Overwhelmed by the man in the moon? Pareidolic objects provoke increased amygdala activation in autism.

This study looked at how autistic and non-autistic people's brains respond to objects that look like they have faces (like seeing a face in the moon). Autistic participants showed much stronger brain activity, especially in the amygdala (an emotional processing area), when looking at these face-like objects. This suggests that autistic people's brains may be more sensitive to face-like patterns, which could help explain why many autistic people find eye contact uncomfortable.

This neuroimaging study examined brain responses to pareidolic objects (objects that appear to contain faces, like the 'man in the moon') in 37 autistic and 34 non-autistic participants. Results showed that autistic participants demonstrated significantly increased bilateral amygdala activation when viewing these illusory faces, while controls showed no such activation. Additionally, the cortical face-processing network was more strongly engaged in autistic participants compared to controls. The researchers suggest this reflects an oversensitive subcortical face processing system in autism, potentially linked to early imbalances in excitatory and inhibitory brain systems that affect typical brain development and may contribute to eye contact aversion commonly observed in autism.

These findings provide neurobiological evidence for face processing differences in autism that may underlie social challenges like eye contact aversion. Understanding this heightened sensitivity could inform therapeutic approaches and environmental modifications to reduce overwhelming sensory experiences related to face processing in autistic individuals.

Sample size details not fully specified. Study type unclear. Cross-sectional design limits causal inferences. Unclear if findings generalize across autism spectrum or age groups. Relationship between brain activation patterns and actual behavioral responses to faces not directly measured.

An interesting feature of the primate face detection system results in the perception of illusory faces in objects, or pareidolia. These illusory faces do not per se contain social information, such as eye-gaze or specific identities, yet they activate the cortical brain face-processing network, possibly via the subcortical route, including the amygdala. In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), aversion to eye-contact is commonly reported, and so are alterations in face processing more generally, yet the underlying reasons are not clear. Here we show that in autistic participants (N=37), but not in non-autistic controls (N=34), pareidolic objects increase amygdala activation bilaterally (right amygdala peak: X = 26, Y = -6, Z = -16; left amygdala peak X = -24, Y = -6, Z = -20).

In addition, illusory faces engage the face-processing cortical network significantly more in ASD than in controls. An early imbalance in the excitatory and inhibitory systems in autism, affecting typical brain maturation, may be at the basis of an overresponsive reaction to face configuration and to eye contact. Our data add to the evidence of an oversensitive subcortical face processing system in ASD.