Atypical brain lateralization for speech processing at the sublexical level in autistic children revealed by fNIRS
Abstract Autistic children often exhibit atypical brain lateralization of language processing, but it is unclear what aspects of language contribute to this phenomenon. This study employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure hemispheric lateralization by estimating hemodynamic responses...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2024-02-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-53128-7 |
| _version_ | 1797274561852473344 |
|---|---|
| author | Baojun Lai Aiwen Yi Fen Zhang Suiping Wang Jing Xin Suping Li Luodi Yu |
| author_facet | Baojun Lai Aiwen Yi Fen Zhang Suiping Wang Jing Xin Suping Li Luodi Yu |
| author_sort | Baojun Lai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Autistic children often exhibit atypical brain lateralization of language processing, but it is unclear what aspects of language contribute to this phenomenon. This study employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure hemispheric lateralization by estimating hemodynamic responses associated with processing linguistic and non-linguistic auditory stimuli. The study involved a group of autistic children (N = 20, mean age = 5.8 years) and a comparison group of nonautistic peers (N = 20, mean age = 6.5 years). The children were presented with stimuli with systematically decreasing linguistic relevance: naturalistic native speech, meaningless native speech with scrambled word order, nonnative speech, and music. The results revealed that both groups showed left lateralization in the temporal lobe when listening to naturalistic native speech. However, the distinction emerged between autism and nonautistic in terms of processing the linguistic hierarchy. Specifically, the nonautistic comparison group demonstrated a systematic reduction in left lateralization as linguistic relevance decreased. In contrast, the autism group displayed no such pattern and showed no lateralization when listening to scrambled native speech accompanied by enhanced response in the right hemisphere. These results provide evidence of atypical neural specialization for spoken language in preschool- and school-age autistic children and shed new light on the underlying linguistic correlates contributing to such atypicality at the sublexical level. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:00:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-272733c3c79d45f09c249368103eef81 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:00:09Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-272733c3c79d45f09c249368103eef812024-03-05T19:10:09ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-02-0114111410.1038/s41598-024-53128-7Atypical brain lateralization for speech processing at the sublexical level in autistic children revealed by fNIRSBaojun Lai0Aiwen Yi1Fen Zhang2Suiping Wang3Jing Xin4Suping Li5Luodi Yu6Center for Autism Research, School of Education, Guangzhou UniversityDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Pediatrics; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Major 0bstetric Diseases; Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology; Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Higher Education Laboratory of Maternal-Fetal Joint Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical UniversityVITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological ResearchPhilosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of EducationFoshan Clinical Medical School, Guangzhou University of Chinese MedicineFoshan Clinical Medical School, Guangzhou University of Chinese MedicineCenter for Autism Research, School of Education, Guangzhou UniversityAbstract Autistic children often exhibit atypical brain lateralization of language processing, but it is unclear what aspects of language contribute to this phenomenon. This study employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure hemispheric lateralization by estimating hemodynamic responses associated with processing linguistic and non-linguistic auditory stimuli. The study involved a group of autistic children (N = 20, mean age = 5.8 years) and a comparison group of nonautistic peers (N = 20, mean age = 6.5 years). The children were presented with stimuli with systematically decreasing linguistic relevance: naturalistic native speech, meaningless native speech with scrambled word order, nonnative speech, and music. The results revealed that both groups showed left lateralization in the temporal lobe when listening to naturalistic native speech. However, the distinction emerged between autism and nonautistic in terms of processing the linguistic hierarchy. Specifically, the nonautistic comparison group demonstrated a systematic reduction in left lateralization as linguistic relevance decreased. In contrast, the autism group displayed no such pattern and showed no lateralization when listening to scrambled native speech accompanied by enhanced response in the right hemisphere. These results provide evidence of atypical neural specialization for spoken language in preschool- and school-age autistic children and shed new light on the underlying linguistic correlates contributing to such atypicality at the sublexical level.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-53128-7 |
| spellingShingle | Baojun Lai Aiwen Yi Fen Zhang Suiping Wang Jing Xin Suping Li Luodi Yu Atypical brain lateralization for speech processing at the sublexical level in autistic children revealed by fNIRS Scientific Reports |
| title | Atypical brain lateralization for speech processing at the sublexical level in autistic children revealed by fNIRS |
| title_full | Atypical brain lateralization for speech processing at the sublexical level in autistic children revealed by fNIRS |
| title_fullStr | Atypical brain lateralization for speech processing at the sublexical level in autistic children revealed by fNIRS |
| title_full_unstemmed | Atypical brain lateralization for speech processing at the sublexical level in autistic children revealed by fNIRS |
| title_short | Atypical brain lateralization for speech processing at the sublexical level in autistic children revealed by fNIRS |
| title_sort | atypical brain lateralization for speech processing at the sublexical level in autistic children revealed by fnirs |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-53128-7 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT baojunlai atypicalbrainlateralizationforspeechprocessingatthesublexicallevelinautisticchildrenrevealedbyfnirs AT aiwenyi atypicalbrainlateralizationforspeechprocessingatthesublexicallevelinautisticchildrenrevealedbyfnirs AT fenzhang atypicalbrainlateralizationforspeechprocessingatthesublexicallevelinautisticchildrenrevealedbyfnirs AT suipingwang atypicalbrainlateralizationforspeechprocessingatthesublexicallevelinautisticchildrenrevealedbyfnirs AT jingxin atypicalbrainlateralizationforspeechprocessingatthesublexicallevelinautisticchildrenrevealedbyfnirs AT supingli atypicalbrainlateralizationforspeechprocessingatthesublexicallevelinautisticchildrenrevealedbyfnirs AT luodiyu atypicalbrainlateralizationforspeechprocessingatthesublexicallevelinautisticchildrenrevealedbyfnirs |