Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Can Modulate Brain Complexity and Connectivity in Children with Autism...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by atypical neurodevelopment.
• Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques like transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) show promise for neurodevelopmental disorders.
• Entropy analysis offers quantitative insights into EEG signal complexity and information transfer.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in brain complexity and effective connectivity between children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children.
• To explore the impact of tDCS on brain complexity and effective connectivity in children with ASD.
• To correlate neurophysiological changes with behavioral outcomes following tDCS intervention.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 24 children with ASD and 24 age/gender-matched TD children.
• Applied multiple entropy analysis methods to EEG data to assess brain complexity and effective connectivity.
• Administered tDCS intervention to children with ASD and evaluated changes using EEG and behavioral assessments.

Main Results:

• Children with ASD exhibited lower brain complexity and altered effective connectivity (excessive in δ, θ, α bands; insufficient in β band) compared to TD children.
• tDCS intervention significantly increased brain complexity in children with ASD.
• tDCS led to a significant decrease in δ and θ frequency band connectivity and positive behavioral changes.

Conclusions:

• tDCS may enhance brain function in children with ASD by modulating brain complexity and effective connectivity.
• The observed neurophysiological changes correlate with improvements in behavior.
• These findings offer novel insights and potential therapeutic avenues for ASD intervention research.