Neurobehavioral Assessment of Sensorimotor Function in Autism Using Smartphone Technology

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Sensorimotor processing differences are key in autism but often assessed subjectively.
• Objective, reflex-based evaluations are limited to lab settings, hindering research.
• There's a need for accessible, objective tools to study autism-related sensorimotor function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a smartphone-based platform for at-home neurobehavioral evaluations.
• To objectively assess sensorimotor differences in children with and without autism.
• To explore the potential of these assessments as diagnostic biomarkers.

Main Methods:

• A multi-center study involving 536 children aged 3-12 years.
• Utilized a novel smartphone platform (BlinkLab) for at-home assessments.
• Analyzed facial and behavioral responses, including prepulse inhibition (PPI) and startle reflexes.

Main Results:

• Successfully completed assessments in 431 children (80.4%), with 275 diagnosed with autism.
• Autistic children exhibited altered sensorimotor responses: reduced PPI, altered startle habituation, variable eyeblink responses, and sensitization.
• Observed increased screen avoidance, postural instability, head movements, mouth openings, non-syllabic vocalizations, pupil shifts, "side-eyeing", and eyelid variations in autistic children.

Conclusions:

• Smartphone-based assessments can effectively capture distinct sensorimotor profiles in autism within real-world environments.
• These findings support the potential of objective, at-home assessments for autism diagnostics.
• Sensorimotor differences identified are largely independent of co-occurring conditions, though some subdomains are influenced.