Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which changes in brain connectivity, associated with autistic-like traits in some individuals. First-degree relatives of children with autism may show mild deficits in social interaction. The present study investigates electroencephalography (EEG) brain connectivity patterns of the fathers who have children with autism while performing facial emotion labeling task. Fifteen biological fathers of children with the diagnosis of autism (Test Group) and fifteen fathers of neurotypical children with no personal or family history of autism (Control Group) participated in this study. Facial emotion labeling task was evaluated using a set of photos consisting of six categories (mild and extreme: anger, happiness, and sadness). Group Independent Component Analysis method was applied to EEG data to extract neural sources. Dynamic causal connectivity of neural sources signals was estimated using the multivariate autoregressive model and quantified by using the Granger causality-based methods. Statistical analysis showed significant differences (p value < 0.01) in the connectivity of neural sources in recognition of some emotions in two groups, which the most differences observed in the mild anger and mild sadness emotions. Short-range connectivity appeared in Test Group and conversely, long-range and interhemispheric connections are observed in Control Group. Finally, it can be concluded that the Test Group showed abnormal activity and connectivity in the brain network for the processing of emotional faces compared to the Control Group. We conclude that neural source connectivity analysis in fathers may be considered as a potential and promising biomarker of ASD.

自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 是一种神经发育障碍，其中大脑连接发生变化，与某些个体的自闭症样特征相关。自闭症儿童的一级亲属可能在社交互动方面表现出轻微的缺陷。本研究调查了患有自闭症的父亲在执行面部情绪标记任务时的脑电图 (EEG) 大脑连接模式。15 名被诊断为自闭症儿童的亲生父亲（测试组）和 15 名没有自闭症个人史或家族史的神经典型儿童的父亲（对照组）参与了这项研究。面部情绪标记任务使用由六个类别（轻度和极端：愤怒、快乐和悲伤）组成的一组照片进行评估。将组独立分量分析方法应用于脑电数据以提取神经源。使用多元自回归模型估计神经源信号的动态因果连接，并使用基于格兰杰因果关系的方法进行量化。统计分析显示显着差异（p 值 < 0.01) 两组神经源在识别某些情绪方面的连通性，其中在轻度愤怒和轻度悲伤情绪中观察到的差异最大。短程连接出现在测试组中，相反，在控制组中观察到远程和半球间连接。最后，可以得出结论，与对照组相比，测试组在处理情绪面部的大脑网络中表现出异常活动和连通性。我们得出结论，父亲的神经源连接分析可能被认为是 ASD 的潜在和有前途的生物标志物。