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Rogala J, Żygierewicz J, Malinowska U, Cygan H, Stawicka E, Kobus A, Vanrumste B. Enhancing autism spectrum disorder classification in children through the integration of traditional statistics and classical machine learning techniques in EEG analysis. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21748. [PMID: 38066046 PMCID: PMC10709647 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49048-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder hallmarked by challenges in social communication, limited interests, and repetitive, stereotyped movements and behaviors. Numerous research efforts have indicated that individuals with ASD exhibit distinct brain connectivity patterns compared to control groups. However, these investigations, often constrained by small sample sizes, have led to inconsistent results, suggesting both heightened and diminished long-range connectivity within ASD populations. To bolster our analysis and enhance their reliability, we conducted a retrospective study using two different connectivity metrics and employed both traditional statistical methods and machine learning techniques. The concurrent use of statistical analysis and classical machine learning techniques advanced our understanding of model predictions derived from the spectral or connectivity attributes of a subject's EEG signal, while also verifying these predictions. Significantly, the utilization of machine learning methodologies empowered us to identify a unique subgroup of correctly classified children with ASD, defined by the analyzed EEG features. This improved approach is expected to contribute significantly to the existing body of knowledge on ASD and potentially guide personalized treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacek Rogala
- Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland.
| | | | - Urszula Malinowska
- Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Hanna Cygan
- Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Bioimaging Research Center, World Hearing Center, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Elżbieta Stawicka
- Clinic of Paediatric Neurology, Institute of Mother and Child, Kasprzaka 17A, 01-211, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Adam Kobus
- Institute of Computer Science, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Pl. M. Curie-Skłodowskiej 1, 20-031, Lublin, Poland
| | - Bart Vanrumste
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), eMedia Research Lab/STADIUS, KU Leuven, Andreas Vesaliusstraat 13, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
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Billeci L, Callara AL, Guiducci L, Prosperi M, Morales MA, Calderoni S, Muratori F, Santocchi E. A randomized controlled trial into the effects of probiotics on electroencephalography in preschoolers with autism. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2023; 27:117-132. [PMID: 35362336 PMCID: PMC9806478 DOI: 10.1177/13623613221082710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT This study investigates the effects of a probiotic on preschoolers' brain electrical activity with autism spectrum disorder. Autism is a disorder with an increasing prevalence characterized by an enormous individual, family, and social cost. Although the etiology of autism spectrum disorder is unknown, an interaction between genetic and environmental factors is implicated, converging in altered brain synaptogenesis and, therefore, connectivity. Besides deepening the knowledge on the resting brain electrical activity that characterizes this disorder, this study allows analyzing the positive central effects of a 6-month therapy with a probiotic through a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study and the correlations between electroencephalography activity and biochemical and clinical parameters. In subjects treated with probiotics, we observed a decrease of power in frontopolar regions in beta and gamma bands, and increased coherence in the same bands together with a shift in frontal asymmetry, which suggests a modification toward a typical brain activity. Electroencephalography measures were significantly correlated with clinical and biochemical measures. These findings support the importance of further investigations on probiotics' benefits in autism spectrum disorder to better elucidate mechanistic links between probiotics supplementation and changes in brain activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Billeci
- Institute of Clinical Physiology,
National Research Council, Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Letizia Guiducci
- Institute of Clinical Physiology,
National Research Council, Pisa, Italy
| | - Margherita Prosperi
- Department of Developmental
Neuroscience, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy,Margherita Prosperi, Department of
Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, viale del Tirreno
331, 56128 Calambrone (PI), Italy.
| | | | - Sara Calderoni
- Department of Developmental
Neuroscience, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy,Department of Clinical and Experimental
Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Filippo Muratori
- Department of Developmental
Neuroscience, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy,Department of Clinical and Experimental
Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Elisa Santocchi
- UFSMIA zona Valle del Serchio, Azienda
USL Toscana Nord Ovest, Castelnuovo Garfagnana (LU), Italy
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Hill AT, Van Der Elst J, Bigelow FJ, Lum JA, Enticott PG. Right anterior theta connectivity predicts autistic social traits in typically developing children. Biol Psychol 2022; 175:108448. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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EEG Global Coherence in Scholar ADHD Children during Visual Object Processing. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19105953. [PMID: 35627489 PMCID: PMC9141182 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19105953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Revised: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Among neurodevelopmental disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the main cause of school failure in children. Notably, visuospatial dysfunction has also been emphasized as a leading cause of low cognitive performance in children with ADHD. Consequently, the present study aimed to identify ADHD-related changes in electroencephalography (EEG) characteristics, associated with visual object processing in school-aged children. We performed Multichannel EEG recordings in 16-year-old children undergoing Navon’s visual object processing paradigm. We mapped global coherence during the processing of local and global visual stimuli that were consistent, inconsistent, or neutral. We found that Children with ADHD showed significant differences in global weighted coherence during the processing of local and global inconsistent visual stimuli and longer response times in comparison to the control group. Delta and theta EEG bands highlighted important features for classification in both groups. Thus, we advocate EEG coherence and low-frequency EEG spectral power as prospective markers of visual processing deficit in ADHD. Our results have implications for the development of diagnostic interventions in ADHD and provide a deeper understanding of the factors leading to low performance in school-aged children.
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Emberti Gialloreti L, Enea R, Di Micco V, Di Giovanni D, Curatolo P. Clustering Analysis Supports the Detection of Biological Processes Related to Autism Spectrum Disorder. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:genes11121476. [PMID: 33316975 PMCID: PMC7763205 DOI: 10.3390/genes11121476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2020] [Revised: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Genome sequencing has identified a large number of putative autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk genes, revealing possible disrupted biological pathways; however, the genetic and environmental underpinnings of ASD remain mostly unanswered. The presented methodology aimed to identify genetically related clusters of ASD individuals. By using the VariCarta dataset, which contains data retrieved from 13,069 people with ASD, we compared patients pairwise to build “patient similarity matrices”. Hierarchical-agglomerative-clustering and heatmapping were performed, followed by enrichment analysis (EA). We analyzed whole-genome sequencing retrieved from 2062 individuals, and isolated 11,609 genetic variants shared by at least two people. The analysis yielded three clusters, composed, respectively, by 574 (27.8%), 507 (24.6%), and 650 (31.5%) individuals. Overall, 4187 variants (36.1%) were common to the three clusters. The EA revealed that the biological processes related to the shared genetic variants were mainly involved in neuron projection guidance and morphogenesis, cell junctions, synapse assembly, and in observational, imitative, and vocal learning. The study highlighted genetic networks, which were more frequent in a sample of people with ASD, compared to the overall population. We suggest that itemizing not only single variants, but also gene networks, might support ASD etiopathology research. Future work on larger databases will have to ascertain the reproducibility of this methodology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Emberti Gialloreti
- Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Roberto Enea
- IMME Research Centre, Via Giotto 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy;
| | - Valentina Di Micco
- Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Systems Medicine Department, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy; (V.D.M.); (P.C.)
| | - Daniele Di Giovanni
- Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy;
| | - Paolo Curatolo
- Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Systems Medicine Department, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy; (V.D.M.); (P.C.)
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Dysregulated brain salience within a triple network model in high trait anxiety individuals: A pilot EEG functional connectivity study. Int J Psychophysiol 2020; 157:61-69. [PMID: 32976888 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 09/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Although previous studies have reported the association between large-scale brain networks alterations and pathological anxiety, abnormalities in the dynamic interaction among the triple network model in anxiety disorders and, especially, in trait anxiety is still poorly explored. Thus, the main aim of the current study was to investigate triple network functional dynamics in subjects with high trait anxiety during resting state (RS) through electroencephalography (EEG) connectivity. Twenty-three individuals with high-trait-anxiety (HTA) and forty-five participants with low-trait-anxiety (LTA) were enrolled. EEG analyses were conducted by means of the exact Low-Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography software (eLORETA). Compared to LTA participants, HTA subjects showed a decrease of alpha connectivity within the salience network (SN), between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and both left and right anterior insula (AI). Furthermore, SN functional connectivity strength was negatively correlated with higher trait anxiety, even when controlling for potential confounding variables (e.g., depressive and obsessive-compulsive symptoms). Taken together, our results point out a specific functional connectivity pattern in HTA individuals, which consists in a dysfunctional communication within the SN, specifically in the AI-dACC pathway. This functional pattern could underline, at rest, saliency detection and brain correlates of altereted emotion regulation and cognitive control processes typically involved in anxiety.
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