Brainstem auditory evoked potentials in children with autism spectrum disorder

Objectives

This study aimed to analyze the neural encoding of verbal and nonverbal stimuli in individuals with autism spectrum disorder using brainstem auditory evoked potentials.

Methodology

Thirty individuals between 7 and 12 years of age and of both genders participated in this study. Fifteen were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and 15 had typical development. All subjects had normal hearing and no other impairments. An electrophysiological hearing assessment was performed using brainstem auditory evoked potentials with click and speech stimuli.

Results

In the brainstem auditory evoked potentials with click stimuli, the mean wave I latency was longer for the right ear in both groups, and interpeak intervals III–V were greater for the individuals with autism spectrum disorder. For brainstem auditory evoked potentials with speech stimuli, wave V latency was shorter in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Conclusion

These data suggest that individuals with autism spectrum disorder may have a dysfunction of the central auditory nervous system for nonverbal stimuli and faster neural encoding of the initial part of the verbal stimulus, suggesting hypersensitivity to complex sounds such as speech.