Altered tactile abnormalities in children with ASD during tactile processing and recognition revealed by dynamic EEG features

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by sensory processing abnormalities, particularly in tactile perception, highlighting the need for objective screening methods beyond current subjective behavioral assessments.

This study developed a portable electro-tactile stimulation system with EEG to evaluate tactile processing differences in children with ASD (n=36) versus typically developing controls (n=36).

Revealing significantly reduced ERP amplitudes at key processing stages: P200 at FP2 (F(1,70)=10.82, p=0.0454), N200 at F3 (F(1,70)=58.33, p<0.0001), and P300 at C4 (F(1,70)=45.62, p<0.0001). Topographic analysis identified pronounced group differences (>10ìV) across frontal, central, and parietal regions (F8, FC5/6, CP1/2/5/6, Pz, Oz), with ASD children exhibiting prolonged but less efficient tactile discrimination and compensatory prefrontal activation (FP2 CV: p=0.043). The paradigm demonstrated strong reliability (CV ICC: ASD=0.779, TD=0.729) and achieved 85.2% classification accuracy (AUC=0.91) using ANN, with optimal performance from F8 P300 features (sensitivity=87.5%, specificity=83.7%).

These findings provide an objective, efficient (15-minute) screening method that advances understanding of tactile processing abnormalities in ASD and supports the development of physiological biomarkers for early identification, overcoming limitations of questionnaire-based approaches.