The brain response to personally familiar faces in autism: findings of fusiform activity and beyond

Past functional MRI (FMRI) studies of autism have reported reduced activation in response to the faces of strangers primarily in the ‘fusiform face area ’ (FFA). An alternative and potentially stronger test of FFA func-tion in autism is one that attempts to affect levels of FFA activity using factors believed to modulate function in this brain region, such as face familiarity and the perception of face identity. The current study presented personally meaningful faces, such as mother and co-worker, as well as stranger faces in a rapid event-related FMRI design. Seven autistic and nine normal control adults par-ticipated and pressed a button in response to all female faces. A deconvolution analysis revealed significant FFA activity in response to familiar and stranger faces in both autism and normal control groups. Individuals with aut