Multisensory Integration and Temporal processing in Autism

描述(申请人提供)：自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的缺陷包括感觉障碍，这对受影响的个人的沟通能力有很大影响，但直到最近才有很少关于这些变化的实证研究。这些发现导致了一种假设，即感觉整合障碍可能是ASD的一个基础性缺陷，导致包括单词学习和交流障碍在内的更高级别的认知障碍。我们提出了一系列翻译研究，重点关注不同感觉输入之间的时间关系对知觉加工的影响。我们将应用这些发现作为调节ASD儿童(多)感觉整合过程的一种手段，实施并评估基于这些数据的感觉整合训练方案的有效性。为了实现这些目标，我们将从行为和神经测量开始，测量听觉和视觉感觉输入的时间关系变化的影响。在整个实验中，将使用三种类型的刺激，简单的非语音刺激，复杂的非语音刺激和语音刺激。这三类刺激的使用将使我们能够衡量简单和复杂刺激以及语音和非语音刺激之间的加工差异，这两种刺激在ASD人群中都是相关的。我们的第一个目标将包括表征典型发育儿童(TD)和ASD儿童的时间结合窗口(TBW)。这将通过EEG和上面提到的刺激类型的行为任务来完成。任务将包括直接(例如，刺激同步)和间接(例如，McGurk和闪光嘟嘟声错觉)测量整合和跨不同刺激起始异步的时间处理。我们预计ASD儿童会表现出更广泛的TBW，而x组刺激与ASD的交互作用显示出有言语刺激和非言语刺激的TBW之间有更大的差异。这些测量将与通过转换任务测量的单词学习能力相关联。AIM1将用于三个目的：测量复杂性和语音对整合的影响；描述具有多个任务的TD和ASD儿童的任务期限；以及第三，也是最重要的，测量ASD儿童在单词学习中的必然障碍。我们的第二个目标将是一个培训计划，在该计划中，ASD儿童接受反馈培训，这是以前TD成年人用来缩小TBW的方法，目的是提高ASD儿童的单词学习率。这项训练将在两组人身上进行测试，一组使用语音刺激，另一组使用简单的非语音刺激。培训前和培训后的行为总有效率、单词学习和脑电会议将被用来衡量培训的效果，后续访问将衡量总有效值变化和单词学习增加的稳定性。先前对TD成人进行的时间训练研究表明，一个人的TBW越宽，训练的效果就越大，这让人有理由怀疑这种训练对ASD人群特别有用，并可能转化为提高ASD儿童单词学习能力的有效性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) include sensory dysfunctions which have a large impact on the communicative abilities of affected individuals, yet there has been little empirical investigation of these changes until recently. These findings, have led to the hypothesis that impairments in sensory integration may be a foundational deficit in ASD, inducing higher-order cognitive impairments including word-learning and communication impairments. We propose a line of translational research focused on the influence that the temporal relationship between different sensory inputs has on perceptual processing. We will apply these findings as a means of modulating the (multi)sensory integration processes in children with ASD, implementing and assessing the efficacy of a sensory integration training regimen founded on these data. To accomplish these goals, we will begin with behavioral and neural measures of the impacts of changes in the temporal relationship of auditory and visual sensory input. Throughout these experiments, three types of stimulus categories will be used, simple non-speech stimuli, complex non-speech stimuli, and speech stimuli. The use of these three categories of stimuli will allow us to measure differences in processing between simple and complex stimuli as well as speech and non-speech stimuli, both of which are relevant in ASD populations. Our first aim will include the characterization of the temporal binding window (TBW) in typically developed (TD) and ASD children. This will be done through EEG and behavioral tasks with stimulus types mentioned above. Tasks will include direct (e.g. was the stimulus synchronous) and indirect (e.g. McGurk and flash beep illusions) measures of integration and temporal processing across varied stimulus onset asynchronies. We expect ASD children to exhibit wider TBWs, and group x stimulus interactions with ASD showing a bigger difference between TBWs with speech and non-speech stimuli. These measures will be correlated with word- learning abilities measured through a switch task. Aim1 will serve 3 purposes: to measure the impact of complexity and speech on integration, to characterization the TBW in TD and ASD children with a number of tasks, and third and most importantly; to measure corollary impairments seen in word learning in ASD children. Our second aim will be a training program in which ASD children receive feedback training that has been previously used with TD adults to narrow the TBW, with the goal of improving word-learning rates in ASD children. This training will be tested on two groups, one with speech stimuli, and one with simple non-speech stimuli. Pre- and post-training behavioral TBW, word-learning, and EEG sessions will be used to measure the effects of training, and follow-up visits will measure the stability of changes in the TBW and increases in word learning. Previous temporal training studies with TD adults suggest that the wider an individual's TBW, the greater the effect of training, giving reason to suspect that this training will be particularly useful with an ASD population, and may translate to increased effectiveness in enhancing word-learning abilities in ASD children.