Brief Report: Facial Asymmetry and Autistic-Like Traits in the General Population

Boutrus, Maryam; Gilani, Zulqarnain; Maybery, Murray T.; Alvares, Gail A.; Tan, Diana W.; Eastwood, Peter R.; Mian, Ajmal; Whitehouse, Andrew J. O.

doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04661-7

Brief Report
Published: 26 August 2020

Brief Report: Facial Asymmetry and Autistic-Like Traits in the General Population

Maryam Boutrus ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0545-0353^1,2,3,
Zulqarnain Gilani^4,7,
Murray T. Maybery³,
Gail A. Alvares^1,2,
Diana W. Tan^1,3,
Peter R. Eastwood^5,6,
Ajmal Mian⁴ &
Andrew J. O. Whitehouse^1,2

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders volume 51, pages 2115–2123 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Atypical facial morphology, particularly increased facial asymmetry, has been identified in some individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC). Many cognitive, behavioural and biological features associated with ASC also occur on a continuum in the general population. The aim of the present study was to examine subthreshold levels of autistic traits and facial morphology in non-autistic individuals. Facial asymmetry was measured using three-dimensional facial photogrammetry, and the Autism-spectrum Quotient was used to measure autistic-like traits in a community-ascertained sample of young adults (n = 289). After accounting for covariates, there were no significant associations observed between autistic-like traits and facial asymmetry, suggesting that any potential facial morphology differences linked to ASC may be limited to the clinical condition.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the Raine Study participants and their families for their ongoing participation in the study, the Raine Study team for study co-ordination and data collection, and the University of Western Australia Centre for Sleep Science for utilisation of the facility and the sleep study technicians. The core management of the Raine Study is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, Telethon Kids Institute, Women and Infants Research Foundation, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University, the University of Notre Dame Australia and the Raine Medical Research Foundation. The Raine Study Gen2-22 year follow-up was funded by NHMRC project grants 1027449, 1044840 and 1021855. Authors M.B., G.A.A., and A.J.O.W. acknowledge support from the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program. Author M.B. was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award/Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship, and a UWA Top-up Scholarship. Author G.A.A. is funded by an early career fellowship from the Western Australian Health Translation Network. Authors A.J.O.W. and P.R.E. are funded by NHMRC Senior Research Fellowships (APP1077966, APP1136548, respectively). The funders had no influence over the ideas contained in, or in the writing of, this manuscript.

Funding

Core Management of the Raine Study has been funded by the national Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), University of Western Australia (UWA), Curtin University, the UWA Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, the Raine Medical Research Foundation, the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, and the Women’s and Infants Research Foundation. Authors M.B., G.A.A., and A.J.O.W. acknowledge support from the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program. Author G.A.A is funded by an early career fellowship from the Western Australian Health Translation Network. Author A.J.O.W. is funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship (APP1077966). The funders had no influence over the ideas contained in, or in the writing of, this manuscript. The authors are extremely grateful to all the families who took part in this study and the whole Raine Study team, which includes the Cohort Manager, Data Manager and data collection team.

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Affiliations

Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, 100 Roberts Rd, Subiaco, WA, 6008, Australia
Maryam Boutrus, Gail A. Alvares, Diana W. Tan & Andrew J. O. Whitehouse
Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Brisbane, Australia
Maryam Boutrus, Gail A. Alvares & Andrew J. O. Whitehouse
School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Maryam Boutrus, Murray T. Maybery & Diana W. Tan
Computer Sciences and Software Engineering, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Zulqarnain Gilani & Ajmal Mian
School of Human Sciences, Centre for Sleep Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Peter R. Eastwood
Department of Pulmonary Physiology & Sleep Medicine, West Australian Sleep Disorders Research Institute, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth,, Australia
Peter R. Eastwood
School of Science, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia
Zulqarnain Gilani

Authors

Maryam Boutrus
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Zulqarnain Gilani
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Murray T. Maybery
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Gail A. Alvares
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Diana W. Tan
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Peter R. Eastwood
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Ajmal Mian
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Andrew J. O. Whitehouse
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Contributions

MB, AW, MM and GA conceived the presented idea. PE fascilitated the collection of facial images. SGZ and DT were involved in the landmark annotation of facial photographs. SGZ computed the FA scores in collaboration with AM. MB analysed the data and wrote the manuscript with input from all authors.

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Correspondence to Maryam Boutrus.

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Boutrus, M., Gilani, Z., Maybery, M.T. et al. Brief Report: Facial Asymmetry and Autistic-Like Traits in the General Population. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 2115–2123 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04661-7

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Published: 26 August 2020
Issue Date: June 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04661-7

Keywords

Autism
Facial asymmetry
Morphology
Neurotypical
Neurodevelopment