Cortical discrimination of speech sounds in children with Asperger syndrome as determined with the multi-feature mismatch negativity paradigm

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Cortical discrimination of speech sounds in children with Asperger syndrome as determined with the multi-feature mismatch negativity paradigm Soila Kuuluvainen1*, T. Kujala1, S. Saalasti1, 2, E. Jansson-Verkasa3, 4, L. Von Wendt2 and T. Lepistö1, 2 1 Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Finland 2 Department of Child Neurology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland 3 Clinical Neurophysiology, Oulu University Hospital, Finland 4 Faculty of Humanities, Logopedics, University of Oulu, Finland OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to investigate the cortical discrimination ability for five speech-sound features in 9-year-old children with Asperger syndrome (AS). AS is a pervasive developmental disorder of the autistic spectrum. The early language development is considered to be within normal limits. However, parents of individuals with AS report peculiarities in the communication from early on. Often, the deficits become more evident from preschool age onwards. Previous studies have suggested that cortical encoding of speech sounds and the detection of changes in different speech-sound features is atypical in children with AS. The current study investigates cortical speech-sound processing in children with AS further with a multi-feature mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm, which resembles the natural conversation setting more closely than the traditional oddball paradigm used in the previous studies in children with AS. METHODS:ERPs were recorded to five different syllable deviants (frequency, duration, intensity, vowel and consonant) using a multi-feature MMN paradigm in which the standard stimulus alternates with the deviants. RESULTS:The children with AS showed diminished MMN responses to changes in speech-sound frequency and duration as well as enhanced MMN responses to changes in intensity. In contrast, no group differences were found for the MMN elicited by vowel changes. The MMNs for consonant changes could not be compared since they were not significantly elicited. CONCLUSIONS:The MMN results suggest that in a variable auditory environment the cortical change detection of the prosody-related properties of the speech sound is abnormal in children with AS. The results also give support to both the model of enhanced perceptual functioning and to the theory of weak central coherence in autism spectrum disorders. SIGNIFICANCE:The results show that the multi-feature MMN paradigm is a feasible tool in studying cortical speech-sound processing in children with AS. Conference: MMN 09 Fifth Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Applications, Budapest, Hungary, 4 Apr - 7 Apr, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Presentations Citation: Kuuluvainen S, Kujala T, Saalasti S, Jansson-Verkasa E, Von Wendt L and Lepistö T (2009). Cortical discrimination of speech sounds in children with Asperger syndrome as determined with the multi-feature mismatch negativity paradigm. Conference Abstract: MMN 09 Fifth Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Applications. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.05.127 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 26 Mar 2009; Published Online: 26 Mar 2009. * Correspondence: Soila Kuuluvainen, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Helsinki, Finland, soila.kuuluvainen@helsinki.fi Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Soila Kuuluvainen T. Kujala S. Saalasti E. Jansson-Verkasa L. Von Wendt T. Lepistö Google Soila Kuuluvainen T. Kujala S. Saalasti E. Jansson-Verkasa L. Von Wendt T. Lepistö Google Scholar Soila Kuuluvainen T. Kujala S. Saalasti E. Jansson-Verkasa L. Von Wendt T. Lepistö PubMed Soila Kuuluvainen T. Kujala S. Saalasti E. Jansson-Verkasa L. Von Wendt T. Lepistö Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.