Differential Maturation of Auditory Cortex Activity in Young Children with Autism and Typical Development

Maturation of auditory cortex neural encoding processes was assessed in children with typical development (TD) and autism. Children 6-9 years old were enrolled at Time 1 (T1), with follow-up data obtained similar to 18 months later at Time 2 (T2), and similar to 36 months later at Time 3 (T3). Findings suggested an initial period of rapid auditory cortex maturation in autism, earlier than TD (prior to and surrounding the Ti exam), followed by a period of faster maturation in TD than autism (T1-T3). As a result of group maturation differences, post-stimulus group differences were observed at Ti but not T3. In contrast, stronger pre-stimulus activity in autism than TD was found at all time points, indicating this brain measure is stable across time.

Automated summary

This study assessed the maturation of auditory cortex neural encoding processes in children with autism compared to typically developing children. The results showed that children with autism experienced rapid maturation of the auditory cortex earlier than typically developing children, followed by faster maturation in the typically developing group. Additionally, stronger pre-stimulus brain activity was found in children with autism across all time points, indicating its stability over time.