Neurodiversity in the brain: More variable localization of face regions in autism

A fundamental principle in human neuroscience is that the brain is organized into distinct functional regions specialized for particular processes. These functional regions develop early and are shaped by sensory experiences. Strikingly, the precise location of these functional regions is relatively consistent across individuals, with specific regions found in stereotyped locations with respect to the macroanatomy (e.g., particular sulci and gyri). An important question is how flexible this functional neuroanatomy is, particularly in neurodevelopmental disorders like autism which are characterized by atypical brain development and behavior. Here, we investigated this question by focusing on the organization of the face-processing network — a well-characterized system of regions that are reliably localized across neurotypical individuals, including, famously, the fusiform face area. Using precision fMRI, we identified subject-specific face-sensitive regions in the brains of autistic and neurotypical adults, and assessed their topographical alignment across individuals. Face regions in autism were globally and highly variably displaced – located farther from their expected locations in the brain relative to much more homogenous localization in neurotypical adults. Autistic individuals whose face regions were more displaced had greater sociocommunicative challenges. In contrast, the spatial organization of object-sensitive regions was not affected. These findings suggest that the spatial organization of the face network is atypical in autism, with behaviorally meaningful increased variability in the precise location of face-sensitive areas, and highlights the importance of individualized approaches in neuroimaging.