A significant between‐group difference in MSI was evident in the literature , with individuals with ASD demonstrating worse audiovisual integration on average across studies compared to TD controls .
This effect was moderated by mean participant age , such that between‐group differences were more pronounced in younger sample s. The mean correlation between MSI and autism and related symptomatology was also significant , indicating that increased audiovisual integration in individuals with ASD is associated with better language /communication abilities and /or reduced autism symptom severity in the extant literature .
This effect was moderated by whether the stimuli were linguistic versus non‐linguistic in nature , such that correlation magnitudes tended to be significantly greater when linguistic stimuli were utilized in the measure of MSI .
& NA ; An ever‐growing literature has aim ed to determine how individuals with autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ) differ from their typically developing ( TD ) peers on measures of multisensory integration ( MSI ) and to ascertain the degree to which differences in MSI are associated with the broad range of symptoms associated with ASD .
Findings , however , have been highly variable across the studies carried out to date .
The present work systematic ally review s and quantitatively synthesizes the large literature on audiovisual MSI  in individuals with ASD to evaluate the cumulative evidence for ( a ) group differences between individuals with ASD and TD peers , ( b ) correlations between MSI and autism symptoms in individuals with ASD and ( c ) study level factors that may moderate findings ( i.e. , explain differential effects ) observed across studies .
Early multisensory interactions affect the competition among multiple visual objects
In dynamic cluttered environments , audition and vision may benefit from each other in determining what deserves further attention and what does not . We investigated the underlying neural mechanisms responsible for attentional guidance by audiovisual stimuli in such an environment . Event-related potentials ( ERPs ) were measured during visual search through dynamic displays consisting of line elements that r and omly changed orientation . Search accuracy improved when a target orientation change was synchronized with an auditory signal as compared to when the auditory signal was absent or synchronized with a distractor orientation change . The ERP data show that behavioral benefits were related to an early multisensory interaction over left parieto-occipital cortex ( 50 - 60 ms post-stimulus onset ) , which was followed by an early positive modulation ( 80 - 100 ms ) over occipital and temporal areas contralateral to the audiovisual event , an enhanced N2pc ( 210 - 250 ms ) , and a contralateral negative slow wave ( CNSW ) . The early multisensory interaction was correlated with behavioral search benefits , indicating that participants with a strong multisensory interaction benefited the most from the synchronized auditory signal . We suggest that an auditory signal enhances the neural response to a synchronized visual event , which increases the chances of selection in a multiple object environment
A significant between‐group difference in MSI was evident in the literature , with individuals with ASD demonstrating worse audiovisual integration on average across studies compared to TD controls .
This effect was moderated by mean participant age , such that between‐group differences were more pronounced in younger sample s. The mean correlation between MSI and autism and related symptomatology was also significant , indicating that increased audiovisual integration in individuals with ASD is associated with better language /communication abilities and /or reduced autism symptom severity in the extant literature .
This effect was moderated by whether the stimuli were linguistic versus non‐linguistic in nature , such that correlation magnitudes tended to be significantly greater when linguistic stimuli were utilized in the measure of MSI .
& NA ; An ever‐growing literature has aim ed to determine how individuals with autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ) differ from their typically developing ( TD ) peers on measures of multisensory integration ( MSI ) and to ascertain the degree to which differences in MSI are associated with the broad range of symptoms associated with ASD .
Findings , however , have been highly variable across the studies carried out to date .
The present work systematic ally review s and quantitatively synthesizes the large literature on audiovisual MSI  in individuals with ASD to evaluate the cumulative evidence for ( a ) group differences between individuals with ASD and TD peers , ( b ) correlations between MSI and autism symptoms in individuals with ASD and ( c ) study level factors that may moderate findings ( i.e. , explain differential effects ) observed across studies .