Face processing in fragile X syndrome

Faces provide important information necessary for social communication. The current study aimed to evaluate Event-Related Brain Potentials (ERPs) as a method of exploring face processing abilities in fragile X syndrome (FXS), a genetic disorder where social deficits lie at the core of the cognitive phenotype. Neural changes were investigated in three children with FXS across various conditions such as upright vs. inverted faces, intact faces vs. faces with no eyes as well as faces vs. cars. Relative to chronological age matched controls, children with FXS displayed greater N170 amplitudes and shorter latency peaks across conditions. In addition, the FXS group showed right hemispheric specialization for both face and non-face stimuli. Heightened electrophysiological responses in FXS are discussed in the context of reported hyper-sensitivity and arousal