title: Normal P50 Gating in Children with Autism, Yet Attenuated P50 Amplitude in the Asperger Subcategory.
abstract: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia are separate disorders, but there is evidence of conversion or comorbid overlap. The objective of this paper was to explore whether deficits in sensory gating, as seen in some schizophrenia patients, can also be found in a group of ASD children compared to neurotypically developed children. An additional aim was to investigate the possibility of subdividing our ASD sample based on these gating deficits. In a case-control design, we assessed gating of the P50 and N100 amplitude in 31 ASD children and 39 healthy matched controls (8-12 years) and screened for differences between groups and within the ASD group. We did not find disturbances in auditory P50 and N100 filtering in the group of ASD children as a whole, nor did we find abnormal P50 and N100 amplitudes. However, the P50 amplitude to the conditioning stimulus was significantly reduced in the Asperger subgroup compared to healthy controls. In contrast to what is usually reported for patients with schizophrenia, we found no evidence for sensory gating deficits in our group of ASD children taken as a whole. However, reduced P50 amplitude to conditioning stimuli was found in the Asperger group, which is similar to what has been described in some studies in schizophrenia patients. There was a positive correlation between the P50 amplitude of the conditioning stimuli and anxiety score in the pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified group, which indicates a relation between anxiety and sensory registration in this group.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Odense, Research Unit (University function), Mental Health Services in Region of Southern Denmark, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark.
authors.forename: Gitte Falcher
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Odense, Research Unit (University function), Mental Health Services in Region of Southern Denmark, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark.
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bilenberg
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CNSR) and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CINS), Copenhagen University Hospital, Psychiatric Center Glostrup, Denmark.|Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen.|Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Capital Region, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jens Richardt
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Jepsen
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CNSR) and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CINS), Copenhagen University Hospital, Psychiatric Center Glostrup, Denmark.|Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
authors.forename: Birte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Glenthøj
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Odense, Research Unit (University function), Mental Health Services in Region of Southern Denmark, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark.
authors.forename: Cathriona
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cantio
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CNSR) and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CINS), Copenhagen University Hospital, Psychiatric Center Glostrup, Denmark.|Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
authors.forename: Bob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Oranje
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055139:Sensory Gating / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: P50; auditory processing; autism spectrum disorders; children; sensory gating