Atypical neural response to faces is thought to contribute to social deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Compared to typically developing (TD) controls, individuals with ASD exhibit delayed brain responses to upright faces at a face-sensitive event-related potential (ERP), the N170. Given observed differences in patterns of visual attention to faces, it is not known whether slowed neural processing may simply reflect atypical looking to faces. The present study manipulated visual attention to facial features to examine whether directed attention to the eyes normalizes N170 latency in ASD. ERPs were recorded in 30 children and adolescents with ASD as well as 26 TD children and adolescents. Results replicated prior findings of shorter N170 latency to the eye region of the face in TD individuals. In contrast, those with ASD did not demonstrate modulation of N170 latency by point of regard to the face. Group differences in latency were most pronounced when attention was directed to the eyes. Results suggest that well-replicated findings of N170 delays in ASD do not simply reflect atypical patterns of visual engagement with experimental stimuli. These findings add to a body of evidence indicating that N170 delays are a promising marker of atypical neural response to social information in ASD.

中文翻译：

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N170 事件相关电位反映了 ASD 青少年视觉注意力集中在眼睛时对面部的延迟神经反应

对面孔的非典型神经反应被认为是导致自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 社会缺陷的原因。与典型发育 (TD) 对照相比，患有 ASD 的个体在面部敏感事件相关电位 (ERP) N170 下对直立面部表现出延迟的大脑反应。鉴于观察到的人脸视觉注意模式的差异，目前尚不清楚神经处理减慢是否可能只是反映了对人脸的非典型观察。本研究操纵对面部特征的视觉注意力，以检查对眼睛的直接注意力是否使 ASD 中的 N170 潜伏期正常化。在 30 名 ASD 儿童和青少年以及 26 名 TD 儿童和青少年中记录了 ERP。结果复制了先前发现 TD 个体面部眼部区域更短的 N170 潜伏期。相比之下，那些患有 ASD 的人没有表现出通过面部方面的 N170 潜伏期调制。当注意力集中在眼睛上时，潜伏期的组差异最为明显。结果表明，ASD 中 N170 延迟的良好复制结果并不仅仅反映了与实验刺激的视觉参与的非典型模式。这些发现补充了大量证据，表明 N170 延迟是 ASD 中对社会信息的非典型神经反应的有希望的标志。