Abstract:

Audiovisual temporal integration is the fact that the relative timing of audio-visual stimulation should be bound into a unified percept. The audiovisual temporal integration of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) was confirmed to be impaired mainly in four aspects. First, the temporal binding window is wider and more symmetrical. Second, ASD got weaker ability of rapid audiovisual temporal recalibration. Third, the effect that visual target search can be improved by a synchronous sound decreased has been found to be missing in ASD in some studies. Last, ASD showed impaired audiovisual temporal acuity for speech stimuli. Various methods are used to probe for temporal aspects of audiovisual integration, such as sound-induced flash illusion task and "pip-pop" task. The simultaneity judgment task, temporal order judgment task and preferential-looking task are mainly used to measure intersensory synchrony. Relevant theories from abnormal neural processing, the internal priors and the interaction between multiple sensory modals explain those defects. In future, researchers should improve the ecological validity of study, further integrate different theoretical explanations and accurate quantitative diagnostic indicators, as well as exploit the effective intervention strategies.

Key words: autism spectrum disorders, audiovisual temporal integration, temporal binding window, temporal synchrony