Atypical neural responding to hearing one’s own name in adults with ASD.

Abstract

Diminished responding to hearing the own name is one of the earliest and strongest predictors of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we studied for the first time the neural correlates of hearing one's own name in ASD. Based on existing research, we hypothesized enhancement of late parietal positive activity specifically for the own name in neurotypicals, and this effect to be reduced in adults with ASD. Source localization analyses were conducted to estimate group differences in brain regions underlying this effect. 21 adults with ASD, and 21 age-and gender-matched neurotypicals were presented with three categories of names (own name, close other, unknown other) as task-irrelevant deviant stimuli in an auditory oddball paradigm, while EEG was recorded. As expected, a late parietal positivity was observed specifically for own names in neurotypicals, indicating enhanced attention to the own name.This preferential effect was absent in the ASD group. This group difference was associated with diminished activation in the rTPJ in adults with ASD. Further, a familiarity effect was found for the N1, with larger amplitudes for familiar names (own name and close other).However, groups did not differ for this effect. These findings provide evidence of atypical neural responding to hearing one's own name in adults with ASD, suggesting a deficit in selfother distinction, associated with rTPJ dysfunction.Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; ERP; own name; TPJ General Scientific Summary: Infants at risk of ASD are known to show a diminished response to hearing their own name. By investigating the neural response to hearing their own name in adults with ASD, we showed for the first time that also in adulthood, individuals with ASD show an atypical response to hearing their name.3

Neural Evidence for Speech Processing Deficits During a Cocktail Party Scenario in Minimally and Low Verbal Adolescents and Young Adults with Autism

“…These neural responses persist throughout the lifespan [Carmody & Lewis, 2006; Key, Jones, & Peters, 2016; Tamura, Mizuba, & Iramina, 2016], albeit with slightly shifting morphologies in neural response that stabilize considerably by adolescence [Eggermont & Moore, 2012; Mahajan & Mcarthur, 2015]. Prior electroencephalography (EEG) research has identified early neural responses to OON between 100 and 300 milliseconds (ms) over frontal scalp regions and late responses between 300 and 800 ms over frontal and posterior scalp regions, particularly when OON occurs only occasionally and unpredictably [Berlad & Pratt, 1995; Holeckova, Fischer, Giard, Delpuech, & Morlet, 2006; Nijhof, Dhar, Goris, Brass, & Wiersema, 2018; Pratt, Berlad, & Lavie, 1999]. These robust neural responses to OON can be elicited in both attentive and inattentive states, including even when participants are asleep or comatose [Fischer, Dailler, & Morlet, 2008; Perrin et al, 2006].…”

“…Past research has demonstrated that neural measures of OON response in quiet settings are sensitive enough to differentiate individuals with ASD from TD controls. For instance, ASD‐V adults produce MMRs to OON that are similar in amplitude to that of TDs but LPPs/FNs to OON that are smaller in amplitude compared with that of TDs [Nijhof et al, 2018]. ASD‐V children, adolescents, and young adults show similarly reduced amplitude of LPPs when viewing their face or written name amidst other random names and faces [Cygan, Tacikowski, Ostaszewski, Chojnicka, & Nowicka, 2014; Gunji, Inagaki, Inoue, Takeshima, & Kaga, 2009; Nowicka, Cygan, Tacikowski, & Ostaszewski, 2016].…”

“…ASD‐V children, adolescents, and young adults show similarly reduced amplitude of LPPs when viewing their face or written name amidst other random names and faces [Cygan, Tacikowski, Ostaszewski, Chojnicka, & Nowicka, 2014; Gunji, Inagaki, Inoue, Takeshima, & Kaga, 2009; Nowicka, Cygan, Tacikowski, & Ostaszewski, 2016]. These reports suggest that ASD‐V individuals have an intact system involving early detection of OON as a salient stimulus but a disordered high‐order processing system pertaining to selective attention [Lombardo et al, 2010; Nijhof et al, 2018].…”

Self‐processing in individuals with autism spectrum disorder

“…Two recent electro-encephalography (EEG) studies found that the typical event-related potential (ERP; electrical changes in brain activity observed in response to a specific event) amplitude differences between seeing one's own face and another person's face was diminished in both autistic children and adults (Cygan, Tacikowski, Ostaszewski, Chojnicka, & Nowicka, 2014;Gunji, Inagaki, Inoue, Takeshima, & Kaga, 2009). Similarly, it has been shown that the ERP response to seeing (Cygan et al, 2014) or hearing (Nijhof, Goris, Brass, Dhar, & Wiersema, 2018) one's own name in autistic adults is diminished as well. In short, both physical (face) and first-order psychological (name) aspects of self-processing were shown to be atypical in autistic individuals in these studies, using paradigms that did not require second-order representation.…”

“…Finally, EEG studies suggest that aspects of self-referential processing that appear typical at the behavioural level may be supported by different underlying neural mechanisms in individuals with autism (Cygan et al, 2014;Nijhof et al, 2018). Throughout development, autistic individuals may learn to compensate for their atypical neural functioning by relying on neural pathways that are different from their neurotypical peers.…”