Perception of task-irrelevant affective prosody by typically developed and diagnosed children with Autism Spectrum Disorder under attentional loads: electroencephalographic and behavioural data

Mathilde Marie Duville; César E Corona-González; Rebeca Romo De León; Andrea Rodríguez Vera; Mariana S Flores-Jimenez; David I Ibarra-Zarate; Luz María Alonso-Valerdi

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2023.109057

Perception of task-irrelevant affective prosody by typically developed and diagnosed children with Autism Spectrum Disorder under attentional loads: electroencephalographic and behavioural data

Data Brief. 2023 Mar 14:48:109057. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.109057. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Mathilde Marie Duville¹, César E Corona-González¹, Rebeca Romo De León¹, Andrea Rodríguez Vera¹, Mariana S Flores-Jimenez², David I Ibarra-Zarate¹, Luz María Alonso-Valerdi¹

Affiliations

¹ Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey, N.L., México, 64849.
² Tecnológico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Campus Guadalajara, Av. Gral. Ramón Corona No 2514, Colonia Nuevo México, Zapopan, Jalisco 45121, México.

Abstract

The relevance of affective information triggers cognitive prioritisation, dictated by both the attentional load of the relevant task, and socio-emotional abilities. This dataset provides electroencephalographic (EEG) signals related to implicit emotional speech perception under low, intermediate, and high attentional demands. Demographic and behavioural data are also provided. Specific social-emotional reciprocity and verbal communication characterise Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and may influence the processing of affective prosodies. Therefore, 62 children and their parents or legal guardians participated in data collection, including 31 children with high autistic traits (x̄_age=9.6-year-old, σ_age=1.5) who previously received a diagnosis of ASD by a medical specialist, and 31 typically developed children (x̄_age=10.2-year-old, σ_age=1.2). Assessments of the scope of autistic behaviours using the Autism Spectrum Rating Scales (ASRS, parent report) are provided for every child. During the experiment, children listened to task-irrelevant affective prosodies (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, neutral and sadness) while answering three visual tasks: neutral image viewing (low attentional load), one-target 4-disc Multiple Object Tracking (MOT; intermediate), one-target 8-disc MOT (high). The EEG data recorded during all three tasks and the tracking capacity (behavioural data) from MOT conditions are included in the dataset. Particularly, the tracking capacity was computed as a standardised index of attentional abilities during MOT, corrected for guessing. Beforehand, children answered the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, and resting-state EEG activity of children was recorded for 2 minutes with eyes open. Those data are also provided. The present dataset can be used to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of implicit emotion and speech perceptions and their interaction with attentional load and autistic traits. Besides, resting-state EEG data may be used to characterise inter-individual heterogeneity at rest and, in turn, associate it with attentional capacities during MOT and with autistic behavioural patterns. Finally, tracking capacity may be useful to explore dynamic and selective attentional mechanisms under emotional constraints.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Dynamic attention; Electroencephalography; Emotion processing; Multiple-object tracking; Prosody; Selective attention; Speech.