Behavioural and neural markers of tactile sensory processing in infants at elevated likelihood of Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

BASIS/STAARS Team (2021) Behavioural and neural markers of tactile sensory processing in infants at elevated likelihood of Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 13. ISSN 1866-1947

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Abstract

Backgrounds: Atypicalities in tactile processing are reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but it remains unknown if they precede and associate with the traits of these disorders emerging in childhood. We investigated behavioural and neural markers of tactile sensory processing in infants at elevated likelihood of ASD and/or ADHD compared to infants at typical likelihood of the disorders. Further, we assessed the specificity of associations between infant markers and later ASD or ADHD traits. Methods: Ninety-one 10-month-old infants participated in the study (n = 44 infants at elevated likelihood of ASD; n = 20 infants at elevated likelihood of ADHD; n = 9 infants at elevated likelihood of ASD and ADHD; n = 18 infants at typical likelihood of the disorders). Behavioural and EEG responses to pairs of tactile stimuli were experimentally recorded and concurrent parental reports of tactile responsiveness were collected. ASD and ADHD traits were measured at 24 months through standardized assessment (ADOS-2) and parental report (ECBQ), respectively. Results: There was no effect of infants’ likelihood status on behavioural markers of tactile sensory processing. Conversely, increased ASD likelihood associated with reduced neural repetition suppression to tactile input. Reduced neural repetition suppression at 10 months significantly predicted ASD (but not ADHD) traits at 24 months across the entire sample. Elevated tactile sensory seeking at 10 months moderated the relationship between early reduced neural repetition suppression and later ASD traits. Conclusions: Reduced tactile neural repetition suppression is an early marker of later ASD traits in infants at elevated likelihood of ASD or ADHD, suggesting that a common pathway to later ASD traits exists despite different familial backgrounds. Elevated tactile sensory seeking may act as a protective factor, mitigating the relationship between early tactile neural repetition suppression and later ASD traits.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: alpha amplitude desynchronization,attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,autism spectrum disorder,eeg,infant sibling design,repetition suppression,tactile sensory processing,tactile sensory seeking,pediatrics, perinatology, and child health,pathology and forensic medicine,clinical neurology,cognitive neuroscience ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2735
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Developmental Science
Related URLs:
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 09 Jan 2021 01:20
Last Modified: 03 Nov 2022 16:32
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/78123
DOI: 10.1186/s11689-020-09334-1

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