Audiovisual Speech Integration in Autism Spectrum Disorders: ERP Evidence for Atypicalities in Lexical-semantic Processing

Overview

Journal Autism Res

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2011 Dec 14

PMID 22162387

Citations 18

Authors

Odette Megnin

Atlanta Flitton

Catherine R G Jones

Michelle de Haan

Torsten Baldeweg

Tony Charman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In typically developing (TD) individuals, behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) studies suggest that audiovisual (AV) integration enables faster and more efficient processing of speech. However, little is known about AV speech processing in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study examined ERP responses to spoken words to elucidate the effects of visual speech (the lip movements accompanying a spoken word) on the range of auditory speech processing stages from sound onset detection to semantic integration. The study also included an AV condition, which paired spoken words with a dynamic scrambled face in order to highlight AV effects specific to visual speech. Fourteen adolescent boys with ASD (15-17 years old) and 14 age- and verbal IQ-matched TD boys participated. The ERP of the TD group showed a pattern and topography of AV interaction effects consistent with activity within the superior temporal plane, with two dissociable effects over frontocentral and centroparietal regions. The posterior effect (200-300 ms interval) was specifically sensitive to lip movements in TD boys, and no AV modulation was observed in this region for the ASD group. Moreover, the magnitude of the posterior AV effect to visual speech correlated inversely with ASD symptomatology. In addition, the ASD boys showed an unexpected effect (P2 time window) over the frontocentral region (pooled electrodes F3, Fz, F4, FC1, FC2, FC3, FC4), which was sensitive to scrambled face stimuli. These results suggest that the neural networks facilitating processing of spoken words by visual speech are altered in individuals with ASD.

Citing Articles

Harwood V, Baron A, Kleinman D, Campanelli L, Irwin J, Landi N Brain Sci. 2023; 13(7).

PMID: 37508944 PMC: 10377560. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13071011.

Neural Correlates of Audiovisual Speech Processing in Autistic and Non-Autistic Youth.

Dunham K, Zoltowski A, Feldman J, Davis S, Rogers B, Failla M Multisens Res. 2023; 36(3):263-288.

PMID: 36731524 PMC: 10121891. DOI: 10.1163/22134808-bja10093.

Remote Microphone Systems Can Improve Listening-in-Noise Accuracy and Listening Effort for Youth With Autism.

Feldman J, Thompson E, Davis H, Keceli-Kaysili B, Dunham K, Woynaroski T Ear Hear. 2022; 43(2):436-447.

PMID: 35030553 PMC: 8881266. DOI: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001058.

Speech Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Integrative Review of Auditory Neurophysiology Findings.

Key A, DAmbrose Slaboch K J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2021; 64(11):4192-4212.

PMID: 34570613 PMC: 9132155. DOI: 10.1044/2021_JSLHR-20-00738.

Audiovisual Speech Perception in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Evidence from Visual Phonemic Restoration.

Irwin J, Avery T, Kleinman D, Landi N J Autism Dev Disord. 2021; 52(1):28-37.

PMID: 33630253 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-021-04916-x.

References

Bebko J, Weiss J, Demark J, Gomez P . Discrimination of temporal synchrony in intermodal events by children with autism and children with developmental disabilities without autism. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2006; 47(1):88-98. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01443.x. View

Bonte M, Parviainen T, Hytonen K, Salmelin R . Time course of top-down and bottom-up influences on syllable processing in the auditory cortex. Cereb Cortex. 2005; 16(1):115-23. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhi091. View

Schultz J, Imamizu H, Kawato M, Frith C . Activation of the human superior temporal gyrus during observation of goal attribution by intentional objects. J Cogn Neurosci. 2005; 16(10):1695-705. DOI: 10.1162/0898929042947874. View

Stekelenburg J, Vroomen J . Neural correlates of multisensory integration of ecologically valid audiovisual events. J Cogn Neurosci. 2007; 19(12):1964-73. DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2007.19.12.1964. View

Paul R, Cohen D . Comprehension of indirect requests in adults with autistic disorders and mental retardation. J Speech Hear Res. 1985; 28(4):475-9. DOI: 10.1044/jshr.2804.475. View

Ceponiene R, Alku P, Westerfield M, Torki M, Townsend J . ERPs differentiate syllable and nonphonetic sound processing in children and adults. Psychophysiology. 2005; 42(4):391-406. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2005.00305.x. View

McPartland J, Dawson G, Webb S, Panagiotides H, Carver L . Event-related brain potentials reveal anomalies in temporal processing of faces in autism spectrum disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2004; 45(7):1235-45. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00318.x. View

Klucharev V, Mottonen R, Sams M . Electrophysiological indicators of phonetic and non-phonetic multisensory interactions during audiovisual speech perception. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2003; 18(1):65-75. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2003.09.004. View

Magnee M, de Gelder B, van Engeland H, Kemner C . Audiovisual speech integration in pervasive developmental disorder: evidence from event-related potentials. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2008; 49(9):995-1000. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01902.x. View

10.

Osterling J, Dawson G . Early recognition of children with autism: a study of first birthday home videotapes. J Autism Dev Disord. 1994; 24(3):247-57. DOI: 10.1007/BF02172225. View

11.

Rugg M . The effects of semantic priming and work repetition on event-related potentials. Psychophysiology. 1985; 22(6):642-7. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1985.tb01661.x. View

12.

Harris G, Chabris C, Clark J, Urban T, Aharon I, Steele S . Brain activation during semantic processing in autism spectrum disorders via functional magnetic resonance imaging. Brain Cogn. 2006; 61(1):54-68. DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2005.12.015. View

13.

Bentin S, McCarthy G, Wood C . Event-related potentials, lexical decision and semantic priming. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1985; 60(4):343-55. DOI: 10.1016/0013-4694(85)90008-2. View

14.

Lord C, Risi S, Lambrecht L, Cook Jr E, Leventhal B, DiLavore P . The autism diagnostic observation schedule-generic: a standard measure of social and communication deficits associated with the spectrum of autism. J Autism Dev Disord. 2000; 30(3):205-23. View

15.

McGurk H, Macdonald J . Hearing lips and seeing voices. Nature. 1976; 264(5588):746-8. DOI: 10.1038/264746a0. View

16.

Besle J, Fort A, Delpuech C, Giard M . Bimodal speech: early suppressive visual effects in human auditory cortex. Eur J Neurosci. 2004; 20(8):2225-34. PMC: 1885424. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2004.03670.x. View

17.

van Wassenhove V, Grant K, Poeppel D . Visual speech speeds up the neural processing of auditory speech. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005; 102(4):1181-6. PMC: 545853. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0408949102. View

18.

Semlitsch H, Anderer P, Schuster P, Presslich O . A solution for reliable and valid reduction of ocular artifacts, applied to the P300 ERP. Psychophysiology. 1986; 23(6):695-703. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1986.tb00696.x. View

19.

Williams J, Massaro D, Peel N, Bosseler A, Suddendorf T . Visual-auditory integration during speech imitation in autism. Res Dev Disabil. 2004; 25(6):559-75. DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2004.01.008. View

20.

Kutas M, Hillyard S . Reading senseless sentences: brain potentials reflect semantic incongruity. Science. 1980; 207(4427):203-5. DOI: 10.1126/science.7350657. View