Age-Related Differences in Response to Music-Evoked Emotion Among Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Music therapy improves engagement and initiation for autistic children with mild intellectual disabilities: A randomized controlled study

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of music therapy (MT) for children with co-occurring autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID) and explore whether pre-intervention quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) responses can predict outcomes. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 33 children receiving MT and 34 receiving an active control therapy. Participants received either MT or a non-musical social skills intervention for 45 min weekly over 12 weeks. Primary outcomes were measured using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS-2), along with the parent-rated Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2) and video coding of social behaviors. Both conditions significantly improved in CARS-2 scores at 2 weeks and 4 months post-intervention, with no differences between MT and control conditions. No changes were found in SRS-2 scores. While both conditions showed reduced disengagement after intervention, only the MT condition showed increased engagement and initiation. Strong qEEG responses to social scenes and music predicted increased initiation, indicating its potential to help tailor interventions. These results support incorporating MT into standard services and further research on qEEG predictors.

The influence of dynamism and expression intensity on face emotion recognition in individuals with autistic traits

Face emotion recognition (FER) ability varies across the population, with autistic traits in the general population reported to contribute to this variation. Previous studies used photographs of posed facial expressions, while real social encounters involve dynamic expressions of varying intensity. We used static photographs and dynamic videos, showing peak and partial facial expressions to investigate the influence of dynamism and expression intensity on FER in non-clinical adults who varied in autistic traits. Those with high autistic traits had lower accuracy with both static peak and dynamic partial intensity expressions, when compared to low autistic trait participants. Furthermore, high autistic traits were linked to an accuracy advantage for dynamic compared with static stimuli in both partial and peak expression conditions, while those with low autistic traits demonstrated this dynamic advantage only for partial expressions. These findings reveal the differing importance of dynamism and expression intensity for FER across the non-clinical population and appear linked to self-reported social-communication skills. Furthermore, FER difficulties in autism might relate to the ability to integrate subtle, dynamic information, rather than static emotion categorisation alone.

Musical Beat Perception Skills of Autistic and Neurotypical Children

Many autistic children show musical interests and good musical skills including pitch and melodic memory. Autistic children may also perceive temporal regularities in music such as the primary beat underlying the rhythmic structure of music given some work showing preserved rhythm processing in the context of basic, nonverbal auditory stimuli. The temporal regularity and prediction of musical beats can potentially serve as an excellent framework for building skills in non-musical areas of growth for autistic children. We examine if autistic children are perceptually sensitive to the primary beat of music by comparing the musical beat perception skills of autistic and neurotypical children. Twenty-three autistic children and 23 neurotypical children aged 6-13 years with no group differences in chronological age and verbal and nonverbal mental ages completed a musical beat perception task where they identified whether beeps superimposed on musical excerpts were on or off the musical beat. Overall task performance was above the theoretical chance threshold of 50% but not the statistical chance threshold of 70% across groups. On-beat (versus off-beat) accuracy was higher for the autistic group but not the neurotypical group. The autistic group was just as accurate at detecting beat alignments (on-beat) but less precise at detecting beat misalignments (off-beat) compared to the neurotypical group. Perceptual sensitivity to beat alignments provides support for spared music processing among autistic children and informs on the accessibility of using musical beats and rhythm for cultivating related skills and behaviours (e.g., language and motor abilities).

Links between musical beat perception and phonological skills for autistic children

Exploring non-linguistic predictors of phonological awareness, such as musical beat perception, is valuable for children who present with language difficulties and diverse support needs. Studies on the musical abilities of children on the autism spectrum show that they have average or above-average musical production and auditory processing abilities. This study aimed to explore the relationship between musical beat perception and phonological awareness skills of children on the autism spectrum with a wide range of cognitive abilities. A total of 21 autistic children between the ages of 6 to 11 years old (M = 8.9, SD = 1.5) with full scale IQs ranging from 52 to 105 (M = 74, SD = 16) completed a beat perception and a phonological awareness task. Results revealed that phonological awareness and beat perception are positively correlated for children on the autism spectrum. Findings lend support to the potential use of beat and rhythm perception as a screening tool for early literacy skills, specifically for phonological awareness, for children with diverse support needs as an alternative to traditional verbal tasks that tend to underestimate the potential of children on the autism spectrum.

Basic emotion recognition of children on the autism spectrum is enhanced in music and typical for faces and voices

In contrast with findings of reduced facial and vocal emotional recognition (ER) accuracy, children on the autism spectrum (AS) demonstrate comparable ER skills to those of typically-developing (TD) children using music. To understand the specificity of purported ER differences, the goal of this study was to examine ER from music compared with faces and voices among children on the AS and TD children. Twenty-five children on the AS and 23 TD children (6-13 years) completed an ER task, using categorical (happy, sad, fear) and dimensional (valence, arousal) ratings, of emotions presented via music, faces, or voices. Compared to the TD group, the AS group showed a relative ER strength from music, and comparable performance from faces and voices. Although both groups demonstrated greater vocal ER accuracy, the children on the AS performed equally well with music and faces, whereas the TD children performed better with faces than with music. Both groups performed comparably with dimensional ratings, except for greater variability by the children on the AS in valence ratings for happy emotions. These findings highlight a need to re-examine ER of children on the AS, and to consider how facilitating strengths-based approaches can re-shape our thinking about and support for persons on the AS.

A Systematic Review of Scientific Studies on the Effects of Music in People with or at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is globally increasing, and the current available interventions show variable success. Thus, there is a growing interest in additional interventions such as music therapy (MT). Therefore, we aimed to provide a comprehensive and systematic review of music and people with, or at risk of, ASD. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines and used PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science as databases, with “music”, “music therapy”, “autism spectrum disorder”, and “ASD” as search terms. Among the identified and screened articles, 81 out of 621 qualified as scientific studies involving a total of 43,353 participants. These studies investigated the peculiarities of music perception in people with ASD, as well as the effects of music and MT in this patient group. Most of the music-based interventions were beneficial in improving social, emotional, and behavioural problems. However, the availability of studies utilizing a rigorous randomized controlled trial (RCT) design was scarce. Most of the studies had a small sample size, and the applied therapeutic and scientific research methods were heterogeneous.

"Intolerance of uncertainty" mediates the relationship between social profile and anxiety in both Williams syndrome and autism

Anxiety is the most significant mental health concern for both Williams syndrome (WS) and autism. Whilst WS and autism are characterized by some syndrome-specific social differences, less is known about cross-syndrome profiles of anxiety symptoms. Previous research has shown that Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) is a core mechanism of anxiety maintenance for clinically anxious populations and for autistic children, adolescents, and adults. The only published study in this area for WS has shown some similar patterns-with an added emphasis on the role of sensory sensitivities-in a sample of older teens and adults (mean age = 24), with the authors highlighting the need for younger samples to consider developmental influences. Here we report a cross-syndrome, cross-sectional mediation analyses of children diagnosed with WS or autism, including data from parent surveys of 90 children with WS (n = 48) or autism (n = 42). Group differences showed higher trait levels on all measures for the autism group. Importantly, the relationship between social profile and anxiety was fully mediated by IU level for both groups. This suggests possible similar core mechanisms underlying anxiety in these conditions, and the possibility of generalized intervention approaches especially related to managing distress related to uncertainty in multiple contexts. LAY SUMMARY: Autism and Williams Syndrome share some similarities in social profile and also in anxiety traits, but there are also some key differences as well. Comparing them side-by-side at the same time improved identification of ways to reduce feelings of anxiety. We found that the intolerance of uncertainty affected the relationship between social profile and anxiety in the same way for young children diagnosed with autism or Williams syndrome, meaning that intervention approaches could be similar for both.

Effects of Emotional Music on Facial Emotion Recognition in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Impaired facial emotion recognition in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is in contrast to their intact emotional music recognition. This study tested whether emotion congruent music enhances facial emotion recognition. Accuracy and reaction times were assessed for 19 children with ASD and 31 controls in a recognition task with angry, happy, or sad faces. Stimuli were shown with either emotionally congruent or incongruent music or no music. Although children with ASD had higher reaction times than controls, accuracy only differed when incongruent or no music was played, indicating that congruent emotional music can boost facial emotion recognition in children with ASD. Emotion congruent music may support emotion recognition in children with ASD, and thus may improve their social skills.

Music-Evoked Reward and Emotion: Relative Strengths and Response to Intervention of People With ASD

This review presents research findings showing that music is a unique domain to assess perception, reward, emotion, and associated physiological reactions and neural circuitry of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There is growing evidence, reported in several studies in this review article, indicating that music is a relative strength of people with ASD including musical pitch perception, musical memory, and identification of music-evoked emotions. Listening to music activates neural circuits of reward and emotion response, which are described. Research presented shows adults with ASD also activate these systems when listening to music, although there may be developmental differences in the physiological and neural response to music in childhood and adolescence alongside typical behavioral response. Nonetheless, studies reviewed lend support to the use of music therapy and education for people with ASD, specifically to improve social skills and communication. Neural correlates of response to music therapy and education are also discussed. Taken together, findings reviewed provide evidence for music as a strength-based approach for ASD to assess reward and emotion response and as a powerful tool for intervention.

Technology use as a support tool by secondary students with autism

The purpose of this study was to examine how secondary students with autism spectrum disorder use technology in supportive ways. In this self-report survey study, 472 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder enrolled in high school described the forms of technology they use and purposes for which they use it. Students reported the benefits as well as barriers to technology use at school. They reported using technology in school and home settings in a variety of supportive ways such as increasing their independence, reducing their anxiety, and increasing their social opportunities. Findings suggest that practitioners may benefit from learning how to integrate technology as an instructional and support tool for their students with autism spectrum disorder. Recommendations for future research are provided.