别为一个连贯的整体非常重要，这是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的主要困难领域。我们检验了以下假设：ASD患者由于缺乏连贯性而通过知觉结合困难而在面部情绪识别方面表现出困难。我们评估了18名ASD和27名典型的发育中个体在从狭窄的垂直和水平狭缝后面移动的图片中识别面部表情的能力。在此任务中，任何时候都只能通过狭缝提供单个局部的面部信息。使用基于体素的神经突取向弥散和密度成像（NODDI）分析，我们检查了每个体素的NODDI指标值与狭缝观察范式中ASD患者的行为表现之间的关系。ASD患者仅在水平裂隙观察中表现出对面部情绪表达的识别受损。这种缺陷与沟通能力的缺陷有关。基于体素的分析显示，水平切口观察的行为缺陷与NODDI指数值之间的显着负相关，该簇包括腹枕后复杂区，颞上/顶联合区和ps体大钳。我们的结果表明，由于SD体和与观察人脸有关的区域中的微结构紊乱，ASD患者跨半球的面部表情在知觉上的整合首次出现缺陷。这可能突显了ASD患者在理解他人情绪方面面临的困难，Autism Res 2020，13：729-740。©2020国际自闭症研究协会，Wiley Periodicals，Inc.。