Auditory attention in autism spectrum disorder: An exploration of volumetric magnetic resonance imaging findings

Abstract

Studies have shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to perform significantly below typically developing individuals on standardized measures of attention, even when controlling for IQ. The current study sought to examine within ASD whether anatomical correlates of attention performance differed between those with average to above-average IQ (AIQ group) and those with low-average to borderline ability (LIQ group) as well as in comparison to typically developing controls (TDC). Using automated volumetric analyses, we examined regional volume of classic attention areas including the superior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex, and precuneus in ASD AIQ (n = 38) and LIQ (n = 18) individuals along with 30 TDC. Auditory attention performance was assessed using subtests of the Test of Memory and Learning (TOMAL) compared among the groups and then correlated with regional brain volumes. Analyses revealed group differences in attention. The three groups did not differ significantly on any auditory attention-related brain volumes; however, trends toward significant size-attention function interactions were observed. Negative correlations were found between the volume of the precuneus and auditory attention performance for the AIQ ASD group, indicating larger volume related to poorer performance. Implications for general attention functioning and dysfunctional neural connectivity in ASD are discussed.

Brainstem enlargement in preschool children with autism: Results from an intermethod agreement study of segmentation algorithms

“…No statistically significant alterations were detected between ASD‐no‐ID and no‐ID controls. This result is in line with a recent study in which larger volumes in the ASD group were related to poorer performance (Lalani et al, ). Further, this finding is interesting in that recent investigations suggested a participation of the brainstem in cognitive processes (D'Aes et al, ; Fu et al, ), and points at the relevance of further investigating the relationship between brainstem volume and intellectual functioning in children with ASD.…”

“…No statistically significant alterations were detected between ASD-no-ID and no-ID controls. This result is in line with a recent study in which larger volumes in the ASD group were related to poorer performance (Lalani et al, 2018).…”

“…This result is in line with a recent study in which larger volumes in the ASD group were related to poorer performance (Lalani et al, 2018). In contrast, there are no statistically significant differences between brainstem volumes of ASD-no-ID and NVIQ-matched control children (both in male and in female populations).…”

The impact of sensory processing on executive and cognitive functions in children with autism spectrum disorder in the school context

“…The literature reports common difficulties in children with ASD in tasks where inhibitory control, auditory sustained attention, and short-term verbal memory are involved (e. g. Corbett & Constantine, 2006;Geurts et al, 2014;Lalani et al, 2018). In fact, in the present study we used a group of children with typical development as a comparison group.…”

“…In addition to the executive functions, children with ASD have also shown deficits in other higher-order cognitive processes that are not exclusively executive in nature, such as verbal fluency (e. g. Begeer et al, 2014;Pastor-Cerezuela, Fernández-Andrés, Feo-Álvarez & González-Sala, 2016), sustained attention (visual: e. g. Chien et al, 2014;and auditory: Corbett & Constantine, 2006), and short-term memory (visual: e. g. Chien et al, 2015;Jaworski & Eigsti, 2017; and auditory / verbal: e. g. Lalani et al, 2018). Some studies carried out with samples with no clinical diagnosis have found a link between sensory and cognitive processing (e. g. Humes, Busey, Craig, & Kewley-Port, 2013, carried out with adults) and between sensory processing and executive functioning (Adams, Feldman, Huffman, & Loe, 2015, carried out with preterm preschoolers).…”