Acoustic features of vocalizations in typically developing and autistic infants in the first year

D Kimbrough Oller; Edina R Bene; Hyunjoo Yoo; Pumpki Lei Su; Helen Long; Cheryl Klaiman; Stormi L Pulver; Shana Richardson; Moira L Pileggi; Natalie Brane; Gordon Ramsay

doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104849

Acoustic features of vocalizations in typically developing and autistic infants in the first year

Res Dev Disabil. 2024 Oct 15:154:104849. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104849. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Origin of Language Laboratories, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA; Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA; Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria. Electronic address: koller@memphis.edu.
² Origin of Language Laboratories, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA.
³ Department of Communicative Disorders, College of Arts & Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA.
⁴ Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA; Callier Center for Communication Disorders, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA.
⁵ Communication Sciences Program, Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
⁶ Spoken Communication Laboratory, Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁷ Spoken Communication Laboratory, Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA.

PMID: 39413560
DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104849

Abstract

Background: We describe acoustic patterns across the five most prominent vocal types in typically developing infants (TD) and compare them with patterns in infants who develop autism (ASD) or a developmental disability (DD) not related to autism. Infant-directed speech (IDS) is a potentially important influence on such vocal acoustic patterns. Both acoustic patterns and effects of IDS are important for understanding the earliest origins of communication disorders.

Aims: To compare duration, pitch and loudness of infant vocalizations for three groups of infants (TD, ASD, DD) in circumstances with high or low amounts of IDS.

Methods and procedures: Two five-minute segments from each of 1259 all-day recordings across the first year were coded and acoustically analyzed for three groups of infants (130 TD, 44 ASD, 21 DD). Duration, mean fundamental frequency, and root mean square amplitude were determined for >162,000 infant utterances.

Outcomes and results: Cries were longest and loudest, and vowel-like sounds were shortest of the five vocal types in all groups. TD infants showed significant alterations in vocal acoustics during periods of high IDS.

Conclusions and implications: Strong similarities in acoustic patterns occurred across the three groups, but only the TD group showed significant acoustic effects of IDS.

Grants and funding

P50 MH100029/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States