Impaired phonological processing and abnormal perception of human voice are two critical, yet understudied, aspects of language and social impairments in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Despite the prevalence and adverse impact of these deficits, the brain mechanisms underlying these phenomena have received surprisingly little experimental investigation, particularly in children with ASD. The primary goal of the proposed research is to further our understanding of basic auditory function underlying decoding of phonological content (""""""""what"""""""" is being said) and speaker identity (""""""""who"""""""" is saying it) in children with ASD, compared to typically developing (TD) children matched on age and language ability. To achieve this goal, we propose three experiments in which novel multivariate pattern recognition techniques will be used to increase the sensitivity for detecting fine-grained neural representations of information processing in the auditory system of children with ASD. In the first experiment, functional MRI will be used to examine discrimination of minimal pair nonsense words in auditory cortex of children with high-functioning autism (HFA) and TD children. Next, we will assess the integrity of voice-selective cortex in the superior temporal sulcus of children with HFA and TD children by quantifying brain-based discrimination of speech and non-speech environmental sounds measured with functional MRI. In the third experiment, we will use functional MRI to distinguish brain responses to words produced by each child's mother and investigate specialized brain circuits for typical and atypical processing of this salient biological signal. Findings from these experiments will provide novel information about the integrity of acoustical and phonological processing of mother's and unfamiliar voice in children with ASD, knowledge that is essential for a more complete characterization of the pervasive language deficits in autism. The proposed studies are also innovative in that they will use novel multivariate pattern recognition techniques to increase the sensitivity for detecting fine-grained neural representations of auditory information processing in children with ASD. Our research has the potential to not only provide new information about impaired speech and voice processing in autism but also, more generally, to push methodological boundaries for studying neurodevelopmental disorders.

Public Health Relevance

The long-term goal of our research is to further our understanding of basic auditory function in individuals with autism. The primary goal of the proposed work is to better understand the neural basis of auditory information processing deficits in children with autism. Children with autism often exhibit receptive language impairments, including atypical processing of phonemes and voices, including their own mother's voice. Our goal is to better understand the neural bases of these phenomena using multivariate pattern recognition techniques applied to functional magnetic resonance imaging. A better understanding of neurobiological and behavioral bases of phonological disorders and voice recognition will provide novel insights into language deficits in autism.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
5R21DC011095-02
Application #
8223207
Study Section
Child Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities Study Section (CPDD)
Program Officer
Cooper, Judith
Project Start
2011-02-04
Project End
2015-01-31
Budget Start
2012-02-01
Budget End
2015-01-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$197,500
Indirect Cost
$72,500
Name
Stanford University
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
009214214
City
Stanford
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94305
Dickie, Erin W; Ameis, Stephanie H; Shahab, Saba et al. (2018) Personalized Intrinsic Network Topography Mapping and Functional Connectivity Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Biol Psychiatry 84:278-286
Abrams, Daniel A; Chen, Tianwen; Odriozola, Paola et al. (2016) Neural circuits underlying mother's voice perception predict social communication abilities in children. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 113:6295-300
Di Martino, A; Yan, C-G; Li, Q et al. (2014) The autism brain imaging data exchange: towards a large-scale evaluation of the intrinsic brain architecture in autism. Mol Psychiatry 19:659-67
Iuculano, Teresa; Rosenberg-Lee, Miriam; Supekar, Kaustubh et al. (2014) Brain organization underlying superior mathematical abilities in children with autism. Biol Psychiatry 75:223-30
Supekar, Kaustubh; Uddin, Lucina Q; Khouzam, Amirah et al. (2013) Brain hyperconnectivity in children with autism and its links to social deficits. Cell Rep 5:738-47
Uddin, Lucina Q; Supekar, Kaustubh; Menon, Vinod (2013) Reconceptualizing functional brain connectivity in autism from a developmental perspective. Front Hum Neurosci 7:458
Uddin, Lucina Q; Supekar, Kaustubh; Lynch, Charles J et al. (2013) Salience network-based classification and prediction of symptom severity in children with autism. JAMA Psychiatry 70:869-79
Abrams, Daniel A; Ryali, Srikanth; Chen, Tianwen et al. (2013) Multivariate activation and connectivity patterns discriminate speech intelligibility in Wernicke's, Broca's, and Geschwind's areas. Cereb Cortex 23:1703-14
Lynch, Charles J; Uddin, Lucina Q; Supekar, Kaustubh et al. (2013) Default mode network in childhood autism: posteromedial cortex heterogeneity and relationship with social deficits. Biol Psychiatry 74:212-9
Abrams, Daniel A; Ryali, Srikanth; Chen, Tianwen et al. (2013) Inter-subject synchronization of brain responses during natural music listening. Eur J Neurosci 37:1458-69

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