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Spindle chirp and other sleep oscillatory features in young children with autism
Drew Cumming1, Nataliia Kozhemiako2, Audrey E Thurm1
1National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Insights
Spindle chirp, a sleep oscillation feature, was significantly more negative in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to typically developing children. This finding highlights potential sleep abnormalities in ASD.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sleep Science
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with various neurodevelopmental differences.
- Sleep disturbances are frequently reported in children with ASD.
- Sleep oscillatory features, such as spindle chirp, are emerging biomarkers for neurodevelopmental conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in spindle chirp and other sleep oscillatory features between young children with and without ASD.
- To compare sleep metrics in children with ASD to those with typically developing (TD) and developmental delay (DD) cohorts.
- To explore associations between sleep oscillatory features and behavioral data in young children.
Main Methods:
- Utilized automated software to analyze polysomnograms from 121 children (91 with ASD, 30 TD), aged 1.35-8.23 years.
- Compared spindle metrics (including chirp) and slow oscillation (SO) characteristics between ASD and TD groups.
- Investigated SO and spindle interactions, and performed secondary analyses on behavioral data and DD cohort comparisons.
Main Results:
- Posterior fast spindle (FS) and slow spindle (SS) chirp was significantly more negative in the ASD group compared to the TD group.
- Children with ASD showed decreased frontal and central SO amplitude and a higher parietal coupling angle.
- Exploratory analysis revealed lower FS chirp and higher coupling angle in the DD group compared to TD.
Conclusions:
- This study is the first to investigate spindle chirp in autism, revealing a significant difference in young children.
- The findings support previous reports of spindle and slow oscillation abnormalities in ASD.
- Further research on spindle chirp across development and in clinical populations is warranted to understand its significance.
Objectives:
To determine whether spindle chirp and other sleep oscillatory features differ in young children with and without autism.
Methods:
Automated processing software was used to re-assess an extant set of polysomnograms representing 121 children (91 with autism [ASD], 30 typically-developing [TD]), with an age range of 1.35-8.23 years. Spindle metrics, including chirp, and slow oscillation (SO) characteristics were compared between groups. SO and fast and slow spindle (FS, SS) interactions were also investigated. Secondary analyses were performed assessing behavioural data associations, as well as exploratory cohort comparisons to children with non-autism developmental delay (DD).
Results:
Posterior FS and SS chirp was significantly more negative in ASD than TD. Both groups had comparable intra-spindle frequency range and variance. Frontal and central SO amplitude were decreased in ASD. In contrast to previous manual findings, no differences were detected in other spindle or SO metrics. The ASD group displayed a higher parietal coupling angle. No differences were observed in phase-frequency coupling. The DD group demonstrated lower FS chirp and higher coupling angle than TD. Parietal SS chirp was positively associated with full developmental quotient.
Conclusions:
For the first time spindle chirp was investigated in autism and was found to be significantly more negative than in TD in this large cohort of young children. This finding strengthens previous reports of spindle and SO abnormalities in ASD. Further investigation of spindle chirp in healthy and clinical populations across development will help elucidate the significance of this difference and better understand this novel metric.
