Atypical auditory language processing in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract Objective Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show characteristic differences in auditory processing. To clarify the mechanisms underlying communication impairment in ASD, we examined auditory language processing with both anatomical and functional methods. Methods We assessed the language abilities of adolescents with ASD and typically developing (TD) adolescents, and analyzed the surface-based morphometric structure between the groups using magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, we measured cortical responses to an auditory word comprehension task with magnetoencephalography and performed network-based statistics using the phase locking values. Results We observed no structural differences between the groups. However, the volume of the left ventral central sulcus (vCS) showed a significant correlation with linguistic scores in ASD. Moreover, adolescents with ASD showed weaker cortical activation in the left vCS and superior temporal sulcus. Furthermore, these regions showed differential correlations with linguistic scores between the groups. Moreover, the ASD group had an atypical gamma band (25–40 Hz) network centered on the left vCS. Conclusions Adolescents with ASD showed atypical responses on the auditory word comprehension task and functional brain differences. Significance Our results suggest that phonological processing and gamma band cortical activity play a critical role in auditory language processing-related pathophysiology in adolescents with ASD.