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[Preprint]. 2024 Jun 6:rs.3.rs-4450882.
doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4450882/v1.

The Neural Bases of Language Processing During Social and Non-Social Contexts: A fNIRS Study of Autistic and Neurotypical Preschool-Aged Children

Meredith Pecukonis  1 , Javier Gerson  1 , Hailey Gustafson-Alm  1 , Maegan Wood  1 , Meryem Yücel  1 , David Boas  1 , Helen Tager-Flusberg  1
Affiliations

The Neural Bases of Language Processing During Social and Non-Social Contexts: A fNIRS Study of Autistic and Neurotypical Preschool-Aged Children

Meredith Pecukonis et al. Res Sq. .

Update in

Abstract

Background: Little is known about how the brains of autistic children process language during real-world "social contexts," despite the fact that challenges with language, communication, and social interaction are core features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Methods: We investigated the neural bases of language processing during social and non-social contexts in a sample of N=20 autistic and N=20 neurotypical (NT) preschool-aged children, 3 to 6 years old. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure children's brain response to "live language" spoken by a live experimenter during an in-person social context (i.e., book reading), and "recorded language" played via an audio recording during a non-social context (i.e., screen time). We examined within-group and between-group differences in the strength and localization of brain response to live language and recorded language, as well as correlations between children's brain response and language skills measured by the Preschool Language Scales.

Results: In the NT group, brain response to live language was greater than brain response to recorded language in the right temporal parietal junction (TPJ). In the ASD group, the strength of brain response did not differ between conditions. The ASD group showed greater brain response to recorded language than the NT group in the right inferior and middle frontal gyrus (IMFG). Across groups, children's language skills were negatively associated with brain response to recorded language in the right IMFG, suggesting that processing recorded language required more cognitive effort for children with lower language skills. Children's language skills were also positively associated with the difference in brain response between conditions in the right TPJ, demonstrating that children who showed a greater difference in brain response to live language versus recorded language had higher language skills.

Limitations: Findings should be considered preliminary until they are replicated in a larger sample.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that the brains of NT children, but not autistic children, process language differently during social and non-social contexts. Individual differences in how the brain processes language during social and non-social contexts may help to explain why language skills are so variable across children with and without autism.

Keywords: autism; fNIRS; language; live; preschool; social context.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
fNIRS task design Note. (a) The fNIRS task included two conditions – a live language condition and a recorded language condition. The live language condition was designed to simulate book reading and the recorded language condition was designed to simulate screen time. (b) Depiction of stimulus presentation for the live language condition and the recorded language condition. Each trial was presented for 10 seconds, followed by a jittered fixation cross for 10–15 seconds. Each condition included 18 trials.
Figure 2
Figure 2
fNIRS probe design projected onto a 4 year old brain template Note. Sources are depicted as red circles and detectors are depicted as blue circles. Channels are depicted as lines between source-detector pairs. The fNIRS probe was designed so that channels bilaterally cover regions of interest in the frontal and temporal lobes, including 8 channels over the inferior and middle frontal gyrus (IMFG), shown in purple, 4 channels over the superior and middle temporal gyrus (SMTG), shown in orange, and 4 channels over the temporal parietal junction (TPJ), shown in green. Detectors 4 and 14 covered the T7 and T8 landmarks, respectively. Channels shown in grey did not cover brain regions of interest and were thus excluded from analyses. Brain template provided by the Neurodevelopmental MRI Database (Richards, Sanchez, Phillips-Meek, & Xie, 2015).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Average HbO concentration values during the live language condition and recorded language condition in all ROIs by group Note. * p<.05, ** p<.01. ROI averages during the live language condition are represented in red. ROI averages during the recorded language condition are represented in magenta. ROI averages outlined in green showed a significant difference in HbO relative to baseline. The y-axis shows a range of HbO concentration values from −9.0×10−5 to 11.0×10−5 M*mm. Error bars represent 95% CI. ASD=Autism Spectrum Disorder, NT=Neurotypical, ROI=Region of Interest, IMFG=Inferior and Middle Frontal Gyrus, SMTG=Superior and Middle Temporal Gyrus, TPJ=Temporal Parietal Junction
Figure 4
Figure 4
Correlations between children’s brain response to language and their language skills Note. Correlation analyses were conducted using the entire sample. ASD=Autism Spectrum Disorder, NT=Neurotypical, ROI=Region of Interest, IMFG=Inferior and Middle Frontal Gyrus, TPJ=Temporal Parietal Junction, PLS=Preschool Language Scales
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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