Effortful Control and Prefrontal Cortex Functioning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An fNIRS Study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Child Psychiatry

Background:

• Effortful control (EC) is a key temperamental trait crucial for executive and socioemotional functions.
• Impaired EC is a characteristic feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
• While EC is linked to prefrontal cortex (PFC) function in typically developing (TD) children, its neural correlates in ASD remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between EC and PFC activation and connectivity in children with high-functioning ASD.
• To compare PFC functioning during a cognitive task between children with ASD and TD controls.

Main Methods:

• Utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess PFC activation and connectivity during an n-back task.
• Assessed EC levels using the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R).
• Recruited 39 right-handed children aged 8-12 years (20 with ASD, 19 TD controls).

Main Results:

• Children with ASD exhibited significant deficits in EC and related executive and socioemotional functions compared to TD controls.
• ASD group showed increased overall PFC activation and reduced right frontal connectivity during the n-back task.
• In the ASD group, EC levels did not correlate with PFC activation or connectivity but did correlate with social functioning.

Conclusions:

• Children with high-functioning ASD demonstrate both EC deficits and altered PFC functioning.
• The direct neural basis linking EC deficits to PFC dysfunction in ASD requires further investigation.
• Findings highlight the complexity of temperamental and neural differences in ASD.