Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Mismatch Negativity in Children with Autism and Typical Development

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Children with autism are often characterized as having abnormalities in auditory processing. This study examined automatic and active processing of simple auditory stimuli in children using a component of event related potentials, the mismatch negativity (MMN). Amplitude of MMN in children with autism was significantly smaller than in children with typical development in unattended conditions. However, children with autism exhibited a typical amplitude MMN when attending to the stimuli. Receptive language and MMN were not related in children with autism. Findings support the idea of abnormal automatic auditory processing by children with autism. Auditory discrimination of infrequent changes in streams of sounds appears to be accomplished through a different mechanism than in typical children, specifically through the investment of attention.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

References

  • Alho, K. (1995) Cerebral generators of mismatch negativity (MMN) and its magnetic counterpart (MMNm) elicited by sound changes. Ear and Hearing, 16, 38–51.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, G., & Courchesne, E. (2001). Attention function and dysfunction in autism. Frontiers in Bioscience, 6, 105–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Electroencephalographic Society (1990). Standard electrode position nomenclature. Bloomfield, CT.

  • American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartak, L., Rutter, M., & Cox, A. (1975). A comparative study of infantile autism and specific developmental receptive language disorders. I. The children. British Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 127–145.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bomba, M. D., & Pang, E. W. (2004). Cortical auditory evoked potentials in autism: A review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 53, 161–169.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bruneau, N., Bonnet-Brilhault, F., Gomot, M., Adrien, J., & Barthelemy, C. (2003). Cortical auditory processing and communication in children with autism: Electrophysiological/behavioral relations. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 51, 17–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burack, J. A., Enns, J. T., Stauder, J. E. S., Mottron, L., & Randolph, B. (1997). Attention and autism: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. In D. J. Cohen, &F. R. Volkmar (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders, (2nd ed.). NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Čeponienė, R., Cheour, M., & Näätänen, R. (1998). Interstimulus interval and auditory event-related potentials in children: Evidence for multiple generators. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 108, 345–354.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Čeponienė, R., Lepistö, T., Shestakova, A., Vanhala, R., Alku, P., Näätänen, R., & Yaguchi, K. (2003). Speech-sound-selective auditory impairment in children with autism: They can perceive but do not attend. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100, 5567–5572.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cheour, M., Leppanen, P. H. T., & Kraus, N. (2000). Mismatch negativity (MMN) as a tool for investigating auditory discrimination and sensory memory in infants and children. Clinical Neurophysiology, 111, 4–16.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ciesielski, K. T., Courchesne, E., & Elmasian, R. (1990). Effects of focused selective attention tasks on event-related potentials in autistic and normal individuals. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 75, 207–220.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ciesielski, K. T., Knight, J. E., Prince, R. J., Harris, R. J., & Handmaker, S. D. (1995). Event related potentials in cross-modal divided attention in autism. Neuropsychologia, 225–246.

  • Courchesne, E. (1990). Chronology of postnatal human brain development: Event-related potentials, positron emission tomography, myelinogenesis, and synaptogenesis studies. In J. W. Rohrbaugh, R. Parasuraman, & R. Johnson Jr. (Eds.), Event-related brain potentials: Basic issues and applications. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Courchesne, E., Akshoomoff, N. A., & Townsend, J. (1992). Recent advances in autism. In H. Naruse, E. M. Ornitz (Eds.), Neurobiology of infantile autism (pp. 111–128). Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Courchesne, E., Kilman, B. A., Galambos, R., & Lincoln, A. J. (1984). Autism: Processing of novel auditory information assessed by event-related brain potentials. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 59, 238–248.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Courchesne, E., Lincoln, A. J., Kilman, B. A., & Galambos, R. (1985). Event-related brain potential correlates of the processing of novel visual and auditory information in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 15, 55–75.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, N. (1995). Attention and memory: An integrated framework. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M. (1997). Peabody picture vocabulary test—revised. Circle Pines: AGS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, M. (1994). Neurophysiologic observations in autism and implications for neurologic disfunction. In M. Bauman & T. L. Kemper (Eds.), Neurobiology of autism. Johns Hopkins University Press.

  • Dunn, M., Vaughan, H. G. Jr., Kreuzer, J., & Kurtzberg, D. (1999). Electrophysiologic correlates of semantic classification in autistic and normal children. Developmental Neuropsychology, 16, 79–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, M., & Bates, J. (2005). Developmental change in neural processing of words by children with autism. Journal of Autism Developmental Disorders, 35(3), 361–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escera, C., Alho, K., Winkler, I., & Näätänen, R. (1998). Neural mechanisms of involuntary attention to acoustic novelty and change. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 10, 590–604.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fein, D., Dunn, M., Allen, D. A., Aram, D. M., Hall, N., Morris, R., & Wilson, B. C. (1996). Language and neuropsychological findings. In I. Rapin (Ed.), Preschool children with inadequate communication: Developmental language disorder, autism, low IQ (pp. 123–154). Clinics in Developmental Medicine #139. London: MacKeith Press.

  • Ferri, R., Elia, M., Agarwal, N., Lanuzza, B., Musumeci, S. A., & Pennisi, G. (2003). The mismatch negativity and the P3a components of the auditory event-related potentials in autistic low-functioning subjects. Clinical Neurophysiology, 114, 1671–1680.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, D., Cycowicz, Y. M., & Gaeta, H. (2001). The novelty P3: An event-related brain potential (ERP) sign of the brain’s evaluation of novelty. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 25, 355–373.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Giard, M. H., Perrin, F., Pernier, J., & Bouchet, P. (1990). Brain generators implicated in the processing of auditory stimulus deviance: A topographic event-related potentials study. Psychophysiology, 27, 627–640.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, G., Johnson, C. R., & Minshew, N. J. (2001). Attentional processes in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31, 433–440.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gomes, H., Molholm, S., Ritter, W., Kurtzberg, D., Cowan, N., & Vaughan, H. G. Jr. (2000). Developmental differences in the effects of attention on the mismatch negativity. Psychophysiology, 37, 807–816.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gomes, H., Sussman, E., Ritter, W., Kurtzberg, D., Cowan, N., & Vaughan, H. G. Jr. (1999). Electrophysiological evidence of developmental changes in the duration of auditory sensory memory. Developmental Psychology, 35, 294–302.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gomot, M., Giard, M. H., Adrien, J. L., Barthelemy, C., & Bruneau, N. (2002). Hypersensitivity to acoustic change in children with autism: Electrophysiologic evidence of left frontal dysfunctioning. Psychophysiology, 39, 577–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gomot, M., Giard, M. H., Roux, S., Barthelemy, C., & Bruneau, N. (2000). Maturation of frontal and temporal components of mismatch negativity (MMN) in children. NeuroReport, 11, 3109–3112.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, A. J. (1974). Harris test of lateral dominance: Manual for administration and interpretation. New York: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hays, W. L. (1963). Statistics for psychologists. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jansson-Verkasalo, E., Čeponienė, R., Kielinen, M., Suominen, K., Jäntti, V., Linna, S., Moilanen, I., & Näätänen, R. (2003). Deficient auditory processing in children with Asperger Syndrome, indexed by event-related potentials. Neuroscience Letters, 338, 197–200.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kemner, C., Verbaten, M. N., Cuperus, J. M., Camfferman, G., & Van Engerland, H. (1995). Auditory event-related brain potentials in autistic children and three different control groups. Biological Psychiatry, 38(3), 150–165.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kraus, N., McGee, T., Carrell, T. D., King, C., Tremblay, K., & Nicol, T. (1995). Central auditory system plasticity associated with speech discrimination training. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 7, 25–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraus, N., McGee, T., Carrell, T. D., Zecker, S. G., Nicol, T. G., & Koch, D. B. (1996). Auditory neurophysiologic responses and discrimination deficits in children with learning problems. Science, 273, 971–973.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, P., Coffey-Corina, S., Padden, D., & Dawson, G. (2005). Links between social and linguistic processing of speech in preschool children with autism: Behavioral and electrophysiological measures. Developmental Science, 8, F1–F12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kurtzberg, D., Vaughan, H. G. Jr., Kreuzer, J. A., & Fliegler, K. Z. (1995). Developmental studies and clinical applications of mismatch negativity: Problems and prospects. Ear and Hearing, 16, 105–117.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • LeCouteur, A., Rutter, M., Lord, C., & Rios, P. (1989). Autism diagnosis interview: A standardized investigator-based instrument. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 19(3), 363–387.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lepistö, T., Kujala, T., Vanhala, R., Alku, P., Huotilainen, M., & Näätänen, R. (2005). The discrimination of and orienting to speech and non-speech sounds in children with autism. Brain Research, 1066, 147–157.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lepistö, T., Silokallio, S., Nieminen-von Wendt, T., Alku, P., Näätänen, R., & Kujala, T. (2006). Auditory perception and attention as reflected by the brain event-related potentials in children with Asperger syndrome. Clinical Neurophysiology, 117, 2161–2171.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lincoln, A. J., Courchesne, E., Harms, L., & Allen, M. (1993). Contextual probability evaluation in autistic, receptive developmental language disorder, and control children: event-related brain potential evidence. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 23(1), 37–58.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lincoln, A. J., Courchesne, E., Kilman, B. A., Elmasian, R., & Allen, M. (1988). A study of intellectual abilities in high-functioning people with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18, 505–524.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M. L., Goode, S., & Heemsbergen, J. (1989). Autism diagnostic observation schedule: A standardized observation of communicative and social behavior. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19(2), 185–212.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, B. A., Shafer, V. L., Morr, M. L., Kreuzer, J. A., & Kurtzberg, D. (2003). Maturation of mismatch negativity: A scalp current density analysis. Ear and Hearing, 24, 463–471.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Minshew, N. J., & Rattan, A. I. (1992) The clinical syndrome of autism. In I. Rapin & S. Segalowitz (Eds.), Handbook of neuropsychology (Vol. 19, pp. 401–441).

  • Molholm, S., Gomes, H., & Ritter, W. (2001). The detection of constancy amidst change: A dissociation of preattentive and intentional processes in children. Psychophysiology, 38, 969–978.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Näätänen, R. (1992). Attention and brain function. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Näätänen, R., & Alho, K. (1997). Mismatch negativity—The measure for central sound representation accuracy. Audiology & Neuro-Otology, 2, 341–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Näätänen, R., Jacobsen, T., & Winkler, I. (2005). Memory-based or afferent processes in mismatch negativity (MMN): A review of the evidence. Psychophysiology, 42, 25–32.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Näätänen, R., Schröger, E., Karakas, S., Tervaniemi, M., & Paavilainen, P. (1993). Development of a memory trace for a complex sound in the human brain. Neuroreport, 4, 503–506.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Novick, B., Vaughan, H. G., Kurtzberg, D., & Simson, R. (1980). An electrophysiological indication of auditory processing defects in autism. Psychiatry Research, 3, 107–114.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ornitz, E. M. (1985). Neurophysiology of infantile autism. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 251–262.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ornitz, E. M. (1989). Autism at the interface between sensory and information processing. In G. Dawson (Eds.), Autism: Nature, diagnosis, and treatment (pp. 174–207). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Picton, T. W., Alain, C., Otten, L., Ritter, W., & Achim, A. (2000). Mismatch negativity: Different water in the same river. Audiology Neurootology, 5, 111–139.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Posner, M. I., & Snyder, C. R. R. (1975). Attention and cognitive control. In: R. L. Solso (Ed.), Information processing and cognition: The Loyola Symposium. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 55–85.

  • Rapin, I. (1997). Autism. The New England Journal of Medicine, 337, 97–104.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rapin, I., & Dunn, M. (2003). Update on the language disorders of individuals on the autistic spectrum. Brain Development, 25, 166–172.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rapin, I., & Dunn, M. (1995). The neurology of autism: Many unanswered questions. European Journal of Neurology, 2, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ring, H. A., Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Williams, S. C. R., Brammer, M., Andrews, C., & Bullmore, E. T. (1999). Cerebral correlates of preserved cognitive skills in autism: A functional MRI study of embedded figures task performance. Brain, 122, 1305–1315.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ritter, W., Deacon, D., Gomes, H., Javitt, D., & Vaughan, H. G. Jr. (1995). The mismatch negativity of event-related potentials as a probe of transient auditory memory: A review. Ear and Hearing, 16, 52–67.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sams, M., Paavilainen, P., Alho, K., & Näätänen, R. (1985). Auditory frequency discrimination and event-related potentials. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 62, 437–448.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, W., Dumais, S. T., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1984). Automatic and controlled processing and attention. In R. Parasuraman, & D. R. Davies (Eds.), Varieties of attention (pp. 1–27). Orland, FL: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, W., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1977). Controlled and automatic human information processing: I. Detection search and attention. Psychological Review, 84, 1–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scherg, M., Vajsar, J., & Picton, T. W. (1989). A source analysis of the late human auditory evoked potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 336–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Semel, E., Wiig, E. H., & Secord, W.A. (1995). Clinical evaluation of language fundamentalsn (3rd ed). San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seri, S., Cerquiglini, A., Pisani, F., & Curatolo, P. (1999). Autism in tuberous sclerosis: Evoked potential evidence for a deficit in auditory sensory processing. Clinical Neurophysiology, 110, 1825–1830.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shafer, V. L., Morr, M. L., Kreuzer, J. A., & Kurtzberg, D. (2000). Maturation of mismatch negativity in school-age children. Ear and Hearing, 21(3), 242–251.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shiffrin, R. M., & Schneider, W. (1977). Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending, a general theory. Psychological Review, 84, 127–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sparrow, S. S., Balle, D. A., & Cicchetti, D.V. (1984). Vineland adaptive behavior scale. Circle Pines: AGS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tager-Flusberg, H., Joseph, R., & Folstein, S. (2001). Current directions in research on autism. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 7, 21–29.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thorndike, R. L., Hagen, E. P., & Sattler, J. M. (1986). The Stanford-binet intelligence scale (4th ed.). Chicago: Riverside Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tervaniemi, M., Ilvonen, T., Karma, K., Alho, K., & Näätänen, R. (1997). The musical brain: Brain waves reveal the neurophysiological basis of musicality in human subjects. Neuroscience Letters, 226, 1–4.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tiitinen, H., May, P., Reinikainen, K., & Näätänen R. (1994). Attentive novelty detection in humans is governed by pre-attentive sensory memory. Nature, 372, 90–92.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay, K., Kraus, N., Carrell, T. D., & McGee, T. (1997). Central auditory system plasticity: Generalization to novel stimuli following listening training. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 102, 3762–3773.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Uwer, R., & von Suchodoletz, W. (2000). Stability of mismatch negativities in children. Clinical Neurophysiology, 111, 45–52.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Woldorff, M. G., Hackley, S. A., & Hillyard, S. A. (1991). The effects of channel-selective attention on the mismatch negativity wave elicited by deviant tones. Psychophysiology, 28, 30–42.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Woldorff, M. G. Hillyard, S. A., Gallen, C. C., Hampson, S. R., & Bloom, F. E. (1998). Magnetoencephalographic recordings demonstrate attentional modulation of mismatch-related neural activity in human auditory cortex. Psychophysiology, 35, 283–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (NICHD) Grant RO1 HD36080 and DC04992. We thank all of the families who so generously gave their time to participate in this study. We thank Elizabeth Simon, Juliana Bates, MaryJoan Sebastian, and Adrienne Magnotta, Wei Wei Lee, Martha Anne Ellis, and William Lynn for their work with the families and Walter Ritter for his comments on an earlier draft.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Hilary Gomes

    Present address: Department of Psychology, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1410 Pelham Parkway South, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Michelle A. Dunn & Hilary Gomes

  2. Department of Otolaryngology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Judith Gravel

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Judith Gravel

Authors
  1. Michelle A. Dunn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hilary Gomes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Judith Gravel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michelle A. Dunn.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dunn, M.A., Gomes, H. & Gravel, J. Mismatch Negativity in Children with Autism and Typical Development. J Autism Dev Disord 38, 52–71 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0359-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0359-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy