Synchrony of auditory brain responses predicts behavioral ability to keep still in children with autism spectrum disorder: Auditory-evoked response in children with autism spectrum disorder

• The auditory-evoked P1m reflects a central auditory processing ability in children.
• This study showed the relationship between P1m and hyperactivity in ASD children.
• There was a correlation between hemispheric synchronization and the ability to keep still during MEG measurement.
• A shorter P1m latency in the right hemisphere was associated with hyperactivity.
• Asynchrony in the brain auditory processing predicts the comorbidity in children with ASD.

The auditory-evoked P1m, recorded by magnetoencephalography, reflects a central auditory processing ability in human children. One recent study revealed that asynchrony of P1m between the right and left hemispheres reflected a central auditory processing disorder (i.e., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD) in children. However, to date, the relationship between auditory P1m right-left hemispheric synchronization and the comorbidity of hyperactivity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is unknown. In this study, based on a previous report of an asynchrony of P1m in children with ADHD, to clarify whether the P1m right-left hemispheric synchronization is related to the symptom of hyperactivity in children with ASD, we investigated the relationship between voice-evoked P1m right-left hemispheric synchronization and hyperactivity in children with ASD. In addition to synchronization, we investigated the right-left hemispheric lateralization. Our findings failed to demonstrate significant differences in these values between ASD children with and without the symptom of hyperactivity, which was evaluated using the Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule, Generic (ADOS-G) subscale. However, there was a significant correlation between the degrees of hemispheric synchronization and the ability to keep still during 12-minute MEG recording periods. Our results also suggested that asynchrony in the bilateral brain auditory processing system is associated with ADHD-like symptoms in children with ASD.