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Electrophysiology of Visual and Auditory Perception in Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Comprehensive Guide to Autism

Abstract

The inability to communicate is a core deficit in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In behavioral studies, individuals with ASD exhibit enhanced perception of simple, low-level stimuli, but impaired perception of more complex stimuli in both the visual and auditory modalities. It is possible that these atypical sensory perceptions contribute to social cognition impairments in ASD. However, the neural basis of these unique behaviors has not been fully elucidated. Electrophysiological examination offers an objective and noninvasive means to probe subtle changes in brain function, and it can provide a deeper understanding of the neural basis of atypical sensory perception in ASD. The purpose of this chapter is to review the findings from electrophysiological studies of vision and audition in ASD individuals. Our review indicates that much broader and more complex brain dysfunction exists at the neural level in ASD individuals than suggested by the dissociation between simple, lower-level processing (enhanced) versus complex, higher-level processing (impaired) noted at the behavioral level. In particular, impaired parvocellular-color processing may induce enhanced parvocellular-form processing in lower-level visual cortex. Preserved bottom-up visual attention may also contribute to superior simple visual task performance, even when lower-level visual cortex is impaired. Abnormal acoustic startle modulation in ASD may contribute to enhanced auditory perception. We conclude that electrophysiological techniques can provide a more detailed understanding of the neural sources of core deficits in ASD. Therefore, abnormal electrophysiological signatures may be useful for early diagnosis and creation of informed and targeted interventions for ASD individuals.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a grant from JST, RISTEX, and Grants-in-Aid for Scientists, No. 23601010, from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. We sincerely thank all subjects for their enthusiastic contributions to the research project. We would like to thank Drs. Katsuya Ogata, Shinji Munetsuna, Naoko Inada, Ikue Ijichi and Yuka Miyanaga for their research assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, 812-8582, Fukuoka, Japan

    Takao Yamasaki

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Tokyo, Japan

    Hidetoshi Takahashi & Yoko Kamio

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan

    Takako Fujita

  4. Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Kyushu University, Neurological Institute, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka, Japan

    Toshihiko Maekawa & Shozo Tobimatsu

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  1. Takao Yamasaki
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  2. Toshihiko Maekawa
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  3. Hidetoshi Takahashi
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  4. Takako Fujita
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  5. Yoko Kamio
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  6. Shozo Tobimatsu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takao Yamasaki .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, Faculty of Science & Technology, London, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

  2. Nutritional Sciences Division and Genomics Centre, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. Faculty of Society and Health, Buckinghamshire New University, Middlesex, United Kingdom

    Colin R. Martin

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Yamasaki, T., Maekawa, T., Takahashi, H., Fujita, T., Kamio, Y., Tobimatsu, S. (2014). Electrophysiology of Visual and Auditory Perception in Autism Spectrum Disorders. In: Patel, V., Preedy, V., Martin, C. (eds) Comprehensive Guide to Autism. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4788-7_39

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4788-7_39

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-4787-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-4788-7

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