Neural activity in the posterior superior temporal region during eye contact perception correlates with autistic traits

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 549; pp. 45 - 50
• Main Authors: Hasegawa, Naoya, Kitamura, Hideaki, Murakami, Hiroatsu, Kameyama, Shigeki, Sasagawa, Mutsuo, Egawa, Jun, Endo, Taro, Someya, Toshiyuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 09.08.2013
• Subjects: Adolescent; Attention - physiology; Autistic Disorder - physiopathology; Autistic traits; Brain Mapping; Eye; Eye contact; Facial Expression; Female; Gaze processing; Humans; Magnetoencephalography; Male; Minimum Current Estimates; Photic Stimulation; Social Perception; Temporal Lobe - physiopathology; Theory of mind; Young Adult; FG; Magnetoencephalography; Gaze processing; Eye contact; Autistic traits; RCPM; Theory of mind; ROI; MCE; MEG; AQ; ASD; mPFC; ToM; pSTS; BOLD; Minimum Current Estimates; medial prefrontal cortex; posterior superior temporal sulcus; Raven's colored progressive matrices; blood oxygen level-dependent; Autism spectrum disorder; fusiform gyrus; region of interest; Autism Spectrum Quotient
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2013.05.067

•Brain activity related to gaze processing was examined with magnetoencephalography.•Association between gaze-related activity and autistic traits was investigated.•Right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) activity was sensitive to gaze.•Activity in the medial prefrontal regions was sensitive to gaze.•Activity in the right pSTS for direct gaze correlated with AQ score. The present study investigated the relationship between neural activity associated with gaze processing and autistic traits in typically developed subjects using magnetoencephalography. Autistic traits in 24 typically developed college students with normal intelligence were assessed using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). The Minimum Current Estimates method was applied to estimate the cortical sources of magnetic responses to gaze stimuli. These stimuli consisted of apparent motion of the eyes, displaying direct or averted gaze motion. Results revealed gaze-related brain activations in the 150–250ms time window in the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), and in the 150–450ms time window in medial prefrontal regions. In addition, the mean amplitude in the 150–250ms time window in the right pSTS region was modulated by gaze direction, and its activity in response to direct gaze stimuli correlated with AQ score. pSTS activation in response to direct gaze is thought to be related to higher-order social processes. Thus, these results suggest that brain activity linking eye contact and social signals is associated with autistic traits in a typical population.