DELAYED MATCH-TO-SAMPLE PERFORMANCE IN AUTISTIC-CHILDREN

The involvement of temporal lobe structures in autism has found suppor t in several animal and human studies. The delayed match- and nonmatch -to-sample paradigms are two tasks that are sensitive to temporal lobe and frontal lobe development and damage and may be useful in the stud y of autism. High- and low-functioning autistic disordered (HAD, LAD) subjects and developmental language-disordered (DLD) and mentally reta rded (MR) control subjects were tested on a two stimuli matching parad igm. Both trial-unique and repeated-stimuli procedures were used. All subjects performed equally well with both procedures. Performances of HAD subjects and controls of similar nonverbal intelligence (DLD subje cts) were not significantly different. The LAD group performed at chan ce levels and scored significantly lower than all other groups, but co nvarying for nonverbal intelligence elminated all signficant group dif ferences. These results indicate successful performance on a visual re cognition memory task by HAD subjects. These findings are more consist ent with the possibility of temporal rather than frontal lobe dysfunct ion in autism. The involvement of specific temporal lobe structures, i ncluding the amygdala and hippocampus, in autism is discussed.