Autistic Teens' Brains Process Unfamiliar Voices Differently

Stanford Medicine researchers said a study publishing July 13 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows the brains of teenagers with autism do not develop increased responsiveness to unfamiliar voices during adolescence. The study examined 79 children and adolescents. In neurotypical teens, brain regions governing reward and salience show a surge in responsiveness to unfamiliar voices with age. In autistic teens, these networks show zero change with age, and responsiveness drops among older teens with severe symptoms. The study also found neurotypical teens shift emphasis away from their mothers' voices toward unfamiliar voices, while autistic teens become increasingly attuned to their mothers' voices, a pattern most pronounced in those with severe social communication deficits. Lead author Daniel Abrams, clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, said adolescence is a moment of opportunity for autistic teens who want to build friendships but whose brains are not becoming increasingly responsive to unfamiliar vocal stimuli. Senior author Vinod Menon said autism research often focuses on static brain differences rather than how they unfold dynamically across aging. Abrams said understanding the failure to re-tune vocal reward networks opens a golden opportunity to build targeted therapies for adolescents.