Sex differences in the relationship between autistic traits and face-change discrimination sensitivity in the general population: a psychophysical investigation.

Abstract

The findings on the effect of autistic traits on face recognition performance vary across previous studies. Even though people with higher autistic traits have difficulties identifying faces, the extent to which they have difficulties is unknown. Moreover, even though Autism Spectrum Disorder has sex differences in prevalence and symptoms, a limited number of studies consider sex differences in face recognition. The present study examined the relationship between face-change discrimination sensitivity and autistic traits considering sex differences. The participants included 82 females and 88 males in the general population. Face change blindness task using psychophysical method was used to evaluate the degree of sensitivity to faces in each participant. A psychometric function computed the Point of Subjective Equality (PSE) as the morphing level required to discriminate between faces. The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) was also administered to participants. The results revealed a negative relationship between the total score of the AQ and the PSE in females but not males. This study suggests that sex differences should be considered when examining the relationship between autistic traits and other-face perception.