Atypical auditory language processing in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Speech and Hearing Science

Background:

• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with communication impairments.
• Auditory processing differences are common in individuals with ASD.
• Understanding the neural mechanisms of language processing in ASD is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate auditory language processing in adolescents with ASD.
• To identify anatomical and functional brain differences related to communication in ASD.
• To clarify the pathophysiology of communication impairment in ASD.

Main Methods:

• Assessed language abilities in adolescents with ASD and typically developing (TD) peers.
• Utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for surface-based morphometric analysis.
• Employed magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure cortical responses during an auditory word comprehension task.
• Conducted network-based statistics using phase locking values.

Main Results:

• No significant structural brain differences were found between groups.
• Left ventral central sulcus (vCS) volume correlated with linguistic scores in ASD.
• ASD group showed reduced cortical activation in left vCS and superior temporal sulcus.
• Atypical gamma band (25-40 Hz) network centered on the left vCS was observed in ASD.
• Differential correlations between brain regions and linguistic scores were noted between groups.

Conclusions:

• Adolescents with ASD demonstrate atypical responses in auditory word comprehension.
• Functional brain differences, including altered cortical activation and network connectivity, are present in ASD.
• Phonological processing and gamma band activity are implicated in auditory language processing in ASD.