Auditory processing in noise is associated with complex patterns of disrupted functional connectivity in autism spectrum disorder.
Fahimeh Mamashli, Sheraz Khan, Hari Bharadwaj and 7 others
PMID 27910247WHAT IT FOUND
Boys with autism did not show a right frontal brain response to unexpected sounds in background noise, while typically developing boys did.
Their frontal-temporal connectivity also differed. The response difference appeared in noise, not quiet.
Key findings
01During noise, the right frontal mismatch response was absent in the autism group but present in the comparison group.
02In noise, the comparison group had stronger normalized left frontal-temporal connectivity than the autism group, mainly in the beta band.
03Without normalization, the autism group had stronger left frontal-temporal connectivity than the comparison group in quiet, mainly in the gamma band.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only 19 boys with autism and 17 typically developing boys, so the results may not apply to girls, adults, or children with other medical conditions. The groups differed slightly on non-verbal IQ, which may have affected brain responses. The study did not measure speech-in-noise ability or other auditory behavior, so the brain differences were not linked to everyday listening problems. Participants watched a silent movie and ignored tones, but attention to the movie or sounds cannot be fully controlled in a passive paradigm. Gamma band connectivity findings may be affected by muscle or eye movement artifacts, although the main group differences were in beta. The study was observational and did not test any treatment, so it cannot show that changing noise exposure or training improves auditory processing.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that autism causes speech-in-noise problems through this connectivity pattern. The study did not measure speech-in-noise performance, and it did not test treatment.