Using simultaneous EEG-fMRI to characterize human face processing in space and time

Using simultaneous EEG-fMRI to characterize human face processing in space and time
Elizabeth Norton, Ph.D., SCSB Schwinn Family Postdoctoral Fellow, John Gabrieli Laboratory, MIT
6/12/2015

A key feature of the human social brain is its specialized ability to process faces. EEG and fMRI brain imaging studies have yielded conflicting results about whether the brain’s response to faces is qualitatively or quantitatively different in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Here, I present data from a study using simultaneous EEG-fMRI to relate the EEG/ERP time course of face processing to the associated fMRI activation in adults with and without ASD. This approach is novel in its focus on relationships between multiple brain measures and behavioral indices. Taken together, these technologies can shed new light on the brain’s specialized processing of faces in ASDs and neurotypical adults.