Atypical attention to voice in toddlers and pre-schoolers with autism spectrum disorder is related to unimpaired cognitive abilities. An ERP study. (August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Piatti, Alessandra; Van der Paelt, Sara; Warreyn, Petra; Roeyers, Herbert
• Is Part Of: Research in autism spectrum disorders. Volume 86(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-08
• Subjects: Auditory oddball -- MMN -- P3a -- ASD -- Developmental delay -- Neural adaptation; Autism spectrum disorders -- Periodicals; 616.85882005
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2021.101805
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1750-9467

Abstract

Highlights: Children with ASD are more sensitive than TD to sound change, reflected by enhanced MMN. Children with ASD and no developmental delay (DD) orient less than TD to deviant sounds in speech, indexed by attenuated P3a. Children with ASD and comorbid DD do not show atypical orienting to deviant sounds in speech. Atypical attention to sounds in speech, which is frequent in ASD, might reflect neural adaptation. Abstract: Background: Sound perception in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is usually at typical levels, even when auditory stimuli carry a social value, as it is the case for speech. Nevertheless, orienting to sounds in a speech context might be atypical in some individuals with ASD, which in ERP studies is reflected by a diminished P3a component. As P3 values and cognitive abilities seem to be inversely related under some circumstances, the current study investigates whether diminished attentional orienting to sounds in speech is equally observable in children with ASD with and without developmental delay (DD). Method: Children with typical development (TD, n = 17) or ASD, with or without comorbid DD (ASD/DD, n = 22, and ASD/noDD, n = 12), aged 1.5 through 4 years took part in a passive auditory oddball task while EEG data were recorded. The paradigm consisted in the presentation of two deviant stimuli (one vowel sound and one complex tone) either in a speech or in a non-speech context. Results: We found overall more negative MMN voltages in both ASD groups compared to TD. For P3a mean voltages, we found an attenuated response in children ASD/noDD when deviant tones were presented in speech, but not in other conditions. Children with ASD/DD did not differ from TD in P3a mean voltages. Conclusion: Atypical speech sound processing might be more accentuated in children with ASD/noDD than in their peers with comorbid DD. This finding is interpreted within the theoretical framework of neural adaptation.