Attenuated processing of vowels in the left temporal cortex predicts speech-in-noise perception deficit in children with autism.

Background: Difficulties with speech-in-noise perception in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may be associated with impaired analysis of speech sounds, such as vowels, which represent the fundamental phoneme constituents of human speech. Vowels elicit early (< 100 ms) sustained processing negativity (SPN) in the auditory cortex that reflects the detection of an acoustic pattern based on the presence of formant structure and/or periodic envelope information (f0) and its transformation into an auditory "object".

Methods: We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) and individual brain models to investigate whether SPN is altered in children with ASD and whether this deficit is associated with impairment in their ability to perceive speech in the background of noise.

Atypical pupil-linked arousal induced by low-risk probabilistic choices, and intolerance of uncertainty in adults with ASD.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience stress when operating in a probabilistic environment, even if it is familiar, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Their decision-making may be affected by the uncertainty aversion implicated in ASD and associated with increased autonomic arousal. Previous studies have shown that in neurotypical (NT) people, decisions with predictably better outcomes are less stressful and elicit smaller pupil-linked arousal than those involving exploration.

Different hemispheric lateralization for periodicity and formant structure of vowels in the auditory cortex and its changes between childhood and adulthood.

The spectral formant structure and periodicity pitch are the major features that determine the identity of vowels and the characteristics of the speaker. However, very little is known about how the processing of these features in the auditory cortex changes during development. To address this question, we independently manipulated the periodicity and formant structure of vowels while measuring auditory cortex responses using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in children aged 7-12 years and adults.

Losses resulting from deliberate exploration trigger beta oscillations in frontal cortex.

We examined the neural signature of directed exploration by contrasting MEG beta (16-30 Hz) power changes between disadvantageous and advantageous choices in the two-choice probabilistic reward task. We analyzed the choices made after the participants have learned the probabilistic contingency between choices and their outcomes, i.e.