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

doi:10.1186/s11689-020-09334-1

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

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original language	English
Article number	1
Journal	Journal Of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Volume	13
Issue number	1
Early online date	1 Jan 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-020-09334-1
Publication status	Published - Dec 2021

Keywords

Alpha amplitude desynchronization
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Autism spectrum disorder
EEG
Infant sibling design
Repetition suppression
Tactile sensory processing
Tactile sensory seeking

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10.1186/s11689-020-09334-1

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@article{de9ca3191abc40c0b513d9802dd418cf,

title = "Behavioural and neural markers of tactile sensory processing in infants at elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder",

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{\textquoteright} 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.",

keywords = "Alpha amplitude desynchronization, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Autism spectrum disorder, EEG, Infant sibling design, Repetition suppression, Tactile sensory processing, Tactile sensory seeking",

author = "Piccardi, {Elena Serena} and {Begum Ali}, Jannath and Jones, {Emily J.H.} and Luke Mason and Tony Charman and Johnson, {Mark H.} and Teodora Gliga and {BASIS/STAARS Team} and Mary Agyapong and Tessel Bazelmans and Leila Dafner and Mutluhan Ersoy and Amy Goodwin and Rianne Haartsen and Alexandra Hendry and Rebecca Holman and Sarah Kalwarowsky and Anna Kolesnik and Sarah Lloyd-Fox and Greg Pasco and Andrew Pickles and Laura Pirazzoli and Chlo{\"e} Taylor",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by awards from the Medical Research Council (MR/K021389/1; MHJ, TC), MQ (MQ14PP_83, MHJ, EJHJ, TC). Further, this work was also supported by the EU-AIMS and AIMS-2-TRIALS programmes funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint Undertaking Grant Nos. 115300 (MHJ, TC) and No. 777394 (MHJ, EJHJ and TC; European Union{\textquoteright}s FP7 and Horizon 2020, respectively). This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, with in-kind contributions from the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) companies and funding from Autism Speaks, Autistica and SFARI. Teodora Gliga was funded by a Wellcome Trust grant (217469/Z/19/Z). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1186/s11689-020-09334-1",

language = "English",

volume = "13",

journal = "Journal Of Neurodevelopmental Disorders",

issn = "1866-1947",

publisher = "Springer New York",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Behavioural and neural markers of tactile sensory processing in infants at elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

AU - Piccardi, Elena Serena

AU - Begum Ali, Jannath

AU - Jones, Emily J.H.

AU - Mason, Luke

AU - Charman, Tony

AU - Johnson, Mark H.

AU - Gliga, Teodora

AU - BASIS/STAARS Team

AU - Agyapong, Mary

AU - Bazelmans, Tessel

AU - Dafner, Leila

AU - Ersoy, Mutluhan

AU - Goodwin, Amy

AU - Haartsen, Rianne

AU - Hendry, Alexandra

AU - Holman, Rebecca

AU - Kalwarowsky, Sarah

AU - Kolesnik, Anna

AU - Lloyd-Fox, Sarah

AU - Pasco, Greg

AU - Pickles, Andrew

AU - Pirazzoli, Laura

AU - Taylor, Chloë

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by awards from the Medical Research Council (MR/K021389/1; MHJ, TC), MQ (MQ14PP_83, MHJ, EJHJ, TC). Further, this work was also supported by the EU-AIMS and AIMS-2-TRIALS programmes funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint Undertaking Grant Nos. 115300 (MHJ, TC) and No. 777394 (MHJ, EJHJ and TC; European Union’s FP7 and Horizon 2020, respectively). This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, with in-kind contributions from the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) companies and funding from Autism Speaks, Autistica and SFARI. Teodora Gliga was funded by a Wellcome Trust grant (217469/Z/19/Z). Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/12

Y1 - 2021/12

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Alpha amplitude desynchronization

KW - Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

KW - Autism spectrum disorder

KW - EEG

KW - Infant sibling design

KW - Repetition suppression

KW - Tactile sensory processing

KW - Tactile sensory seeking

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85098561052&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1186/s11689-020-09334-1

DO - 10.1186/s11689-020-09334-1

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85098561052

SN - 1866-1947

VL - 13

JO - Journal Of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

JF - Journal Of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

IS - 1

M1 - 1

ER -

Behavioural and neural markers of tactile sensory processing in infants at elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

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Keywords

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