Effects of auditory processing training on speech perception and brainstem plastisity in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorderA major problem of ASD is speech perception impairment in the presence of background noise. Additionally, researchers have reported temporal auditory processing impairment in these patients. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of a temporal-based rehabilitation program on improvement of speech perception in the presence of noise using the speech auditory brainstem response (sABR).

Twenty-eight adolescents with high functional ASD with the mean age of 14.35±1.86 were randomly selected and divided into the ASD group (11 males and three females), and the control group (13 males and one female). All subjects had a normal hearing and intelligence threshold and had no history of neurological disorder. The speech perception test was performed in signal-to-noise ratios of zero and +10. The intervention group received a temporal processing-based auditory rehabilitation program and the control group received a conventional rehabilitation program (P<0.05 was considered significant).

speech perception in noise after rehabilitation was significantly higher in intervention group (P <0.001) and the latency of all sABR waves in the rehabilitation group was lower than that of the control group.

Improvement of speech perception in noisy environments and the reduced latency of sABR waves after a temporal processing-based rehabilitation program and one month later, points to the role of auditory temporal processing training program highlight the role of brainstem neural plasticity in speech processing