Prediction and Mismatch Negativity Responses Reflect Impairments in Action Semantic Processing in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Grisoni, L., Moseley, R., Motlagh, S., Kandia, D., Sener, N., Pulvermüller, F., Roepke, S., & Mohr, B. (2019). Prediction and Mismatch Negativity Responses Reflect Impairments in Action Semantic Processing in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13, 395-395. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00395

Publication date: 14 Nov 2019 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

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8
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1 / 8 (12.5%)

Abstract

The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying motor and language difficulties in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are still largely unclear. The present work investigates biological indicators of sound processing, (action-) semantic understanding and predictive coding and their correlation with clinical symptoms of ASD. Twenty-two adults with high-functioning ASD and 25 typically developed (TD) participants engaged in an auditory, passive listening, Mismatch Negativity (MMN) task while high-density electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. Action and non-action words were presented in the context of sounds, which were either semantically congruent with regard to the body part they relate to or semantically incongruent or unrelated. The anticipatory activity before sound onset, the Prediction Potential (PP), was significantly reduced in the ASD group specifically for action, but not for non-action sounds. The early-MMN-like responses to words (latency: 120 ms) were differentially modulated across groups: controls showed larger amplitudes for words in action-sound compared to non-action contexts, whereas ASD participants demonstrated enlarged early-MMN-like responses only in a pure tone context, with no other modulation dependent on action sound context. Late-MMN-like responses around 560 ms post-stimulus onset revealed body-part-congruent action-semantic priming for words in control participants, but not in the ASD group. Importantly, neurophysiological indices of semantic priming in ASD participants correlated with the extent of autistic traits as revealed by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). The data suggest that high-functioning adults with ASD show a specific deficit in semantic processing and predictive coding of sounds and words related to action, which is absent for neutral, non-action, sounds.

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Cited references
60
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Cited references with an identified autistic author
5 / 60 (8.3%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
5 / 226 (2.2%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 5 / 67 (7.5%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 1 / 159 (0.6%).
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62 / 67 (92.5%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 62 / 226 (27.4%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 20 / 21 (95.2%).
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