Document Type : original article
Authors
1 Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.
2 Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Tabriz,Tabriz, Iran
3 Data Science and AI, Computer Science and Engineering Department, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Suceava, Romania Data Science and AI, Computer Science and Engineering Department, Chalmers University of Technology Data Science
4 Autism and Related Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Team, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
5 Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract
Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit unusual auditory processing. However, intensity-based auditory spatial attention has been less studied in children with autism. Since attention to the source of sound is a requirement for communication and learning in these children, it seems necessary to investigate this aspect of auditory attention in these children.
Methods: ERP data were recorded from 12 high-functioning boys with ASD and 15 age-matched typically developing (TD) boys (7–12 years) while passively listening to short Romanian sentences presented at three simulated distances (0.5 m, 1 m, 2 m). Stimuli were normalized and their intensity (65, 59, and 53 dB SPL) was adjusted to simulate depth. The P300 component of event-related potentials (ERPs) was extracted and analyzed for amplitude and latency using Python and SPSS. Statistical analyses included MANOVA and follow-up ANOVAs.
Results: No significant multivariate effects of group were observed at all distances. However, in univariate between-group analyses at 0.5 m, the ASD group showed significantly shorter P300 latencies compared with the TD group (p = 0.046, partial η² = 0.150). The differences at 1 m and 2 m were not statistically significant.
Conclusions: Children with ASD showed altered neural responses to proximal speech stimuli, indicating atypical auditory spatial processing and possibly increased cognitive demands during near-distance speech perception. These results are consistent with theories of impaired social attention and impaired sensory processing in autism.
Keywords
)