Evidence for intact melodic and rhythmic perception in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition characterized by socio-communicative difficulties and restricted patterns of behavior. Despite these challenges, some individuals with ASD have preserved or even enhanced sensory skills, for example in the case of music. As such, music provides a key way to study sensory processing and individual differences in ASD. However, current studies of Music perception in ASD have mixed results. Methods: This study sought to examine music perception in terms of melodic pitch, rhythm, and memory in school-age children with ASD compared to typically-developing (TD) children. Music perception was investigated as a function of verbal and non-verbal IQ, age, and ASD social symptom severity. Results: Children with ASD performed similar to TD children on melodic pitch perception, rhythm perception and melodic memory. Melodic pitch perception in particular was strongly associated with non-verbal cognitive abilities in the ASD group. Similar effects of age on performance were observed in ASD and TD; in particular, rhythm discrimination increased with age in both groups. Music perception in ASD was not associated with ASD social symptom severity. Discussion: These findings provide further evidence for intact melodic and rhythmic perception in children with ASD. In addition, music perception abilities were related to non-verbal cognitive ability and age in ASD, and not with ASD social symptom severity. This research provides a better understanding of individual differences in auditory processing, helps to better define phenotypes in ASD, and can guide future studies on the effects of music therapy in ASD.