An Extended Temporal Window for Multisensory Integration in ASD

Leslie Ellen Dowell, Jennifer H Foss-Feig, Haleh Kadivar, Laura Jenelle Stabin, Courtney P Burnette, Eric A Esters, Tiffany G Woynaroski, Carissa Cascio, Wendy Stone, Mark Thomas Wallace
Poster
Last modified: 2008-05-15

Abstract


There has been much speculation that disruptions in multisensory processing may be important in autism. However, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. In the current study we compared multisensory processing between children with typical development and ASD, with an emphasis on the temporal window within which audiovisual stimuli are bound. We adapted three tasks which have been used in prior work to examine multisensory temporal processing (multisensory temporal order judgment [mTOJ], the flash-beep illusion [FB], and the McGurk), as well as tasks to assess unisensory temporal performance. There were no significant differences in unisensory temporal processing between the two groups. In contrast, children with ASD showed task performance improvements on the mTOJ over an interval two to three times larger than for typically developing children. Similarly, in the FB task illusory flashes were seen over a larger range of intervals for children with ASD. However, no differences were seen on the McGurk. Although our findings are preliminary, they suggest that there may be key differences in the time interval during which children with ASD integrate multisensory stimuli. These differences may ultimately provide a foundation upon which more effective diagnostic and interventional strategies may be developed.

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