Research reportSocial cognition and neural substrates of face perception: Implications for neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders

- Autism and schizophrenia are typically regarded as dichotomous clinical entities.
- These conditions are associated with social deficits with known neural correlates.
- Social behavior may be regarded as a continuous, normally distributed trait.
- Here, normal variation in social behavior predicted neural structure and function.
- Brain-behavior links observed in atypical populations are preserved in controls.

BackgroundSocial cognition is an important aspect of social behavior in humans. Social cognitive deficits are associated with neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. In this study we examine the neural substrates of social cognition and face processing in a group of healthy young adults to examine the neural substrates of social cognition.MethodsFifty-seven undergraduates completed a battery of social cognition tasks and were assessed with electroencephalography (EEG) during a face-perception task. A subset (N = 22) were administered a face-perception task during functional magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsVariance in the N170 EEG was predicted by social attribution performance and by a quantitative measure of empathy. Neurally, face processing was more bilateral in females than in males. Variance in fMRI voxel count in the face-sensitive fusiform gyrus was predicted by quantitative measures of social behavior, including the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and the Empathizing Quotient.ConclusionsWhen measured as a quantitative trait, social behaviors in typical and pathological populations share common neural pathways. The results highlight the importance of viewing neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders as spectrum phenomena that may be informed by studies of the normal distribution of relevant traits in the general population.