Atypical processing of fearful face–voice pairs in Pervasive Developmental Disorder: An ERP study

Objective An important premise for successful social-affective communication is rapid perception of visual and auditory emotional cues, as well as their multisensory integration (MSI). We investigated to what extent a deficit in recognition of emotions in individuals with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) may have its roots in abnormal MSI of emotional cues provided by the sight of a facial expression and an emotional tone of voice. Methods In twelve high-functioning, adult PDD individuals and thirteen age- and IQ-matched controls, (1) the processing of fearful faces was compared with that of happy faces; (2) MSI was assessed by characterizing the interaction effects of crossmodal presentation, using EEG. Results Increased P1 and N170 amplitudes were seen in response to fearful faces compared with happy faces in both groups. However, PDD individuals differed from healthy controls in MSI of fearful information from visual and auditory cues. Conclusions Both groups show a similar pattern as concerns the early components of visual emotion processing, but there are anomalies in processing of fearful face–voice combinations in the PDD group. Significance Because of the importance of rapid MSI for social competence, MSI anomalies in PDD may be linked to the observed deficits in their emotional behavior.