Language and music phrase boundary processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder: An ERP study

John Depriest,Anastasia Glushko,Stefan Koelsch,Karsten Steinhauer

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14538-y

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is frequently associated with communicative impairment, regardless of intelligence level or mental age. Impairment of prosodic processing in particular is a common feature of ASD. Despite extensive overlap in neural resources involved in prosody and music processing, music perception seems to be spared in this population. The present study is the first to investigate prosodic phrasing in ASD in both language and music, combining event-related brain potential (ERP) and behavioral methods. We tested phrase boundary processing in language and music in neuro-typical adults and high-functioning individuals with ASD. We targeted an ERP response associated with phrase boundary processing in both language and music – i.e., the Closure Positive Shift (CPS). While a language-CPS was observed in the neuro-typical group, for ASD participants a smaller response failed to reach statistical significance. In music, we found a boundary-onset music-CPS for both groups during pauses between musical phrases. Our results support the view of preserved processing of musical cues in ASD individuals, with a corresponding prosodic impairment. This suggests that, despite the existence of a domain-general processing mechanism (the CPS), key differences in the integration of features of language and music may lead to the prosodic impairment in ASD.

Highlights

A large subgroup of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shows deficient language abilities[1]
An early functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study found that affective prosody failed to recruit right-hemisphere regions in an Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) group, suggesting that this group relies on a different cortical network for prosodic processing[16]
Other functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies, have examined the prosodic skills of high-functioning autistic individuals and found that while nearly identical right-hemisphere regions were activated in ASD and typically developing populations during both affective and linguistic prosody tasks, additional brain areas, including the left supra-marginal gyrus were recruited in the ASD group[17,18]

Summary

Introduction

A large subgroup of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shows deficient language abilities[1]. Other fMRI studies, have examined the prosodic skills of high-functioning autistic individuals and found that while nearly identical right-hemisphere regions were activated in ASD and typically developing populations during both affective and linguistic prosody tasks, additional brain areas, including the left supra-marginal gyrus were recruited in the ASD group[17,18]. The recruitment of these additional areas may reflect an overcompensation mechanism in which ASD individuals attend more closely to phonemic details[17], perhaps due to less automaticity of language processing[18]. Language, and prosodic impairment in ASD in the absence of a corresponding music impairment, presents a curious dissociation

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Discussion

Conclusion