Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA.
Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2012 Apr;2(2):244-55. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2011.12.003. Epub 2011 Dec 21.
The study investigated whether infant siblings of children with autism (sibs-ASD) process familiar and novel faces differently from typical infants and whether sensitivity to face familiarity is associated with infants' social and communicative behaviors. Visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in 35 infants, age 9 months ± 15 days (20 typical infants, 15 sibs-ASD) using an oddball paradigm presenting photographs of infants' mothers (70% of trials) and an unfamiliar female (30% of trials). Eye tracking responses to a different unfamiliar face were recorded to determine whether differences in gaze patterns might account for any ERP differences found. There were no group differences in the distribution, number or duration of fixations. Both infant groups differentiated between mothers and strangers, as reflected in amplitude modulations of posterior N290/P400 and frontal/central Nc responses. Group differences were present in the latency of the P400 response, where a delayed response to the stranger face was observed only in typical infants. Across both groups, shorter Nc latency to mother's face was associated with parental reports of stronger interpersonal skills. Individual differences in the speed of processing for novel vs. familiar faces may be an informative early marker of risk for atypical social development.
该研究调查了自闭症儿童的婴儿兄弟姐妹（sibs-ASD）是否与典型婴儿不同地处理熟悉和陌生面孔，以及对面部熟悉度的敏感性是否与婴儿的社交和沟通行为有关。使用呈现婴儿母亲（70%的试验）和陌生女性（30%的试验）照片的Oddball 范式，记录了 35 名 9 个月±15 天的婴儿（20 名典型婴儿，15 名 sibs-ASD）的视觉事件相关电位（ERP）。记录了对不同陌生面孔的眼动反应，以确定注视模式的差异是否可以解释发现的任何 ERP 差异。在注视模式的分布、数量和持续时间上，两组之间没有差异。两组婴儿都能区分母亲和陌生人，这反映在后部 N290/P400 和额/中央 Nc 反应的振幅调制上。两组之间存在 P400 反应潜伏期的差异，只有典型婴儿对陌生面孔的反应延迟。在两组中，对母亲面孔的 Nc 潜伏期较短与父母报告的更强的人际交往技能相关。对新面孔和熟悉面孔的处理速度的个体差异可能是异常社交发展风险的一个信息丰富的早期标志物。
