title: Atypical rapid audio-visual temporal recalibration in autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: Changes in sensory and multisensory function are increasingly recognized as a common phenotypic characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Furthermore, much recent evidence suggests that sensory disturbances likely play an important role in contributing to social communication weaknesses-one of the core diagnostic features of ASD. An established sensory disturbance observed in ASD is reduced audiovisual temporal acuity. In the current study, we substantially extend these explorations of multisensory temporal function within the framework that an inability to rapidly recalibrate to changes in audiovisual temporal relations may play an important and under-recognized role in ASD. In the paradigm, we present ASD and typically developing (TD) children and adolescents with asynchronous audiovisual stimuli of varying levels of complexity and ask them to perform a simultaneity judgment (SJ). In the critical analysis, we test audiovisual temporal processing on trial t as a condition of trial t - 1. The results demonstrate that individuals with ASD fail to rapidly recalibrate to audiovisual asynchronies in an equivalent manner to their TD counterparts for simple and non-linguistic stimuli (i.e., flashes and beeps, hand-held tools), but exhibit comparable rapid recalibration for speech stimuli. These results are discussed in terms of prior work showing a speech-specific deficit in audiovisual temporal function in ASD, and in light of current theories of autism focusing on sensory noise and stability of perceptual representations. Autism Res 2017, 10: 121-129. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.|Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Noel
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.|Medical Scientist Training Program, Vanderbilt University Medical School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: De Niear
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.|Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.|Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alais
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.|Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.|Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Mark T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Wallace
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000293:Adolescent; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: audio-visual; autism; multisensory; plasticity; recalibration