Decoding 'what' and 'who' in the auditory system of children with autism spectrum

描述（由申请人提供）：语音处理受损和人类声音感知异常是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童语言和社交障碍的两个关键但尚未得到充分研究的方面。尽管这些缺陷的普遍性和不利影响，但这些现象背后的大脑机制却很少得到实验研究，特别是在自闭症儿童中。这项研究的主要目标是进一步了解ASD儿童与年龄和语言能力匹配的正常发育儿童相比，语音内容（“说什么”）和说话人身份（“谁”在说）解码的基本听觉功能。为了实现这一目标，我们提出了三个实验，在这些实验中，我们将使用新的多元模式识别技术来提高检测ASD儿童听觉系统中信息处理的细粒度神经表征的灵敏度。在第一个实验中，我们将使用功能性核磁共振检查高功能自闭症儿童（HFA）和TD儿童听觉皮层对最小对无意义词的辨别。接下来，我们将通过量化功能性MRI测量的基于大脑的语音和非语音环境声音辨别，来评估HFA儿童和TD儿童颞上沟语音选择皮层的完整性。在第三个实验中，我们将使用功能性核磁共振成像来区分大脑对每个孩子母亲产生的单词的反应，并研究大脑回路对这一显著生物信号的典型和非典型处理。这些实验的发现将提供关于ASD儿童母亲和不熟悉的声音的声学和语音加工完整性的新信息，这些知识对于更完整地描述自闭症中普遍存在的语言缺陷至关重要。提出的研究还具有创新性，因为他们将使用新的多元模式识别技术来提高检测ASD儿童听觉信息处理的细粒度神经表征的灵敏度。我们的研究不仅有可能提供自闭症中受损的语言和语音处理的新信息，而且更广泛地说，推动研究神经发育障碍的方法学界限。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 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.