Audiovisual temporal integration and rapid temporal recalibration in adolescents and adults: Age‐related changes and its correlation with autistic traits

Abstract

Temporal structure is a key factor in determining the relatedness of multisensory stimuli. Stimuli that are close in time are more likely to be integrated into a unified perceptual representation. To investigate the age‐related developmental differences in audiovisual temporal integration and rapid temporal recalibration, we administered simultaneity judgment (SJ) tasks to a group of adolescents (11–14 years) and young adults (18–28 years). No age‐related changes were found in the width of the temporal binding window within which participants are highly likely to combine multisensory stimuli. The main distinction between adolescents and adults was audiovisual temporal recalibration. Although participants of both age groups could rapidly recalibrate based on the previous trial for speech stimuli (i.e., syllable utterances), only adults but not adolescents showed short‐term recalibration for simple and non‐speech stimuli. In both adolescents and adults, no significant correlation was found between audiovisual temporal integration ability and autistic or schizotypal traits. These findings provide new information on the developmental trajectory of basic multisensory function and may have implications for neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism) with altered audiovisual temporal integration. Autism Res 2020, 13: 615–626. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay Summary Utilizing temporal cues to integrate and separate audiovisual information is a fundamental ability underlying higher order social communicative functions. This study examines the developmental changes of the ability to detect audiovisual asynchrony and rapidly adjust sensory decisions based on previous sensory input. In healthy adolescents and young adults, the correlation between autistic traits and audiovisual integration ability failed to reach a significant level. Therefore, more research is needed to examine whether impairment in basic sensory functions is correlated with broader autism phenotype in nonclinical populations. These results may help us understand altered multisensory integration in people with autism.

Neural Correlates of Audiovisual Temporal Binding Window in Individuals With Schizotypal and Autistic Traits: Evidence From Resting‐State Functional Connectivity

“…Although accumulating evidence suggests that an enlarged TBW may be a shared feature in individuals with autism and schizophrenia [Zhou et al, 2018], relevant research in subclinical populations is only preliminary. For autistic traits, a few studies have found that abnormality in the audiovisual TBW may not extend to individuals with mild autistic‐like symptoms [Donohue et al, 2012; Noel, Lytle, et al, 2018; Zhou, Shi, et al, 2020], which is consistent with our findings. Another two studies, however, did find significant correlations between increased autistic traits and altered audiovisual temporal processing.…”

“…Similar to autistic traits, schizotypal traits are also multidimensional and some specific dimensions may be more strongly correlated with sensory processing deficits. However, another two previous studies [Muller et al, 2020; Zhou, Shi, et al, 2020] suggest that audiovisual temporal integration is not significantly correlated with any dimension of schizotypal traits. Clearly, more research with a larger sample size is needed to divide subclinical populations into various homogenous subgroups to disentangle the relationship between specific schizotypal traits and audiovisual integration ability.…”

“…As for individuals with schizotypal traits, two studies have reported that higher levels of schizotypal traits, especially in the cognitive‐perceptual dimension, are correlated with reduced temporal resolution on integrating auditory‐tactile [Ferri et al, 2017] and audiovisual [Ferri, Venskus, Fotia, Cooke, & Romei, 2018] stimuli. However, two more recent studies [Muller, Dalal, & Stevenson, 2020; Zhou, Shi, et al, 2020] did not find any significant relationship between schizotypal traits and audiovisual TBW in the general population.…”

“…Under the hypothesis of a continuum between schizotypal/autistic traits and schizophrenia/autism [Constantino & Todd, 2003; Nelson, Seal, Pantelis, & Phillips, 2013], some researchers have tried to disentangle the relationship between subclinical traits and multisensory TBW in nonclinical individuals. Individuals with elevated autistic traits seem to have normal width of TBW compared with their low‐trait counterparts [Donohue, Darling, & Mitroff, 2012; Noel, Lytle, Cascio, & Wallace, 2018; Zhou, Shi, Yang, Cheung, & Chan, 2020]. This lack of significant correlation between autistic traits and audiovisual TBW may be partly due to the fact that autistic traits comprise various dimensions that are differentially and oppositely correlated with the width of audiovisual TBW [van Laarhoven, Stekelenburg, & Vroomen, 2019; Yaguchi & Hidaka, 2018].…”

Atypical ERP responses to audiovisual speech integration and sensory responsiveness in infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder

“…Biomarker characterization will guide the detection of the most vulnerable infants benefitting from early intervention. A recent review (Zhou et al, 2020) highlighted the possibility to develop interventions to improve AV integration ability in ASD populations. Interventions based on musical trainings may provide a way to enhance audiovisual temporal precision with a cascading positive effect on social interactions and cognitive development in both clinical (Sharda et al, 2019) and in general population (Miendlarzewska & Trost, 2014).…”