Facial processing deficit in autism spectrum disorders

Cause or consequence of social impediment?

Abstract

Autism is a disorder characterized by abnormal cognitive functioning primarily in communication and social interaction. Although very little is known about the pathology of the underlying processes of this deficit, in different studies it has been observed that the social deficit that these subjects present is often accompanied by difficulties in the processing of faces. Different authors suggest that the amygdala along with other brain structures responsible for facial and emotional processing would be functioning improperly in this population and that there would be a close relationship between deficits in social and communicational behavior and facial processing. For this reason, this paper intends to carry out a review of the clinical manifestations presented by different subjects diagnosed with autism evaluated in various scientific studies. In addition, we will review the theoretical models that attempt to explain the deficit of facial processing and its relation to the inadequate social and communicational functioning of autistic people.