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The Effects of Face Expertise Training on the Behavioral Performance and Brain Activity of Adults with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

The effect of expertise training with faces was studied in adults with ASD who showed initial impairment in face recognition. Participants were randomly assigned to a computerized training program involving either faces or houses. Pre- and post-testing included standardized and experimental measures of behavior and event-related brain potentials (ERPs), as well as interviews after training. After training, all participants met behavioral criteria for expertise with the specific stimuli on which they received training. Scores on standardized measures improved after training for both groups, but only the face training group showed an increased face inversion effect behaviorally and electrophysiological changes to faces in the P100 component. These findings suggest that individuals with ASD can gain expertise in face processing through training.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the NIMH STAART (Dawson/Aylward U54 MH066399), the NICHD Autism Center of Excellence (Webb P50 HD055782), NINDS Postdoctoral Award (Faja T32NS007413), Autism Speaks Postdoctoral Fellowship (Jones), the UW Mary Gates Fellowship (Kamara), Dr. Jessica Greenson and the STAART Diagnostic Core, and the UW Psychophysiology and Behavioral Systems Lab. The project is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies. Some stimuli were from the MacBrain Face Stimulus Set (John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Early Experience & Brain Development), Dr. Nancy Kanwiser (houses), and Dr. Martin Eimer (houses). We especially thank the participants and their families. These data were presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research, London, UK, in May, 2008.

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  1. Sara Jane Webb, Dana Kamara & Elizabeth Aylward

    Present address: Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, CHDD Box 357920, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Susan Faja, Sara Jane Webb, Emily Jones, Kristen Merkle, Elizabeth Aylward & Geraldine Dawson

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Susan Faja, Sara Jane Webb, Dana Kamara, Joshua Bavaro & Geraldine Dawson

  3. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Susan Faja

  4. Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA

    Emily Jones

  5. Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Kristen Merkle

  6. Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Elizabeth Aylward

  7. Autism Speaks, New York, NY, USA

    Geraldine Dawson

  8. Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Geraldine Dawson

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  1. Susan Faja
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Correspondence to Susan Faja.

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Faja, S., Webb, S.J., Jones, E. et al. The Effects of Face Expertise Training on the Behavioral Performance and Brain Activity of Adults with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 42, 278–293 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1243-8

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