{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T06:01:46Z","timestamp":1785391306544,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785369600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Hum. Neurosci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>It is well known that standardized neuropsychological testing frequently fails to capture the true capacity and full range of abilities in individuals with minimally verbal autism spectrum disorder (mvASD) due to difficulties with motor speech skills. Here we used Surface Electromyography (sEMG), a non-invasive method that captures action potentials during muscle movements, to examine the motor basis of speech production challenges in adults with minimally verbal autism spectrum disorder (mvASD).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Method<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>sEMG data were collected from 8 sensors placed on the face and neck while participants performed four speech tasks: imitation, naming and reading words, and a syllable repetition task (diadochokinetic, DDK). We compared adults with mvASD and neurotypical controls (NT) on RMS amplitude and mean correlation between the sEMG signals and movement complexity measures derived from auto and cross-correlation structures of the signal to capture the dynamic coordination of muscle activity during speech production. Principal component analysis was applied to reduce the eigenvalue features to a compact speech-motor representation used as input to leave-one-out cross-validated predictive models of group.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Across all speech tasks, the mvASD group consistently demonstrated stronger correlations between sensor signals from muscles on the face and neck compared to NT. The finding suggests tighter coupling of muscle activity reflecting potentially less differentiated muscle movement control during speech production. This is in keeping with a pattern of lower complexity of motor coordination related to reduced degrees of freedom in mvASD compared to NT participants.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The findings extend previous work by demonstrating that sEMG features capture differences in muscle coordination patterns between adults with mvASD and neurotypical individuals across multiple speech tasks. Additionally, dimensionality-reduced EMG representations derived from imitation and diadochokinetic (DDK) tasks showed the strongest ability to distinguish between groups, suggesting that speech tasks that involve reproducing the utterances presented may be particularly sensitive to atypical speech-motor control in mvASD. These results support the potential of sEMG as an objective tool for characterizing speech-motor performance and informing assessment approaches for minimally verbal individuals.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2026.1757743","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T05:40:05Z","timestamp":1785390005000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Exploring motor speech patterns in adults with minimally verbal autism spectrum disorder through surface electromyography"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Nishat F.","family":"Protyasha","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology","place":["Cambridge, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Serena","family":"Pei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology","place":["Cambridge, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"James R.","family":"Williamson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology","place":["Lexington, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Sarnie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital","place":["Lexington, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lisa","family":"Nowinski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital","place":["Lexington, MA, United States"]},{"name":"Harvard Medical School","place":["Boston, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nataliya","family":"Kosmyna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology","place":["Cambridge, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meredith","family":"Pecukonis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital","place":["Lexington, MA, United States"]},{"name":"Harvard Medical School","place":["Boston, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paige Hickey","family":"Townsend","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital","place":["Lexington, MA, United States"]},{"name":"Harvard Medical School","place":["Boston, MA, United States"]},{"name":"Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging Massachusetts General Hospital","place":["Charlestown, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sophia","family":"Yuditskaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology","place":["Lexington, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christopher J.","family":"McDougle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital","place":["Lexington, MA, United States"]},{"name":"Harvard Medical School","place":["Boston, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas F.","family":"Quatieri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology","place":["Lexington, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pattie","family":"Maes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology","place":["Cambridge, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Mody","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital","place":["Lexington, MA, United States"]},{"name":"Harvard Medical School","place":["Boston, MA, United States"]},{"name":"Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging Massachusetts General Hospital","place":["Charlestown, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1424","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpp.12609","article-title":"Understanding definitions of minimally verbal across instruments: evidence for subgroups within minimally verbal children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder","volume":"57","author":"Bal","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref3","volume-title":"Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI)","author":"Beery","year":"2010"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4367","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-020-04489-1","article-title":"Early motor differences in infants at elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder and\/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder","volume":"50","author":"Begum Ali","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1242","DOI":"10.1016\/j.intcom.2006.08.012","article-title":"Small vocabulary speech recognition using surface electromyography","volume":"18","author":"Betts","year":"2006","journal-title":"Interact. Comput."},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1156","DOI":"10.1002\/aur.2711","article-title":"A further study of relations between motor impairment and social communication, cognitive, language, functional impairments, and repetitive behavior severity in children with ASD using the SPARK study dataset","volume":"15","author":"Bhat","year":"2022","journal-title":"Autism Res."},{"key":"ref7","volume-title":"Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer","author":"Boersma","year":"2018"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"433","DOI":"10.1163\/156856897X00357","article-title":"The psychophysics toolbox","volume":"10","author":"Brainard","year":"1997","journal-title":"Spat. Vis."},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"201","DOI":"10.1017\/s0952675700001019","article-title":"Articulatory gestures as phonological units","volume":"6","author":"Browman","year":"1989","journal-title":"Phonology"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2571","DOI":"10.1177\/2396941519856333","article-title":"Motor speech impairment predicts expressive language in minimally verbal, but not low verbal, individuals with autism spectrum disorder","volume":"4","author":"Chenausky","year":"2021","journal-title":"Autism"},{"key":"ref11","volume-title":"Social Responsiveness Scale","author":"Constantino","year":"2012"},{"key":"ref12","volume-title":"Primer on Autism Spectrum Disorder","author":"Croft","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1234","DOI":"10.1044\/1092-43882003\/096","article-title":"Effects of concurrent motor, linguistic, or cognitive tasks on speech motor performance","volume":"46","author":"Dromey","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res."},{"key":"ref14","volume-title":"Motor Speech Disorders: Substrates, Differential Diagnosis, and Management","author":"Duffy","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref15","volume-title":"Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test","author":"Dunn","year":"2018"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1259","DOI":"10.1007\/s00431-017-2951-7","article-title":"Early motor delays as diagnostic clues in autism spectrum disorder","volume":"176","author":"Harris","year":"2017","journal-title":"Eur. J. Pediatr."},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e02395","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2019.02395","article-title":"The morphogenesis of speech gestures: from local computations to global patterns","volume":"10","author":"Iskarous","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref19","author":"Kapur","year":"2018"},{"key":"ref20","first-page":"25","volume-title":"Machine Learning for Health Workshop","author":"Kapur","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"479","DOI":"10.1002\/aur.1334","article-title":"Assessing the minimally verbal school-aged child with autism spectrum disorder","volume":"6","author":"Kasari","year":"2013","journal-title":"Autism Res."},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1532","DOI":"10.1002\/hbm.25312","article-title":"Unique deficit in embodied simulation in autism: an fMRI study comparing autism and developmental coordination disorder","volume":"42","author":"Kilroy","year":"2020","journal-title":"Hum. Brain Mapp."},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1258","DOI":"10.1044\/2018_JSLHR-S-17-0222","article-title":"Cognitive load affects speech motor performance differently in older and younger adults","volume":"62","author":"MacPherson","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res."},{"key":"ref24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1485","DOI":"10.1044\/2024_AJSLP-23-00237","article-title":"Exploring motor speech disorders in low and minimally verbal autistic individuals: an auditory-perceptual analysis","volume":"33","author":"Maffei","year":"2024","journal-title":"American J Speech Language Pathol"},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e71229","DOI":"10.1002\/brb3.71229","article-title":"Use of automation technologies and data Mining in Speech Recognition for autism","volume":"16","author":"Mao","year":"2026","journal-title":"Brain Behav."},{"key":"ref26","volume-title":"Grooved Pegboard Test Manual","author":"Mathews","year":"1964"},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1397","DOI":"10.1002\/aur.70046","article-title":"Mechanisms of altered imitation in autism spectrum disorders","volume":"18","author":"McWeeny","year":"2025","journal-title":"Autism Res."},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1221","DOI":"10.1044\/2019_PERSP-19-00126","article-title":"Getting the word \u201cout\u201d: a role for the motor system in autism spectrum disorder","volume":"4","author":"Mody","year":"2019","journal-title":"Perspect. ASHA Spec. Interest Groups"},{"key":"ref29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-016-2934-y","article-title":"Communication deficits and the motor system: exploring patterns of associations in autism Spectrum disorder (ASD)","volume":"47","author":"Mody","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref30","volume-title":"Language Development: An Introduction","author":"Owens","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1619744","DOI":"10.3389\/flang.2025.1619744","article-title":"Fine motor skills predict expressive, but not receptive, language abilities in minimally verbal autistic adults","volume":"4","author":"Pecukonis","year":"2025","journal-title":"Front. Lang. Sci."},{"key":"ref32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"756","DOI":"10.1001\/jamapediatrics.2025.0216","article-title":"Prevalence of motor milestone delays in autistic children","volume":"179","author":"Pokoski","year":"2025","journal-title":"JAMA Pediatr."},{"key":"ref33","volume-title":"Characterizing speech motor Pattern in Minimally Verbal Adults with Autism spectrum Disorder via surface Electromyography","author":"Protyasha","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1695265","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2026.1695265","article-title":"Quantifying vocal subsystems of adults with minimally verbal autism spectrum disorder","volume":"20","author":"Quatieri","year":"2026","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref35","volume-title":"Stanford Binet Intelligence Scales","author":"Roid","year":"2003"},{"key":"ref36","volume-title":"The Social Communication Questionnaire","author":"Rutter","year":"2003"},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"675","DOI":"10.1044\/2017_JSLHR-L-17-0066","article-title":"Influence of language load on speech motor skill in children with specific language impairment","volume":"61","author":"Saletta","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res."},{"key":"ref38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1379307","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2024.1379307","article-title":"Beyond words: an investigation of fine motor skills and the verbal communication spectrum in autism","volume":"15","author":"Simarro Gonzalez","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. Psych."},{"key":"ref39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3264","DOI":"10.1177\/23969415211053264","article-title":"Relations between language, non-verbal cognition, and conceptualization in non or minimally verbal individuals with ASD across the lifespan","volume":"6","author":"Slu\u0161n\u00e1","year":"2021","journal-title":"Autism Dev Lang Impair."},{"key":"ref40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1232","DOI":"10.1044\/1092-4388(2011\/11-0214","article-title":"Surface EMG for speech and swallowing systems: measurement, analysis, and interpretation","volume":"55","author":"Stepp","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res."},{"key":"ref41","volume-title":"Approaches to the Evolution of Language","author":"Studdert-Kennedy","year":"1998"},{"key":"ref42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"468","DOI":"10.1002\/aur.1329","article-title":"Minimally verbal school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder: the neglected end of the spectrum","volume":"6","author":"Tager-Flusberg","year":"2013","journal-title":"Autism Res"},{"key":"ref43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101665","DOI":"10.1016\/j.csl.2024.101665","article-title":"An exploratory characterization of speech and fine-motor coordination in verbal children with autism spectrum disorder","volume":"89","author":"Talkar","year":"2025","journal-title":"Comput. Speech Lang."},{"key":"ref44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2134","DOI":"10.1044\/2021_JSLHR-20-00257","article-title":"Surface electromyography-based recognition, synthesis, and perception of prosodic subvocal speech","volume":"64","author":"Voltech","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res."},{"key":"ref45","volume-title":"Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT)","author":"Williams","year":"2018"},{"key":"ref46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"134","DOI":"10.1097\/WCO.0000000000000541","article-title":"Motor development and delay: advances in assessment of motor skills in autism spectrum disorders","volume":"31","author":"Wilson","year":"2018","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Neurol."},{"key":"ref47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5103","DOI":"10.21437\/Interspeech.2024-1309","article-title":"Analyzing speech motor movement using surface electromyography in minimally verbal adults with autism Spectrum disorder","author":"Zulfikar","year":"2024","journal-title":"Proc. Interspeech"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Human Neuroscience"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fnhum.2026.1757743\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T05:40:09Z","timestamp":1785390009000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fnhum.2026.1757743\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]]},"references-count":46,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fnhum.2026.1757743"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fnhum.2026.1757743","relation":{},"ISSN":["1662-5161"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1662-5161","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]]},"article-number":"1757743"}}