Auditory Sensitivity in Autism: A Systematic Review of Mismatch Negativity and Mismatch Field Responses

Abstract

Auditory mismatch responses—mismatch negativity (MMN) and mismatch fields (MMF)—are well established electrophys-iological markers of automatic auditory discrimination supported by short-term sensory memory. These responses, typicallyelicited using passive oddball paradigms, are increasingly used to investigate sensory and language processing in autism. Thissystematic review synthesizes findings from 55 studies comparing MMN and MMF responses in autistic and typically developing(TD) individuals across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Using the Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) framework,we identified consistent evidence for smaller MMN amplitudes and reduced MMF power in autistic children and adolescentsrelative to TD peers, particularly in response to frequency, duration, and speech-based deviants. Studies also frequently reportedlonger mismatch latencies in autistic participants and associated these delays with language difficulties and heightened auditorysensitivity. Although some studies reported age-related convergence in MMN and MMF measures between autistic and TDgroups in later childhood or adolescence, greater right-hemisphere lateralization in autistic individuals emerged as a consistentfinding across both speech and non-speech paradigms, suggesting differences in hemispheric weighting for auditory process-ing of linguistic and non-linguistic cues. To explain interindividual and developmental variability in mismatch responses, wepropose a precision-weighted predictive coding account, in which divergent assignment of confidence to sensory predictionerrors may contribute to autism-related differences. While study quality was generally fair, methodological heterogeneity, un-derrepresentation of females, and limited cross-cultural sampling constrain generalizability. Future research should prioritizelongitudinal, sex-stratified, and culturally diverse designs, using standardized protocols and collaborative data practices. MMNand MMF responses hold promise as non-invasive translational biomarkers of early-stage sensory prediction and neurodevelop-mental variation in autism