Tang Tiffany, Pledts Kasper, Moerkerke Matthijs, Van der Donck Stephanie, Bollen Bieke, Steyaert Jean, Alaerts Kaat, Ortibus Els, Naulaers Gunnar, Boets Bart
Center for Developmental Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 ON5B bus 1029, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Department of Development and Regeneration, UZ Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Brain Sci. 2024 Nov 22;14(12):1168. doi: 10.3390/brainsci14121168.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Prematurely born individuals are at risk for developing socio-emotional difficulties and psychopathologies such as autism spectrum disorder. Particular difficulties processing social information conveyed by the face may underlie these vulnerabilities.
This comprehensive review provides an overview of 27 studies published between 2000 and mid-2022 concerning face processing in individuals born preterm and/or born with low birth weight across different age ranges, paradigms, and outcome measures. The results were interpreted across different developmental stages.
Behavioural studies indicated that prematurity is associated with poorer facial identity and expression processing compared to term-born controls, especially for negative emotions. Structural alterations and delayed maturation in key neural face processing structures could explain these findings. Neuroimaging also revealed functional atypicalities, which may either be rooted in the structural alterations or may partly compensate for the delayed maturation.
The results suggest that altered face processing may be associated with an increased risk of developing psychopathologies in individuals born prematurely. Future studies should investigate the preterm behavioural phenotype and the potential need for face processing rehabilitation programs.
背景/目的：早产个体有发展社会情感困难和精神病理学问题（如自闭症谱系障碍）的风险。处理面部传达的社会信息方面的特定困难可能是这些易感性的基础。
本综述全面概述了2000年至2022年年中发表的27项研究，这些研究涉及不同年龄范围、范式和结果测量下的早产和/或低出生体重个体的面部处理。结果在不同发育阶段进行了解释。
行为研究表明，与足月儿对照组相比，早产与较差的面部识别和表情处理能力有关，尤其是对于负面情绪。关键神经面部处理结构的结构改变和延迟成熟可以解释这些发现。神经影像学还揭示了功能异常，这可能源于结构改变，也可能部分补偿了延迟成熟。
结果表明，面部处理改变可能与早产个体发生精神病理学问题的风险增加有关。未来的研究应调查早产行为表型以及面部处理康复计划的潜在需求。
