Disconnection from others in autism is more than just a feeling: whole-brain neural synchrony in adults during implicit processing of emotional faces.

All measurements were made once in a laboratory session with 22 adults with autism and 22 controls, so the study cannot show how these brain differences change over time or cause social difficulties. Most autistic participants were taking psychotropic medication, while controls were not, so medication effects cannot be separated from autism-related brain differences. Participants had IQs of at least 70, and mean IQ was 114.0 in the autism group and 114.3 in controls, so results may not apply to autistic adults with lower IQ or to children. The task used faces shown for 80 ms and asked participants to judge the side of a scrambled pattern, not to recognise emotion, so it does not test everyday social communication. The authors state that laterality effects need caution because no statistical tests on left and right connectivity strength were run. The authors note that beamformers can be imperfect for bilateral sources, so exact brain origins of the connectivity differences are uncertain.

Do not conclude that this brain pattern causes autism social difficulties or can be used to assess or treat patients. The study measured one laboratory task in 22 adults with autism and 22 controls, did not test treatment or everyday communication, and most autistic participants were taking medication.