Evaluation of mismatch negativity as a marker for language impairment in autism spectrum disorder

Background: The identification of an early and objective marker of language impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has the potential to lead to earlier language intervention for affected children. The mismatch negativity (MMN), a passive auditory evoked potential, offers insight into the brain's ability to direct attention to novel sounds. Since exposure to speech is necessary for learning to map meaning onto phonemes, we predicted slower MMN responses to speech sounds would indicate presence of language impairment in ASD. Methods: We explored the relationship between MMN latency in children ages 5-10 with ASD plus language impairment (ASD + LI), ASD minus language impairment (ASD-LI), and typically developing children (TD) during an auditory oddball experiment presenting speech and pure tone sounds. Results: Contrary to our prediction, children with ASD + LI demonstrated decreased MMN latency in the left hemisphere in response to novel vowel sounds compared to children with ASD-LI and TD controls. Parent responses to the Sensory Experiences Questionnaire revealed that all participating individuals with ASD were hypersensitive to sounds. Conclusions: Our results lend support to the theory that some children with ASD + LI have increased connectivity in primary sensory cortices at the expense of connectivity to association areas of the brain. This may account for faster speech sound processing despite low language scores in these children. Future studies should focus on individuals with language impairment and hyper-or hyposensitivity to sounds.