Early processing (N170) of infant faces in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder and its association with maternal sensitivity.
Moms of kids with autism show a right-brain face spike that grows with their own warmth, so coaching sensitivity has biological bite.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Márquez et al. (2019) recorded moms’ brain waves while they looked at pictures of babies.
All moms had a child with autism. The team also rated how sensitive each mom was to her own child’s cues.
They focused on a tiny brain spike called N170 that pops up when adults see faces.
What they found
The right side of the brain produced a bigger N170 spike in every mom.
Moms who acted more sensitive in daily life showed the largest spikes.
The result links a quick, automatic brain response to warm parenting style.
How this fits with other research
Xenitidis et al. (2010) already showed that high maternal sensitivity at 18 months predicts better language growth in toddlers later diagnosed with ASD. Carla’s team moves the lens from child outcome to mom’s own brain, showing sensitivity has a neural signature.
Lim et al. (2016) found smaller P100 waves in autistic adults looking at checkerboards, hinting at early visual differences. Carla sees the opposite pattern—bigger N170 to faces—suggesting face processing, not general vision, drives the boost.
Sharp et al. (2010) reported that babies later diagnosed with autism produce cries adults judge as more aversive. Together with Carla’s face findings, the message is clear: both infant signals and adult reactions can differ long before diagnosis.
Why it matters
You can’t measure N170 in clinic, but you can measure sensitivity. The study tells us the brain is already primed to notice baby faces in moms who tune in to subtle cues. When you coach parents, stress reading small facial and vocal signals—those quick looks and tiny frowns. Sharpening this skill may strengthen the same neural path Carla captured in the lab.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit impaired adult facial processing, as shown by the N170 event-related potential. However, few studies explore such processing in mothers of children with ASD, and none has assessed the early processing of infant faces in these women. Moreover, whether processing of infant facial expressions in mothers of children with ASD is related to their response to their child's needs (maternal sensitivity [MS]) remains unknown. This study explored the N170 related to infant faces in a group of mothers of children with ASD (MA) and a reference group of mothers of children without ASD. For both emotional (crying, smiling) and neutral expressions, the MA group exhibited larger amplitudes of N170 in the right hemisphere, while the reference group showed similar interhemispheric amplitudes. This lateralization effect within the MA group was not present for nonfaces and was stronger in the mothers with higher MS. We propose that mothers of ASD children use specialized perceptual resources to process infant faces, and this specialization is mediated by MS. Our findings suggest that having an ASD child modulates mothers' early neurophysiological responsiveness to infant cues. Whether this modulation represents a biological marker or a response given by experience remains to be explored. Autism Research 2019, 12: 744-758. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: When mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) see baby faces expressing emotions, they show a right-sided electrical response in the brain. This lateralization was stronger in mothers who were more sensitive to their children's needs. We conclude that having a child with ASD and being more attuned to their behavior generates a specialized pattern of brain activity when processing infant faces. Whether this pattern is biological or given by experience remains to be explored.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2019 · doi:10.1002/aur.2102