Visual representations of body parts in autism spectrum disorder
Perceiving body parts such as faces, hands, and feet is important for communication. We examined how body-part information is organized in the brain by comparing adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) adults (Kurihara et al., 2025, Imaging Neuroscience).
We recorded fMRI activity while participants viewed body-part images, focusing on the lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC). Representational similarity analysis (RSA) allowed us to compare which body parts evoked similar patterns of brain activity (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Investigating visual representations of body partsBrain activity was recorded while participants viewed body-part images inside the MRI scanner. Image viewing and MRI recording are shown separately for illustration. The location schematic highlights the right LOTC, whose results are shown in Figure 2.Adapted from Kurihara et al. (2025) and the press-release figures.
In both groups, body parts formed three clusters—limbs, torso, and face parts—with similar representational structures in the left and right LOTC (Figure 2). These findings suggest comparable basic visual representations of body parts in the adults studied. They motivate further investigation into how visual information is interpreted and used in interactions with others.
Figure 2. Similar body-part representations in ASD and TD groupsDissimilarity matrices (upper triangle only) and MDS body-part positions in the right LOTC. Pale ellipses highlight the limbs, torso, and face groups. The relative MDS marker arrangement is traced from the source figure.Adapted from Kurihara et al. (2025), Figure 4B–C (Right LOTC).
· The 90th Annual Convention of the Japanese Psychological Association
Visual represental structures of body and action
Yuto Kurihara
Presented in the symposium “Sensory and Perceptual Processing Characteristics in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Toward More Inclusive, Accessible Environments.”
· Workshop on social cognition, communication and culture
Visual Body Part Representation in the Lateral Occipitotemporal Cortex in Autism: An fMRI study
