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Published on: July 31, 2017
Increased Intra-Subject Variability of Neural Activity During Speech Production in People with Autism Spectrum
Elizabeth S Heller Murray1, Jennifer Segawa1, F Isik Karahanoglu2
1Boston University, Department of Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences, 635 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215.
Background:
Communication difficulties are a core deficit in many people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study evaluated neural activation in participants with ASD and neurotypical (NT) controls during a speech production task.
Methods:
Neural activities of participants with ASD (N = 15, M = 16.7 years, language abilities ranged from low verbal abilities to verbally fluent) and NT controls (N = 12, M = 17.1 years) was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging with a sparse-sampling paradigm.
Results:
There were no differences between the ASD and NT groups in average speech activation or inter-subject run-to-run variability in speech activation. Intra-subject run-to-run neural variability was greater in the ASD group and was positively correlated with autism severity in cortical areas associated with speech.
Conclusions:
These findings highlight the importance of understanding intra-subject neural variability in participants with ASD.
