title: Cortical variability in the sensory-evoked response in autism.
abstract: Previous findings have shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) evince greater intra-individual variability (IIV) in their sensory-evoked fMRI responses compared to typical control participants. We explore the robustness of this finding with a new sample of high-functioning adults with autism. Participants were presented with visual, somatosensory and auditory stimuli in the scanner whilst they completed a one-back task. While ASD and control participants were statistically indistinguishable with respect to behavioral responses, the new ASD group exhibited greater IIV relative to controls. We also show that the IIV was equivalent across hemispheres and remained stable over the duration of the experiment. This suggests that greater cortical IIV may be a replicable characteristic of sensory systems in autism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213-3890, USA, haighsm@upmc.edu.
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Haigh
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Heeger
authors.forename: Ilan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dinstein
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Minshew
authors.forename: Marlene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Behrmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult