Atypical brain lateralization for speech processing at the sublexical level in autistic children revealed by fNIRS

Abstract Autistic children often exhibit atypical brain lateralization of language processing, but it is unclear what aspects of language contribute to this phenomenon. This study employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure hemispheric lateralization by estimating hemodynamic responses associated with processing linguistic and non-linguistic auditory stimuli. The study involved a group of autistic children (N = 20, mean age = 5.8 years) and a comparison group of nonautistic peers (N = 20, mean age = 6.5 years). The children were presented with stimuli with systematically decreasing linguistic relevance: naturalistic native speech, meaningless native speech with scrambled word order, nonnative speech, and music. The results revealed that both groups showed left lateralization in the temporal lobe when listening to naturalistic native speech. However, the distinction emerged between autism and nonautistic in terms of processing the linguistic hierarchy. Specifically, the nonautistic comparison group demonstrated a systematic reduction in left lateralization as linguistic relevance decreased. In contrast, the autism group displayed no such pattern and showed no lateralization when listening to scrambled native speech accompanied by enhanced response in the right hemisphere. These results provide evidence of atypical neural specialization for spoken language in preschool- and school-age autistic children and shed new light on the underlying linguistic correlates contributing to such atypicality at the sublexical level

Alkaline Extraction, Structural Characterization, and Bioactivities of (1→6)-β-<span style="font-variant: small-caps">d</span>-Glucan from <i>Lentinus edodes</i>

The purpose of this study is to develop a robust approach to obtain &#946; glucans from Lentinus edodes and to characterize their structural and biological properties for sustainable utilization. The alkali extraction was optimized with an orthogonal experimental design, and a concise process for obtaining specific targeting polysaccharides from Lentinus edodes was developed in this study. After purification with a Q-Sepharose Fast Flow strong anion-exchange column, the monosaccharide composition, a methylation analysis, and NMR spectroscopy were employed for their structural characterizations. LeP-N2 was found to be composed of (1&#8594;6)-&#946;-d-glucans with minor &#946;-(1&#8594;3) glucosidic side chains. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and high-performance gel permeation chromatography&#8211;refractive index&#8211;multi-angle laser light scattering (HPGPC-RI-MALLS) also revealed LeP-N2 exhibiting a compact unit in aqueous solution. This (1&#8594;6)-&#946;-d-glucan was tested for antioxidant activities with IC50 at 157 &#956;g/mL. Moreover, RAW 264.7 macrophage activation indicated that the release of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were markedly increased with no cytotoxicity at a dose of 100 &#956;g/mL. These findings suggest that the (1&#8594;6)-&#946;-d-glucans obtained from Lentinus edodes could serve as potential agents in the fields of functional foods or medicine