Absence of auditory 'global interference' in autism

Jessica M Foxton; Mary E Stewart; Louise Barnard; Jacqui Rodgers; Allan H Young; Gregory O'Brien; Timothy D Griffiths

doi:10.1093/brain/awg274

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Absence of auditory 'global interference' in autism

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Absence of auditory 'global interference' in autism

Jessica M Foxton, Mary E Stewart, Louise Barnard, Jacqui Rodgers, Allan H Young, Gregory O'Brien and Timothy D Griffiths

Brain (London, England : 1878), Vol.126(Pt 12), pp.2703-2709

12/01/2003

DOI: 10.1093/brain/awg274

PMID: 12937074

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Abstract

There has been considerable recent interest in the cognitive style of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One theory, that of weak central coherence, concerns an inability to combine stimulus details into a coherent whole. Here we test this theory in the case of sound patterns, using a new definition of the details (local structure) and the coherent whole (global structure). Thirteen individuals with a diagnosis of autism or Asperger's syndrome and 15 control participants were administered auditory tests, where they were required to match local pitch direction changes between two auditory sequences. When the other local features of the sequence pairs were altered (the actual pitches and relative time points of pitch direction change), the control participants obtained lower scores compared with when these details were left unchanged. This can be attributed to interference from the global structure, defined as the combination of the local auditory details. In contrast, the participants with ASD did not obtain lower scores in the presence of such mismatches. This was attributed to the absence of interference from an auditory coherent whole. The results are consistent with the presence of abnormal interactions between local and global auditory perception in ASD.

Acoustic Stimulation - methods

Adolescent

Adult

Analysis of Variance

Asperger Syndrome - psychology

Autistic Disorder - psychology

Case-Control Studies

Female

Humans

Male

Pitch Discrimination

Details

Title: Subtitle: Absence of auditory 'global interference' in autism
Creators: Jessica M Foxton - University of Newcastle Australia
Mary E Stewart
Louise Barnard
Jacqui Rodgers
Allan H Young
Gregory O'Brien
Timothy D Griffiths
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Brain (London, England : 1878), Vol.126(Pt 12), pp.2703-2709
DOI: 10.1093/brain/awg274
PMID: 12937074
ISSN: 0006-8950
eISSN: 1460-2156
Language: English
Date published: 12/01/2003
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences
Record Identifier: 9984627228802771

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