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Functional connectivity in the first year of life in infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder: an EEG study
Giulia Righi1, Adrienne L Tierney2, Helen Tager-Flusberg3
1Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Insights
Reduced neural functional connectivity in infants at 12 months may indicate a genetic vulnerability for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This finding highlights early differences in brain integration crucial for understanding ASD development.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Genetics
Background:
- Early identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is crucial for intervention.
- Infants with a family history of ASD are at higher risk, making them key subjects for research.
- Neural and behavioral markers are actively being investigated for early ASD detection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neural functional connectivity in infants at high and low risk for ASD.
- To determine if reduced functional connectivity is an early indicator of ASD.
- To explore the relationship between genetic vulnerability and neural integration differences in ASD.
Main Methods:
- Tested infants at 6 and 12 months of age, categorized as high-risk (older sibling with ASD) or low-risk.
- Measured intrahemispheric linear coherence from electroencephalography (EEG) during speech sound exposure.
- Analyzed neural functional connectivity as a marker of brain integration.
Main Results:
- By 12 months, high-risk infants showed reduced functional connectivity compared to low-risk infants.
- Infants later diagnosed with ASD exhibited significantly reduced functional connectivity.
- Reduced functional connectivity was also observed in high-risk infants who did not develop ASD, suggesting a broader genetic influence.
Conclusions:
- Reduced neural functional connectivity is associated with genetic vulnerability for ASD.
- Differences in neural integration are evident within the first year of life in individuals developing ASD.
- Findings support the role of altered brain integration in the early development of ASD.
Abstract:
In the field of autism research, recent work has been devoted to studying both behavioral and neural markers that may aide in early identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These studies have often tested infants who have a significant family history of autism spectrum disorder, given the increased prevalence observed among such infants. In the present study we tested infants at high- and low-risk for ASD (based on having an older sibling diagnosed with the disorder or not) at 6- and 12-months-of-age. We computed intrahemispheric linear coherence between anterior and posterior sites as a measure of neural functional connectivity derived from electroencephalography while the infants were listening to speech sounds. We found that by 12-months-of-age infants at risk for ASD showed reduced functional connectivity compared to low risk infants. Moreover, by 12-months-of-age infants later diagnosed with ASD showed reduced functional connectivity, compared to both infants at low risk for the disorder and infants at high risk who were not later diagnosed with ASD. Significant differences in functional connectivity were also found between low-risk infants and high-risk infants who did not go onto develop ASD. These results demonstrate that reduced functional connectivity appears to be related to genetic vulnerability for ASD. Moreover, they provide further evidence that ASD is broadly characterized by differences in neural integration that emerge during the first year of life.