Effect of Sound Stimulation on the Heart Rate in Autistic Patients

Abstract

It is known that autistic patients have abnormal response to various sounds. The change of heart rate was recorded in 9 autistic patients and 15 healthy persons against 10 various sounds which are heard in everyday life. The results were as follows: (1) The heart rate of autistic patients was constantly higher than the healthy persons before the stimulation. (2) More significant wide variation of heart rate was recognized in autistic patients than in healthy persons. (3) In contrast to the consistent heart rate response in the healthy persons, no specific change of heart rate was found in autistic patients. From these observations, it was suggested that autistic patients may have poor realization of the sound, and may accept the environmental sound as a tone with simple rhythm and stress.