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. 2021 Aug;51(8):2611-2630.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04736-5.

Implicit Semantic Processing of Linguistic and Non-linguistic Stimuli in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Emme O'Rourke  1   2 , Emily L Coderre  3
Affiliations

Implicit Semantic Processing of Linguistic and Non-linguistic Stimuli in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Emme O'Rourke et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

While many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience difficulties with language processing, non-linguistic semantic processing may be intact. We examined neural responses to an implicit semantic priming task by comparing N400 responses-an event-related potential related to semantic processing-in response to semantically related or unrelated pairs of words or pictures. Adults with ASD showed larger N400 responses than typically developing adults for pictures, but no group differences occurred for words. However, we also observed complex modulations of N400 amplitude by age and by level of autistic traits. These results offer important implications for how groups are delineated and compared in autism research.

Keywords: Autism; Event-related potentials; N400; Semantic integration.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Example stimuli and timeline for the semantic priming task, in which participants viewed pairs of related or unrelated words and pictures. Catch stimuli (implicit task only) included a smiley face (picture conditions) or a consonant string in capital letters (word conditions)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Illustration of the nine electrode clusters used for EEG analysis, with centers of each cluster labeled
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
ERPs for picture conditions in the TD group. Negative is plotted upwards
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
ERPs for picture conditions in the ASD group. Negative is plotted upwards
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Group comparisons in the picture modality. Top: ERP difference waves (unrelated minus related) for each group in the picture modality; negative is plotted upwards. Bottom: Topographic plots of unrelated minus related conditions in the picture modality in 100 ms windows from 100 to 1000 ms for each group
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Interactions between age and AQ score on the N400 effect magnitude (unrelated-related difference waves) at each electrode cluster in the picture condition from 700 to 800 ms. Low-AQ and high-AQ participants (as determined by a median split) are indicated, with regression lines for each group. Negative is plotted upwards
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
ERPs for word conditions in the TD group. Negative is plotted upwards
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
ERPs for word conditions in the ASD group. Negative is plotted upwards
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Group comparisons in the word modality. Top: ERP difference waves (unrelated minus related) for each group in the word modality; negative is plotted upwards. Bottom: Topographic plots of unrelated minus related conditions in the word modality in 100 ms windows from 100 to 1000 ms for each group
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Interactions between age and AQ score on the N400 effect magnitude (unrelated-related difference waves) at each electrode cluster in the word condition from 400 to 500 ms. Low-AQ and high-AQ participants (as determined by a median split) are indicated, with regression lines for each group. Negative is plotted upwards
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
Interactions between age and AQ score on the N400 effect magnitude (unrelated-related difference waves) at each electrode cluster in the word condition from 600 to 700 ms. Low-AQ and high-AQ participants (as determined by a median split) are indicated, with regression lines for each group. Negative is plotted upwards
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