Dataset Information

Semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorders Is Associated With the Timing of Language Acquisition: A Magnetoencephalographic Study.

ABSTRACT: Individuals with autism show difficulties in using sentence context to identify the correct meaning of ambiguous words, such as homonyms. In this study, the brain basis of sentence context effects on word understanding during reading was examined in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typical development (TD) using magnetoencephalography. The correlates of a history of developmental language delay in ASD were also investigated. Event related field responses at early (150 ms after the onset of a final word) and N400 latencies are reported for three different types of sentence final words: dominant homonyms, subordinate homonyms, and unambiguous words. Clear evidence for semantic access was found at both early and conventional N400 latencies in both TD participants and individuals with ASD with no history of language delay. By contrast, modulation of evoked activity related to semantic access was weak and not significant at early latencies in individuals with ASD with a history of language delay. The reduced sensitivity to semantic context in individuals with ASD and language delay was accompanied by strong right hemisphere lateralization at early and N400 latencies; such strong activity was not observed in TD individuals and individuals with ASD without a history of language delay at either latency. These results provide new evidence and support for differential neural mechanisms underlying semantic processing in ASD, and indicate that delayed language acquisition in ASD is associated with different lateralization and processing of language.

SUBMITTER: Ahtam B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7366733 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorders Is Associated With the Timing of Language Acquisition: A Magnetoencephalographic Study.

Ahtam Banu B Braeutigam Sven S Bailey Anthony A

Frontiers in human neuroscience 20200710

Individuals with autism show difficulties in using sentence context to identify the correct meaning of ambiguous words, such as homonyms. In this study, the brain basis of sentence context effects on word understanding during reading was examined in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typical development (TD) using magnetoencephalography. The correlates of a history of developmental language delay in ASD were also investigated. Event related field responses at early (150 ms after the onset of a f ...[more]

PMID: 32754020

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Project description:Both children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and children with specific language impairment (SLI) have been shown to have difficulties with grammatical processing. A comparison of these two populations with neurodevelopmental disorders was undertaken to examine similarities and differences in the mechanisms that may underlie grammatical processing. Research has shown that working memory (WM) is recruited during grammatical processing. The goal of this study was to examine morphosyntactic processing on a grammatical judgment task in children who varied in clinical diagnosis and language abilities and to assess the extent to which performance is predicted by nonverbal working memory (WM). Two theoretical perspectives were evaluated relative to performance on the grammatical judgment task-the "working memory" account and the "wrap-up" account. These accounts make contrasting predictions about the detection of grammatical errors occurring early versus late in the sentence.Participants were 84 school-age children with SLI (n = 21), ASD (n = 27), and typical development (TD, n = 36). Performance was analyzed based on diagnostic group as well as language status (normal language, NL, n = 54, and language impairment, LI, n = 30). A grammatical judgment task was used in which the position of the error in the sentence (early versus late) was manipulated. A visual WM task (N-back) was administered and the ability of WM to predict morphosyntactic processing was assessed.Groups differed significantly in their sensitivity to grammatical errors (TD > SLI and NL > LI) but did not differ in nonverbal WM. Overall, children in all groups were more sensitive and quicker at detecting errors occurring late in the sentence than early in the sentence. Nonverbal WM predicted morphosyntactic processing across groups, but the specific profile of association between WM and early versus late error detection was reversed for children with and without language impairment.Findings primarily support a "wrap up" account whereby the accumulating sentence context for errors positioned late in the sentence (rather than early) appeared to facilitate morphosyntactic processing. Although none of the groups displayed deficits in visual WM, individual differences in these nonverbal WM resources predicted proficiency in morphosyntactic processing.

Project description:UnlabelledBackgroundSocial motivation theory suggests that deficits in social reward processing underlie social impairments in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, the extent to which abnormalities in reward processing generalize to other classes of stimuli remains unresolved. The aim of the current study was to examine if reward processing abnormalities in ASD are specific to social stimuli or can be generalized to other classes of reward. Additionally, we sought to examine the results in the light of behavioral impairments in ASD.MethodsParticipants performed adapted versions of the social and monetary incentive delay tasks. Data from 21 unmedicated right-handed male participants with ASD and 21 age- and IQ-matched controls were analyzed using a factorial design to examine the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response during the anticipation and receipt of both reward types.ResultsBehaviorally, the ASD group showed less of a reduction in reaction time (RT) for rewarded compared to unrewarded trials than the control group. In terms of the fMRI results, there were no significant group differences in reward circuitry during reward anticipation. During the receipt of rewards, there was a significant interaction between group and reward type in the left dorsal striatum (DS). The ASD group showed reduced activity in the DS compared to controls for social rewards but not monetary rewards and decreased activation for social rewards compared to monetary rewards. Controls showed no significant difference between the two reward types. Increased activation in the DS during social reward processing was associated with faster response times for rewarded trials, compared to unrewarded trials, in both groups. This is in line with behavioral results indicating that the ASD group showed less of a reduction in RT for rewarded compared to unrewarded trials. Additionally, de-activation to social rewards was associated with increased repetitive behavior in ASD.ConclusionsIn line with social motivation theory, the ASD group showed reduced activation, compared to controls, during the receipt of social rewards in the DS. Groups did not differ significantly during the processing of monetary rewards. BOLD activation in the DS, during social reward processing, was associated with behavioral impairments in ASD.

Dataset Information

Semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorders Is Associated With the Timing of Language Acquisition: A Magnetoencephalographic Study.

Publications

Semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorders Is Associated With the Timing of Language Acquisition: A Magnetoencephalographic Study.

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