Study Links Autism in Teens to Reduced Brain Response to New Voices

A Stanford Medicine study published in PNAS indicates that teenagers with autism exhibit a diminished brain response to unfamiliar voices compared to neurotypical peers. This difference in auditory processing may contribute to the social challenges often experienced by individuals with autism. Researchers observed that the reward centers in the brains of autistic teens do not show the same increasing responsiveness to strangers' voices as they mature, unlike typically developing adolescents.