Candidate Electrophysiological Endophenotypes of Hyper-Reactivity to Change in Autism

Although resistance to change is a main feature of autism, the brain processes underlying this aspect of the disorder remain poorly understood. The aims of this study were to examine neural basis of auditory change-detection in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; N = 27) through electrophysiological patterns (MMN, P3a) and to test whether these are quantitatively related to intolerance of change (using the BSE-R scale). ASD displayed significantly shorter MMN latency and larger P3a than controls, indicating a greater tendency to switch attention to deviant events. These electrophysiological abnormalities were significantly more marked in children who displayed greater difficulties in tolerating change. The atypical neurophysiological mechanism of change perception identified might thus be associated with one of the hallmark behavioural manifestations of autism.