Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Mismatch Negativity in Autism: Insights Into Predictive Mechanisms.
Laurie-Anne Sapey-Triomphe, Romain Bouet, Jérémie Mattout and 3 others
PMID 41168907WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic children showed smaller brain responses to unexpected sounds than peers, while autistic adults showed larger responses.
Differences were most consistent for speech sounds, suggesting auditory processing changes with development rather than a fixed deficit.
Key findings
01Autistic children and adolescents had significantly smaller MMN amplitudes than neurotypical peers in complex listening tasks, whereas autistic adults had significantly larger MMN amplitudes.
02Autistic individuals showed significantly smaller MMN amplitudes specifically when listening to speech sounds (phonemes), but not when listening to simple tones (frequency).
03There was no significant difference in the timing (latency) of the brain's response to unexpected sounds between autistic and neurotypical individuals.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The studies included were highly heterogeneous, with different methods and participant characteristics, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions. Autistic individuals with intellectual disability were underrepresented, so findings may not apply to the broader autism spectrum. Age was treated as a broad category (child vs. adult) rather than a continuous variable, which may miss nuanced developmental changes. Many studies were excluded due to insufficient data reporting.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Funding was provided by the French National Research Agency and Labex Cortex of Université de Lyon.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the finding of 'smaller MMN in children' and 'larger MMN in adults' as evidence that the brain's response to sound reverses direction during development. This may instead reflect a difference in how typical development affects MMN amplitude compared to atypical development, or a shift in the ability to learn statistical regularities in complex environments.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →