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Hyperreactivity to weak acoustic stimuli and prolonged acoustic startle latency in children with autism spectrum disorders

BACKGROUND: People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to have enhanced auditory perception, however, acoustic startle response to weak stimuli has not been well documented in this population. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the basic profile of acoustic startle response, inc...

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Autores principales: Takahashi, Hidetoshi, Nakahachi, Takayuki, Komatsu, Sahoko, Ogino, Kazuo, Iida, Yukako, Kamio, Yoko
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4008133/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24618368
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2040-2392-5-23
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author Takahashi, Hidetoshi
Nakahachi, Takayuki
Komatsu, Sahoko
Ogino, Kazuo
Iida, Yukako
Kamio, Yoko
author_facet Takahashi, Hidetoshi
Nakahachi, Takayuki
Komatsu, Sahoko
Ogino, Kazuo
Iida, Yukako
Kamio, Yoko
author_sort Takahashi, Hidetoshi
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to have enhanced auditory perception, however, acoustic startle response to weak stimuli has not been well documented in this population. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the basic profile of acoustic startle response, including peak startle latency and startle magnitude to weaker stimuli, in children with ASD and typical development (TD), and to evaluate their relationship to ASD characteristics. METHODS: We investigated acoustic startle response with weak and strong acoustic stimuli in 12 children with ASD and 28 children with TD, analyzing the relationship between startle measures and quantitative autistic traits assessed with the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). The electromyographic activity of the left orbicularis oculi muscle to acoustic stimuli of 65 to 115 dB sound pressure level (SPL), in increments of 5 dB, was measured to evaluate acoustic startle response. The average eyeblink magnitude for each acoustic stimuli intensity and the average peak startle latency of acoustic startle response were evaluated. RESULTS: The magnitude of the acoustic startle response to weak stimuli (85 dB or smaller) was greater in children with ASD. The peak startle latency was also prolonged in individuals with ASD. The average magnitude of the acoustic startle response for stimulus intensities greater than 85 dB was not significantly larger in the ASD group compared with the controls. Both greater startle magnitude in response to weak stimuli (particularly at 85 dB) and prolonged peak startle latency were significantly associated with total scores, as well as several subscales of the SRS in the whole sample. We also found a significant relationship between scores on the social cognition subscale of the SRS and the average magnitude of the acoustic startle response for stimulus intensities of 80 and 85 dB in the TD group. CONCLUSIONS: Children with ASD exhibited larger startle magnitude to weak stimuli and prolonged peak startle latency. These startle indices were related to several characteristics of ASD. A comprehensive investigation of acoustic startle response, including the magnitude of startle responses to weak stimuli and peak startle latency, might further our understanding of the neurophysiological impairments underlying ASD.
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spelling pubmed-40081332014-05-03 Hyperreactivity to weak acoustic stimuli and prolonged acoustic startle latency in children with autism spectrum disorders Takahashi, Hidetoshi Nakahachi, Takayuki Komatsu, Sahoko Ogino, Kazuo Iida, Yukako Kamio, Yoko Mol Autism Research BACKGROUND: People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to have enhanced auditory perception, however, acoustic startle response to weak stimuli has not been well documented in this population. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the basic profile of acoustic startle response, including peak startle latency and startle magnitude to weaker stimuli, in children with ASD and typical development (TD), and to evaluate their relationship to ASD characteristics. METHODS: We investigated acoustic startle response with weak and strong acoustic stimuli in 12 children with ASD and 28 children with TD, analyzing the relationship between startle measures and quantitative autistic traits assessed with the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). The electromyographic activity of the left orbicularis oculi muscle to acoustic stimuli of 65 to 115 dB sound pressure level (SPL), in increments of 5 dB, was measured to evaluate acoustic startle response. The average eyeblink magnitude for each acoustic stimuli intensity and the average peak startle latency of acoustic startle response were evaluated. RESULTS: The magnitude of the acoustic startle response to weak stimuli (85 dB or smaller) was greater in children with ASD. The peak startle latency was also prolonged in individuals with ASD. The average magnitude of the acoustic startle response for stimulus intensities greater than 85 dB was not significantly larger in the ASD group compared with the controls. Both greater startle magnitude in response to weak stimuli (particularly at 85 dB) and prolonged peak startle latency were significantly associated with total scores, as well as several subscales of the SRS in the whole sample. We also found a significant relationship between scores on the social cognition subscale of the SRS and the average magnitude of the acoustic startle response for stimulus intensities of 80 and 85 dB in the TD group. CONCLUSIONS: Children with ASD exhibited larger startle magnitude to weak stimuli and prolonged peak startle latency. These startle indices were related to several characteristics of ASD. A comprehensive investigation of acoustic startle response, including the magnitude of startle responses to weak stimuli and peak startle latency, might further our understanding of the neurophysiological impairments underlying ASD. BioMed Central 2014-03-12 /pmc/articles/PMC4008133/ /pubmed/24618368 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2040-2392-5-23 Text en Copyright © 2014 Takahashi et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.
spellingShingle Research
Takahashi, Hidetoshi
Nakahachi, Takayuki
Komatsu, Sahoko
Ogino, Kazuo
Iida, Yukako
Kamio, Yoko
Hyperreactivity to weak acoustic stimuli and prolonged acoustic startle latency in children with autism spectrum disorders
title Hyperreactivity to weak acoustic stimuli and prolonged acoustic startle latency in children with autism spectrum disorders
title_full Hyperreactivity to weak acoustic stimuli and prolonged acoustic startle latency in children with autism spectrum disorders
title_fullStr Hyperreactivity to weak acoustic stimuli and prolonged acoustic startle latency in children with autism spectrum disorders
title_full_unstemmed Hyperreactivity to weak acoustic stimuli and prolonged acoustic startle latency in children with autism spectrum disorders
title_short Hyperreactivity to weak acoustic stimuli and prolonged acoustic startle latency in children with autism spectrum disorders
title_sort hyperreactivity to weak acoustic stimuli and prolonged acoustic startle latency in children with autism spectrum disorders
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4008133/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24618368
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2040-2392-5-23
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