Volume 13 Issue 6, June 2008

Colour-distance coded comparison of average face of 72 boys with ASD (A:left) to average face of 105 age-matched controls (A:right) showing nasal, supra-orbital, infra-orbital and zygomatic differences. Blue/green/red indicates where points are further out/coincident/further in along surface normal. Right dominant facial asymmetry in ASD boys (B:left) was more significant than in the controls (B:right) as indicated by colour coded comparisons of average reflected face to average original along a coronal or depth axis. Blue/red scale indicates where surface points are further along axis in positive/negative direction. Similar right dominant facial asymmetry was seen in unaffected mothers of children with ASD (C:left) compared to age-matched female controls (C:right). Unaffected mothers also displayed greater vertical asymmetry in the periorbital region (D:left) compared to controls (D:right). For more information on this topic, please refer to article by Hammond et al on pages 614–623