Cutting-edge 3D facial scans could give genetic clues to autism

Date:
September 17, 2021
Source:
Edith Cowan University
Summary:
Researchers are using high-tech 3D facial scans to give us a better
understanding of the genetic causes of autism.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
New Australian research is using high-tech 3D facial scans to give us
a better understanding of the genetic causes of autism.


========================================================================== Researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU) used sophisticated machine learning techniques to analyse 5000 points on faces to measure facial
asymmetry in parents of children on the autism spectrum.

The research team from ECU, UWA and Telethon Kids Institute have
previously found children on the autism spectrum were more likely to
have greater facial asymmetry than non-autistic children.

This is important because better understanding of facial characteristics
of autistic people contribute to efforts for early identification and
help to understand hereditary (or genetic) causal links.

Genetic factors are known to play a major role in autism however there
is growing evidence that environmental factors, such as hormones or
maternal health, could also influence development of the condition.

In the current study researchers compared the facial asymmetry of
192 parents of autistic children to 163 adults with no known history
of autism.



==========================================================================
They found parents of children on the autism spectrum had more asymmetric
faces than other adults of a similar age.

ECU School of Science Research Fellow Dr Syed Zulqarnian Gilani said
the research was an important step in better understanding the genetic
causes of autism.

"These findings suggest there could be a link between the genes which
affect the likelihood of an individual having greater facial asymmetry
and autism," he said.

"By using these cutting-edge 3D scans of faces combined with machine
learning techniques we can distinguish between thousands of subtle
differences in faces to determine an overall facial asymmetry score.

"When we compared those scores, we saw that faces of parents of autistic children were more likely to have higher asymmetry compared to other
adults." A new way of looking at autism


========================================================================== According to Dr Diana Tan, the project's lead author and a Postdoctoral Research Associate at UWA and Telethon Kids Institute, the research
helps increase our understanding of autism.

"Autism is not traditionally known to be a condition with distinctive
facial features, but our research has challenged this notion," she said.

"Our study provided evidence that the genetic factors leading to the development of autism may also express in physical characteristics, which
leads to our understanding of the interplay between genes, physical and
brain development in humans." "We previously examined another facial
marker -- facial masculinity -- that was associated with autism. The next
step of this project would be to evaluate the usefulness of combining
facial asymmetry and masculinity in determining the likelihood of autism diagnosis." The project was a collaboration between researchers from ECU,
The University of Western Australia, and Telethon Kids Institute.

'Facial asymmetry in parents of children on the autism spectrum' was
published inAutism Research.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Edith_Cowan_University. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Diana Weiting Tan, Syed Zulqarnain Gilani, Maryam Boutrus, Gail A.

Alvares, Andrew J. O. Whitehouse, Ajmal Mian, David Suter, Murray T.

Maybery. Facial asymmetry in parents of children on the autism
spectrum.

Autism Research, 2021; DOI: 10.1002/aur.2612 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210917095405.htm

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