title: Reduced multisensory facilitation in persons with autism.
abstract: Although the literature concerning auditory and visual perceptual capabilities in the autism spectrum is growing, our understanding of multisensory integration (MSI) is rather limited. In the present study, we assessed MSI in autism by measuring whether participants benefited from an auditory cue presented in synchrony with the color change of a target during a complex visual search task. The synchronous auditory pip typically increases search efficacy (pip and pop effect), indicative of the beneficial use of sensory input from both modalities. We found that for conditions without auditory information, autistic participants were better at visual search compared to neurotypical participants. Importantly, search efficiency was increased by the presence of auditory pip for neurotypical participants only. The simultaneous occurrence of superior unimodal performance with altered audio-visual integration in autism suggests autonomous sensory processing in this population.
authors: Centre de Recherche de l'hôpital universitaire Sainte-Justine, Montréal, QC, Canada. olivier.collignon@umontreal.ca
authors: Olivier
authors: O
authors: Collignon
authors: Geneviève
authors: G
authors: Charbonneau
authors: Frédéric
authors: F
authors: Peters
authors: Marouane
authors: M
authors: Nassim
authors: Maryse
authors: M
authors: Lassonde
authors: Franco
authors: F
authors: Lepore
authors: Laurent
authors: L
authors: Mottron
authors: Armando
authors: A
authors: Bertone
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D014888:Wechsler Scales; D055815:Young Adult