Intact Neural Responding to Hearing One's Own Name in Children with Autism.

Scientists studied brain responses when children heard their own names. They tested 67 children (34 with autism, 33 without) aged 7-13. Even though parents reported their autistic children respond less to their names in everyday situations, brain scans showed both groups had similar brain responses when hearing their own names. This suggests the brain's ability to recognize one's own name may be preserved in autism, even if behavioral responses appear different.

This EEG study examined neural responses to hearing one's own name in 34 children with autism and 33 neurotypical children aged 7-13 years. Using an auditory oddball paradigm, researchers measured brain responses to own name, close other's name, and unknown names. Results showed that both groups demonstrated similar enhanced parietal P3 brain wave responses when hearing their own name compared to other names, with older children showing stronger effects. Surprisingly, despite parents reporting less name responsiveness in daily life among autistic children, the neural self-preferential response was intact and comparable between groups.

Only the P3 component showed name-specific enhancement, not earlier components like N1 or SON negativity.

Results suggest interventions targeting name responsiveness may benefit from understanding that neural recognition capacity appears preserved in autism. The gap between neural processing and behavioral response indicates other factors may influence real-world name responsiveness, warranting comprehensive assessment approaches.

Single study with school-aged children only, limiting generalizability to younger ages when name responsiveness deficits typically emerge. The disconnect between intact neural responses and reported behavioral differences requires further investigation across different contexts and age groups.

Diminished responding to one's own name is one of the strongest and earliest predictors of autism. However, research on the neural correlates of this response in autism is scarce. Here we investigate neural responses to hearing the own name in school-aged children with and without autism. Thirty-four children with autism and 33 without autism (ages 7-13) were presented with three categories of names (own name, close other's name and unknown other name) as task-irrelevant deviant stimuli in an auditory oddball paradigm, while EEG was recorded.

In line with previous findings, parietal P3 amplitudes for the own name were enhanced compared with a close other's name. Older children showed a stronger self-specific effect than younger children. However, this self-preferential effect was not different between groups, despite the fact that parents of children with autism reported significantly less own-name responsiveness in daily life. Neither the N1 component or SON negativity showed self-specific effects.

In school-aged children, only the parietal P3 component, and not the N1 or SON negativity, appears to be enhanced for the own name as compared to a close other's name. Age seems to have an effect on the own name modulation of the P3 amplitude, which may explain the relatively small overall effect size. Against expectations, groups did not differ on this self-specific effect. Further research into neural and behavioral responses to hearing one's own name in autism, across different age groups, is warranted.