A preliminary investigation of the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on facial morphology in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. DW Tan, YZ Foo, J Downs, A Finlay-Jones, H Leonard, M Licari, N Mullan, M Symons, KJ Varcin, AJO Whitehouse, GA Alvares.

Date: August 2020. Source:  Alcohol. Volume 86, Pages 75-80. Abstract: Alcohol exposure during pregnancy has been associated with altered brain development and facial dysmorphology. While autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not specifically related to distinct facial phenotypes, recent studies have suggested certain facial characteristics—increased facial masculinity and asymmetry—may be associated with ASD and its clinical…

A broad autism phenotype expressed in facial morphology. DW Tan, MT Maybery, SZ Gilani et al.

Date: January 2020. Source: Translational Psychiatry, Volume 10, Article No. 7. Abstract: Autism spectrum disorder is a heritable neurodevelopmental condition diagnosed based on social and communication differences. There is strong evidence that cognitive and behavioural changes associated with clinical autism aggregate with biological relatives but in milder form, commonly referred to as the ‘broad autism…

Sex‐specific variation in facial masculinity/ femininity associated with autistic traits in the general population. DW Tan, MT Maybery, L Ewing, JX Tay, PR Eastwood, AJO Whitehouse.

Date: December 2019. Source: British Journal Psychology. doi: 10.1111/bjop.12436. (Online) Abstract: Reports linking prenatal testosterone exposure to autistic traits and to a masculinized face structure have motivated research investigating whether autism is associated with facial masculinization. This association has been reported with greater consistency for females than for males, in studies comparing groups with high…

Hypermasculinised facial morphology in boys and girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder and its association with symptomatology. DW Tan, SZ Gilani, MT Maybery, A Mian, A Hunt, M Walters, AJO Whitehouse.

Date: August 2017 Source: nature.com SCiENtifiC REporTS | 7: 9348 Abstract: Elevated prenatal testosterone exposure has been associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and facial masculinity. By employing three-dimensional (3D) photogrammetry, the current study investigated whether prepubescent boys and girls with ASD present increased facial masculinity compared to typically-developing controls. There were two phases to…

Analysis of facial muscle activation in children with autism using 3D imaging. MD Samad, JL Bobzien, JW Harrington, KM Iftekharuddin.

Date: November 2015. Source: 2015 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM), Pages 337-342. Washington, DC. Abstract: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impairs an individual’s non-verbal skills including natural and contextual facial expressions. Such impairments may manifest as odd facial expressions (facial oddity) based on subjective evaluations of facial images. A few studies conducted on…

Autism: Comparative Genomics and Interactomics. C Barth, N Bishop.

Date: January 2014 Source: Comprehensive Guide to Autism, pp 2853–2880. New York: Springer, 2014. Abstract: Many common human neurological disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and schizophrenia, have complex genetics and inheritance patterns. While understanding the molecular mechanisms of single-gene disorders is comparatively straightforward, complex diseases are, by their…

Facial phenotypes in subgroups of prepubertal boys with autism spectrum disorders are correlated with clinical phenotypes. K Aldridge, ID George, KK Cole, JR Austin, TN Takahashi, Y Duan, and JH Miles.

Date: October 2011. Source: Molecular Autism Journal, 2:15. Background: The brain develops in concert and in coordination with the developing facial tissues, with each influencing the development of the other and sharing genetic signaling pathways. Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) result from alterations in the embryological brain, suggesting that the development of the faces of children…