Prolonged brainstem transmission time in autism.
Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) to clicks presented monaurally were gathered for 16 institutionalized children with a prior diagnosis of autism and with no hearing loss as tested by standard audiometry. Twenty age-matched normal children served as controls. Brainstem transmission time, defined as BAEP interpeak I-V latency, was prolonged significantly on the average in the autistic sample on both left and right sides. Individually, BAEPs for 9 of the 16 autistic children (or 56%) on whom some electrophysiological data were gathered were classified as abnormal when compared to the norms established in the control group. The most common BAEP abnormality was a prolonged interpeak III-V latency on the left side.
D000293:Adolescent; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009435:Synaptic Transmission; D013997:Time Factors