Multisensory Integration and Temporal processing in Autism

描述（由申请人提供）：自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的缺陷包括感觉功能障碍，这对受影响个体的沟通能力有很大的影响，但直到最近才有关于这些变化的实证研究。这些发现导致了一种假设，即感觉统合障碍可能是ASD的基础缺陷，导致包括单词学习和交流障碍在内的高阶认知障碍。我们提出了一系列的翻译研究，重点是不同感官输入之间的时间关系对知觉加工的影响。我们将把这些发现作为调节ASD儿童（多）感觉统合过程的一种手段，实施和评估基于这些数据的感觉统合训练方案的效果。为了实现这些目标，我们将从听觉和视觉感官输入的时间关系变化的影响的行为和神经测量开始。在整个实验中，将使用三种类型的刺激，即简单的非言语刺激、复杂的非言语刺激和言语刺激。使用这三种类型的刺激将使我们能够测量简单和复杂刺激之间的处理差异，以及语言和非语言刺激之间的处理差异，这两者都与ASD人群相关。我们的第一个目标将包括表征典型发育（TD）和ASD儿童的时间结合窗口（TBW）。这将通过脑电图和具有上述刺激类型的行为任务来完成。任务将包括直接（如刺激是否同步）和间接（如McGurk幻觉和闪光哔哔幻觉）测量不同刺激启动异步的整合和时间处理。我们预计ASD儿童表现出更广泛的tbw，并且x组刺激与ASD的相互作用显示tbw与言语和非言语刺激之间的差异更大。这些测量将与通过转换任务测量的单词学习能力相关联。目的1将有三个目的：测量复杂性和言语对整合的影响，通过一些任务来表征TD和ASD儿童的TBW，第三，也是最重要的；来衡量自闭症儿童在单词学习方面的必然损害。我们的第二个目标将是一个训练项目，在这个项目中，自闭症儿童接受反馈训练，这种训练以前曾用于自闭症成人，以缩小TBW，目标是提高自闭症儿童的单词学习率。这项训练将在两组进行测试，一组使用语言刺激，另一组使用简单的非语言刺激。训练前和训练后的行为TBW、单词学习和脑电图将被用来测量训练的效果，随访将测量TBW变化的稳定性和单词学习的增加。之前对自闭症成人进行的时间训练研究表明，个体的颞下颌部越宽，训练的效果就越大，这让我们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.