Elizabeth Redcay1, Eric Courchesne. 1. Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, California, USA. eredcay@ucsd.edu
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A failure to develop normal language is one of the most common first signs that a toddler might be at risk for autism. Currently the neural bases underlying this failure to develop language are unknown. METHODS: In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to identify the brain regions involved in speech perception in 12 2-3-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during natural sleep. We also recorded fMRI data from two typically developing control groups: a mental age-matched (MA) (n = 11) and a chronological age-matched (CA) (n = 12) group. During fMRI data acquisition, forward and backward speech stimuli were presented with intervening periods of no sound presentation. RESULTS: Direct statistical comparison between groups revealed significant differences in regions recruited to process speech. In comparison with their MA-matched control subjects, the ASD group showed reduced activity in an extended network of brain regions, which are recruited in typical early language acquisition. In comparison with their CA-matched control subjects, ASD participants showed greater activation primarily within right and medial frontal regions. Laterality analyses revealed a trend toward greater recruitment of right hemisphere regions in the ASD group and left hemisphere regions in the CA group during the forward speech condition. Furthermore, correlation analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between right hemisphere frontal and temporal activity to forward speech and receptive language skill. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that at 2-3 years, children with ASD might be on a deviant developmental trajectory characterized by a greater recruitment of right hemisphere regions during speech perception.
BACKGROUND:A failure to develop normal language is one of the most common first signs that a toddler might be at risk for autism. Currently the neural bases underlying this failure to develop language are unknown. METHODS: In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to identify the brain regions involved in speech perception in 12 2-3-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during natural sleep. We also recorded fMRI data from two typically developing control groups: a mental age-matched (MA) (n = 11) and a chronological age-matched (CA) (n = 12) group. During fMRI data acquisition, forward and backward speech stimuli were presented with intervening periods of no sound presentation. RESULTS: Direct statistical comparison between groups revealed significant differences in regions recruited to process speech. In comparison with their MA-matched control subjects, the ASD group showed reduced activity in an extended network of brain regions, which are recruited in typical early language acquisition. In comparison with their CA-matched control subjects, ASDparticipants showed greater activation primarily within right and medial frontal regions. Laterality analyses revealed a trend toward greater recruitment of right hemisphere regions in the ASD group and left hemisphere regions in the CA group during the forward speech condition. Furthermore, correlation analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between right hemisphere frontal and temporal activity to forward speech and receptive language skill. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that at 2-3 years, children with ASD might be on a deviant developmental trajectory characterized by a greater recruitment of right hemisphere regions during speech perception.
Authors: Martha R Herbert; Gordon J Harris; Kristen T Adrien; David A Ziegler; Nikos Makris; Dave N Kennedy; Nicholas T Lange; Chris F Chabris; Anna Bakardjiev; James Hodgson; Masanori Takeoka; Helen Tager-Flusberg; Verne S Caviness Journal: Ann Neurol Date: 2002-11 Impact factor: 10.422
Authors: R Ceponiene; T Lepistö; A Shestakova; R Vanhala; P Alku; R Näätänen; K Yaguchi Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2003-04-17 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: B F Sparks; S D Friedman; D W Shaw; E H Aylward; D Echelard; A A Artru; K R Maravilla; J N Giedd; J Munson; G Dawson; S R Dager Journal: Neurology Date: 2002-07-23 Impact factor: 9.910
Authors: Laura Pina-Camacho; Sonia Villero; David Fraguas; Leticia Boada; Joost Janssen; Francisco J Navas-Sánchez; Maria Mayoral; Cloe Llorente; Celso Arango; Mara Parellada Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2012-07
Authors: Peter Savadjiev; Yogesh Rathi; Sylvain Bouix; Alex R Smith; Robert T Schultz; Ragini Verma; Carl-Fredrik Westin Journal: Med Image Anal Date: 2014-07-08 Impact factor: 8.545