Autistic children's brains show distinct, age-independent patterns in face processing, study finds
EEG analysis of 400 children reveals neural signals for faces are less distinct in autism and fail to specialize with age, offering potential biomarkers
A major study published in Nature Mental Health has found that the brains of autistic children process faces in a fundamentally different way from neurotypical children, and that this difference does not diminish with age. Using electroencephalography (EEG) and machine learning, researchers analyzed brain activity across the entire scalp in approximately 400 autistic children and found that the neural signals associated with seeing a face were less distinct than in neurotypical peers and did not become more specialized as the children grew older, suggesting face-processing differences may be an intrinsic feature of autism rather than a consequence of experience.