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Resting-State Activity in Children: Replicating and Extending Findings of Early Maturation of Alpha Rhythms in Autism

Guannan Shen1,2, Heather L Green3, Rose E Franzen3

  • 1Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA. sheng1@chop.edu.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
|March 18, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show differences in resting-state alpha brain rhythms, specifically a higher peak alpha frequency (PAF). This atypical brain activity was linked to cognitive performance variations in typically developing children but not in those with ASD.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Neuroscience
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Background:

  • Resting-state alpha brain rhythms are crucial for cognitive functions.
  • Atypical maturation of peak alpha frequency (PAF) is observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate differences in resting-state alpha activity between typically developing (TD) children and children with ASD.
  • To explore the relationship between alpha activity characteristics and cognitive performance in both groups.

Main Methods:

  • Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to collect eyes-closed resting-state data from male children aged 6.0 to 9.3 years.
  • Data from 47 TD males and 45 ASD males were analyzed for peak alpha frequency (PAF) and alpha power.

Main Results:

  • Children with ASD exhibited a significantly higher PAF compared to TD children.
  • Differences in alpha power between groups were associated with the observed shift in PAF within the ASD group.
  • A higher PAF correlated with better cognitive performance in TD children, but not in children with ASD.

Conclusions:

  • Group differences in resting-state alpha activity, particularly PAF, are present in school-aged males with ASD.
  • These differences in brain activity may have functional consequences, impacting cognitive performance differently across groups.

Keywords:
Autism spectrum disorderMagnetoencephalographyMaturationPeak alpha frequency

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