EEG functional connectivity in infants at elevated familial likelihood for autism spectrum disorder

Molecular Autism

Research

Mayada Elsabbagh¹  Julie Scorah¹  Scott Huberty¹  James Desjardins²  Christian O’Reilly³  Nicky Wright⁴  Stefon van Noordt⁵  Sara Jane Webb⁶ 

[1] Azrieli Centre for Autism Research, Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Canada;Compute Ontario, St. Catharines, Canada;Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA;Artificial Intelligence Institute of South Carolina, University of South Carolina, 1112 Greene St, 29208, Columbia, SC, USA;Carolina Autism and Neurodevelopment Research Center, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA;Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK;Department of Psychology, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS, Canada;Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA;

关键词: Autism spectrum disorder;    Functional connectivity;    Sex differences;    Infants;    Source reconstruction;    Electroencephalography;    ADOS;    Sibling studies;    Longitudinal;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13229-023-00570-5

 received in 2023-05-06, accepted in 2023-09-29,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMany studies have reported that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with atypical structural and functional connectivity. However, we know relatively little about the development of these differences in infancy.MethodsWe used a high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) dataset pooled from two independent infant sibling cohorts, to characterize such neurodevelopmental deviations during the first years of life. EEG was recorded at 6 and 12 months of age in infants at typical (N = 92) or elevated likelihood for ASD (N = 90), determined by the presence of an older sibling with ASD. We computed the functional connectivity between cortical sources of EEG during video watching using the corrected imaginary part of phase-locking values.ResultsOur main analysis found no significant association between functional connectivity and ASD, showing only significant effects for age, sex, age-sex interaction, and site. Given these null results, we performed an exploratory analysis and observed, at 12 months, a negative correlation between functional connectivity and ADOS calibrated severity scores for restrictive and repetitive behaviors (RRB).LimitationsThe small sample of ASD participants inherent to sibling studies limits diagnostic group comparisons. Also, results from our secondary exploratory analysis should be considered only as potential relationships to further explore, given their increased vulnerability to false positives.ConclusionsThese results are inconclusive concerning an association between EEG functional connectivity and ASD in infancy. Exploratory analyses provided preliminary support for a relationship between RRB and functional connectivity specifically, but these preliminary observations need corroboration on larger samples.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 3

12951_2017_297_Article_IEq1.gif

Fig. 6

Fig. 2