Deficit of Neutral Facial Expression Recognition between Children with High-Functioning Autism and Typical Peers Aged 7-11

Individuals suffering from Autestic spectrum disorder are impaired in interpersonal and social skills highly due to deficiency in facial emotion recognition. The objective of this study was to compare this ability between children with High-Functioning Autism with Typical peers. Comparing recognition of neutral state was used for the first time. Twenty seven High-Functioning Autism and 27 Typical boys between 7 and 11 years of age who were matched based on age, and performance, verbal and overall IQ participated in this study. Comparison of neutral face and facial emotions, including fear and surprise was made using a computerized researcher-made test in MATLAB software. A repeated measures ANOVA and an independent t-test were used for statistical analysis using SPSS software version 19. There was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of facial emotion recognition (F (1,50) = 7.288, p = 0.009). The difference was significant in the recognition of neutral face with female gender (t = 2.574, p = 0.013). There was no difference in reaction time between groups (F (1,50) = 4.002, P =. 051). Differences in reaction time in both groups and in three facial expressions were observed in male targets (t = -2.305, p =. 025), (t = -2.160, p =. 035), (t = -2.654, p = 0.011). In recognition of neutral faces with female gender targets, people with High-Functioning Autism performed weaker than typical peers and their reaction time were increased in male gender targets.