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Author Spotlight: Capturing Infant-Caregiver Interactions Through Synchronized Multimodal Data Collection
Published on: May 31, 2024
Functional EEG connectivity in infants associates with later restricted and repetitive behaviours in autism; a
Rianne Haartsen1, Emily J H Jones2, Elena V Orekhova3,4
1Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, WC1E 7HX, United Kingdom. rhaart01@mail.bbk.ac.uk.
Insights
Higher alpha EEG connectivity in infants at 14 months predicts more severe restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This finding is the first replicated infant neural predictor of dimensional variation in later ASD symptoms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Genetics
Background:
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition.
- Early identification of neural markers can aid in understanding ASD development.
- Prior research suggested a link between infant EEG connectivity and later ASD diagnosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To replicate findings on the association between infant alpha EEG connectivity and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis and symptom severity.
- To investigate the relationship between early functional connectivity and restricted/repetitive behaviors in high-risk infants.
- To identify potential neural predictors of dimensional variation in ASD symptoms.
Main Methods:
- High-density electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded from 143 infants (high and low familial risk for ASD) at 14 months of age.
- Alpha functional connectivity (7-8 Hz) was calculated using the debiased weighted phase lag index.
- Infants were assessed at 36 months for ASD diagnosis and symptom severity, including restricted and repetitive behaviors.
Main Results:
- The study did not replicate the association between global EEG connectivity and ASD diagnosis.
- A significant replication was found for higher alpha functional connectivity at 14 months correlating with greater severity of restricted and repetitive behaviors at 36 months in infants diagnosed with ASD.
- This association was particularly strong for the circumscribed interests subdomain of restricted and repetitive behaviors.
Conclusions:
- Infant alpha EEG functional connectivity is a replicated neural predictor of dimensional variation in later autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms, specifically restricted and repetitive behaviors.
- Frontal-striatal circuit abnormalities are proposed as the underlying mechanism for the observed association.
- This research provides the first replicated infant neural marker for predicting the severity of specific ASD-related behaviors.
Abstract:
We conducted a replication study of our prior report that increased alpha EEG connectivity at 14-months associates with later autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis, and dimensional variation in restricted interests/repetitive behaviours. 143 infants at high and low familial risk for ASD watched dynamic videos of spinning toys and women singing nursery rhymes while high-density EEG was recorded. Alpha functional connectivity (7-8 Hz) was calculated using the debiased weighted phase lag index. The final sample with clean data included low-risk infants (N = 20), and high-risk infants who at 36 months showed either typical development (N = 47), atypical development (N = 21), or met criteria for ASD (N = 13). While we did not replicate the finding that global EEG connectivity associated with ASD diagnosis, we did replicate the association between higher functional connectivity at 14 months and greater severity of restricted and repetitive behaviours at 36 months in infants who met criteria for ASD. We further showed that this association is strongest for the circumscribed interests subdomain. We propose that structural and/or functional abnormalities in frontal-striatal circuits underlie the observed association. This is the first replicated infant neural predictor of dimensional variation in later ASD symptoms.
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