# Ultra-high resolution imaging of category-selective visual cortex in autism

> **NIH NIH R01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · $738,815

## Abstract

Project Summary
Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that is characterized by impaired social cognition. Social
cognition depends critically on basic perceptual processes, such as the visual perception of faces, mediated by
the fusiform face area (FFA). In prior work, we have developed the ability to measure the structure of this
region with unprecedented resolution, allowing us to partially elucidate the laminar structure of FFA. Our
approach is focused on brain structure rather than function, which avoids potential confounds related to ability,
attention, or motivation. We also focus on a small region, functionally defined in individual brains and retained
in native space, which affords improved power to conduct hypothesis-driven research relative to methods that
rely on atlas-based regions and group averaging. Our prior research suggests an inverse relation between FFA
cortical thickness (CT) and perceptual performance, which is specific to face stimuli and does not extend to
objects. When probed with ultra high-resolution (UHR) imaging, this effect is most consistent in the deepest
layers of the FFA. Our preliminary data in autism guides the following hypotheses: 1) relative to adults without
autism, autistic adults will show a higher FFA CT and a more generalized relation between FFA CT and
performance of both faces and objects, and 2) the effect will be more distributed along the radial depth of the
cortex than in non-autistic adults, reflecting different neuroplastic mechanisms. We will explore the implications
of these differences beyond the visual system by measuring functionally-defined white matter passing through
the FFA to the anterior temporal lobe. For this we will use a novel diffusion-weighted imaging pipeline that
captures both microstructural and macrostructural features of fiber bundles to increase sensitivity to
developmental and clinical changes. This project combines state-of-the-art imaging that affords ultra-high-
resolution quantification of cortical gray and white matter structure with a comprehensive battery of perceptual
tasks assessing face and object perception and memory. The outcome of this study will improve precision in
measuring anomalous development of the FFA in autism, enabling localization to distinct cortical laminae and
thus providing insight into the developmental timeline and neural mechanisms of altered experience-based
perceptual learning of faces in autism.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10980988
- **Project number:** 1R01MH135028-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Carissa J Cascio
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $738,815
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-01 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10980988

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10980988, Ultra-high resolution imaging of category-selective visual cortex in autism (1R01MH135028-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10980988. Licensed CC0.

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