title: Intact spectral but abnormal temporal processing of auditory stimuli in autism.
abstract: The perceptual pattern in autism has been related to either a specific localized processing deficit or a pathway-independent, complexity-specific anomaly. We examined auditory perception in autism using an auditory disembedding task that required spectral and temporal integration. 23 children with high-functioning-autism and 23 matched controls participated. Participants were presented with two-syllable words embedded in various auditory backgrounds (pink noise, moving ripple, amplitude-modulated pink noise, amplitude-modulated moving ripple) to assess speech-in-noise-reception thresholds. The gain in signal perception of pink noise with temporal dips relative to pink noise without temporal dips was smaller in children with autism (p = 0.008). Thus, the autism group was less able to integrate auditory information present in temporal dips in background sound, supporting the complexity-specific perceptual account.
authors.affiliation: Karakter, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. w.groen@psy.umcn.nl
authors.forename: Wouter B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Groen
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Orsouw
authors.forename: Niels ter
authors.initials: Nt
authors.lastname: Huurne
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swinkels
authors.forename: Rutger-Jan
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: van der Gaag
authors.forename: Jan K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Buitelaar
authors.forename: Marcel P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Zwiers
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000293:Adolescent; D001305:Auditory Fatigue; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009622:Noise; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D013067:Speech Perception; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014796:Visual Perception