Cortical auditory evoked potentials in autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review.

Purpose: To identify and analyze what are the characteristic findings of Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials (CAEP) in children and / or adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) compared to typical development, through a systematic literature review.

Research Strategies: Based on the formulation of a research question, a bibliographic survey was carried out in seven databases (Web of Science, Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Lilacs, Scielo, Science Direct, and Google Sholar), with the following descriptors: autism spectrum disorder (transtorno do espectro autista), autistic disorder (transtorno autístico), evoked potentials, auditory (potenciais evocados auditivos), event related potentials, P300 (potencial evocado P300) e child (criança). This review was registered in Prospero, under number 118751.

Selection Criteria: Were selected articles published, without language limitation, between 2007 and 2019.

Data Analysis: The characteristics of the latency and amplitude aspects of the P1, N1, P2, N2 and P3 components present in the CAEP.

Results: 193 studies were located; however, 15 original articles were included the inclusion criteria for this study. Although it has not been possible to identify any pattern of response for the P1, N1, P2 and N2 components, the results of the selected studies have demonstrated that individuals with ASD may present a decrease in amplitude and increase in latency of the P3 component.

Conclusion: Individuals with ASD may present different responses to the components of the CAEP, and the decrease of the amplitude and increase of the latency of the P3 component were the most common characteristics.