Subject: Re: FW: Autistic Source Localisation From: Peter Lennox <P.Lennox@xxxxxxxx> Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:30:07 +0000 List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>Ah! thanks - that was the paper I'd already sent! - it was the only such that I was aware of. I assume that there must be other researchers busy pursuing this, as it's an important area - not only in terms of characterising autism spectrum disorders, but also in characterising ASA and cocktail party effects. I know there are various populations that have problems in this respect and each can offer some insights regards ppl Dr Peter Lennox Director of Signal Processing and Applications Research Group (SPARG) School of Technology, Faculty of Arts, design and Technology University of Derby, UK e: p.lennox@xxxxxxxx t: 01332 593155 w: http://sparg.derby.ac.uk/SPARG/Staff_PLX.asp ________________________________________ From: dan.ellis@xxxxxxxx [dan.ellis@xxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Dan Ellis [dpwe@xxxxxxxx Sent: 11 November 2008 19:06 To: Peter Lennox Cc: AUDITORY@xxxxxxxx; rmorris@xxxxxxxx; Barry Vercoe Subject: Re: [AUDITORY] FW: Autistic Source Localisation Here's a response from Rob Morris at the MIT Media Lab <rmorris@xxxxxxxx>: > There is a paper that addresses this exact issue. Please forward this reference along: > > Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2005 May;23(2-3):221-34. Epub 2005 Jan 11. > > Auditory spatial localization and attention deficits in autistic adults. > > Teder-Sälejärvi WA, Pierce KL, Courchesne E, Hillyard SA. > > Department of Neurosciences 0608, School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0608, USA. wat@xxxxxxxx > > The objective of this study was to compare autistic adults and matched control subjects in their ability to focus attention selectively on a sound source in a noisy environment. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while subjects attended to a fast paced sequence of brief noise bursts presented in free-field at a central or peripheral location. Competing sequences of noise bursts at adjacent locations were to be ignored. Both behavioral measures of target detection and auditory ERP amplitudes indicated that control subjects were able to focus their attention more sharply on the relevant sound source than autistic subjects. These findings point to a fundamental deficit in the spatial focusing of auditory attention in autism, which may be a factor that impedes social interactions and sensory-guided behavior, particularly in noisy environments.