1
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Mathée-Scott J, Prescott KE, Pomper R, Saffran J, Weismer SE. Prediction by Young Autistic Children from Visual and Spoken Input. J Autism Dev Disord 2024:10.1007/s10803-024-06568-z. [PMID: 39361065 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06568-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/13/2024] [Indexed: 10/09/2024]
Abstract
Recent theoretical accounts suggest that differences in the processing of probabilistic events underlie the core and associated traits of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These theories hypothesize that autistic individuals are differentially impacted by disruptions in probabilistic input relative to neurotypical peers. According to this view, autistic individuals assign disproportionate weight to prediction errors such that novel input is overweighted relative to the aggregation of prior input; this is referred to as 'hyperplasticity' of learning. Prediction among autistic individuals has primarily been examined in nonverbal, visual contexts with older children and adults. The present study examined 32 autistic and 32 cognitively-matched neurotypical (NT) children's ability to generate predictions and adjust to changes in predictive relationships in auditory stimuli using two eye gaze tasks. In both studies, children were trained and tested on an auditory-visual cue which predicted the location of a reward stimulus. In Experiment 1 the cue was non-linguistic (instrumental sound) whereas in Experiment 2 the cue was linguistically-relevant (speaker gender). In both experiments, the cue-reward contingency was switched after the first block of trials, and predictive behavior was evaluated across a second block of trials. Results: Analyses of children's looking behavior revealed similar performance in both groups on the non-linguistic task (Exp. 1). In the linguistically-relevant task (Exp. 2), predictive looking was less disrupted by the contingency switch for autistic children than NT children. Results suggest that autistic children may demonstrate hyperplastic learning in linguistically-relevant contexts, relative to NT peers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janine Mathée-Scott
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1975 Willow Dr, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.
- Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University, 1026 Red Cedar Road, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
| | - Kathryn E Prescott
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1975 Willow Dr, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA
| | - Ron Pomper
- Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University, 1026 Red Cedar Road, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
- Center for Childhood Deafness, Language and Learning, Boys Town National Research Hospital, 425 N. 30th St., Omaha, NE, 68131, USA
| | - Jenny Saffran
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1202 W Johnson St., Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Susan Ellis Weismer
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1975 Willow Dr, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
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2
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McCollum M, Manning A, Bender PTR, Mendelson BZ, Anderson CT. Cell-type-specific enhancement of deviance detection by synaptic zinc in the mouse auditory cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2405615121. [PMID: 39312661 PMCID: PMC11459170 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2405615121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 08/15/2024] [Indexed: 09/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Stimulus-specific adaptation is a hallmark of sensory processing in which a repeated stimulus results in diminished successive neuronal responses, but a deviant stimulus will still elicit robust responses from the same neurons. Recent work has established that synaptically released zinc is an endogenous mechanism that shapes neuronal responses to sounds in the auditory cortex. Here, to understand the contributions of synaptic zinc to deviance detection of specific neurons, we performed wide-field and 2-photon calcium imaging of multiple classes of cortical neurons. We find that intratelencephalic (IT) neurons in both layers 2/3 and 5 as well as corticocollicular neurons in layer 5 all demonstrate deviance detection; however, we find a specific enhancement of deviance detection in corticocollicular neurons that arises from ZnT3-dependent synaptic zinc in layer 2/3 IT neurons. Genetic deletion of ZnT3 from layer 2/3 IT neurons removes the enhancing effects of synaptic zinc on corticocollicular neuron deviance detection and results in poorer acuity of detecting deviant sounds by behaving mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mason McCollum
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV26505
| | - Abbey Manning
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV26505
| | - Philip T. R. Bender
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV26505
| | - Benjamin Z. Mendelson
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV26505
| | - Charles T. Anderson
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV26505
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3
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Kurumada C, Rivera R, Allen P, Bennetto L. Perception and adaptation of receptive prosody in autistic adolescents. Sci Rep 2024; 14:16409. [PMID: 39013983 PMCID: PMC11252140 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66569-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024] Open
Abstract
A fundamental aspect of language processing is inferring others' minds from subtle variations in speech. The same word or sentence can often convey different meanings depending on its tempo, timing, and intonation-features often referred to as prosody. Although autistic children and adults are known to experience difficulty in making such inferences, the science remains unclear as to why. We hypothesize that detail-oriented perception in autism may interfere with the inference process if it lacks the adaptivity required to cope with the variability ubiquitous in human speech. Using a novel prosodic continuum that shifts the sentence meaning gradiently from a statement (e.g., "It's raining") to a question (e.g., "It's raining?"), we have investigated the perception and adaptation of receptive prosody in autistic adolescents and two groups of non-autistic controls. Autistic adolescents showed attenuated adaptivity in categorizing prosody, whereas they were equivalent to controls in terms of discrimination accuracy. Combined with recent findings in segmental (e.g., phoneme) recognition, the current results provide the basis for an emerging research framework for attenuated flexibility and reduced influence of contextual feedback as a possible source of deficits that hinder linguistic and social communication in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chigusa Kurumada
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, 14627, USA.
| | - Rachel Rivera
- Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, 14627, USA
| | - Paul Allen
- Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, 14627, USA
- Otolaryngology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, 14642, USA
| | - Loisa Bennetto
- Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, 14627, USA
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4
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Jin X, Zhang K, Lu B, Li X, Yan CG, Du Y, Liu Y, Lu J, Luo X, Gao X, Liu J. Shared atypical spontaneous brain activity pattern in early onset schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders: evidence from cortical surface-based analysis. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2024; 33:2387-2396. [PMID: 38147111 PMCID: PMC11255015 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-023-02333-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were considered as two neurodevelopmental disorders and had shared clinical features. we hypothesized that they have some common atypical brain functions and the purpose of this study was to explored the shared brain spontaneous activity strength alterations in early onset schizophrenia (EOS) and ASD in the children and adolescents with a multi-center large-sample study. A total of 171 EOS patients (aged 14.25 ± 1.87), 188 ASD patients (aged 9.52 ± 5.13), and 107 healthy controls (aged 11.52 ± 2.82) had scanned with Resting-fMRI and analyzed surface-based amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF). Results showed that both EOS and ASD had hypoactivity in the primary sensorimotor regions (bilateral primary and early visual cortex, left ventral visual stream, left primary auditory cortex) and hyperactivity in the high-order transmodal regions (bilateral SFL, bilateral DLPFC, right frontal eye fields), and bilateral thalamus. EOS had more severe abnormality than ASD. This study revealed shared functional abnormalities in the primary sensorimotor regions and the high-order transmodal regions in EOS and ASD, which provided neuroimaging evidence of common changes in EOS and ASD, and may help with better early recognition and precise treatment for EOS and ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xingyue Jin
- Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and National Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Kun Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and National Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Bin Lu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Xue Li
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Chao-Gan Yan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Yasong Du
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, No.600 Wanping Nan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Yi Liu
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, No.600 Wanping Nan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Jianping Lu
- Department of Child Psychiatry of Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xuerong Luo
- Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and National Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China.
| | - Xueping Gao
- Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and National Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China.
| | - Jing Liu
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China.
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5
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Ahlfors SP, Graham S, Bharadwaj H, Mamashli F, Khan S, Joseph RM, Losh A, Pawlyszyn S, McGuiggan NM, Vangel M, Hämäläinen MS, Kenet T. No Differences in Auditory Steady-State Responses in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typically Developing Children. J Autism Dev Disord 2024; 54:1947-1960. [PMID: 36932270 PMCID: PMC11463296 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-05907-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
Auditory steady-state response (ASSR) has been studied as a potential biomarker for abnormal auditory sensory processing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with mixed results. Motivated by prior somatosensory findings of group differences in inter-trial coherence (ITC) between ASD and typically developing (TD) individuals at twice the steady-state stimulation frequency, we examined ASSR at 25 and 50 as well as 43 and 86 Hz in response to 25-Hz and 43-Hz auditory stimuli, respectively, using magnetoencephalography. Data were recorded from 22 ASD and 31 TD children, ages 6-17 years. ITC measures showed prominent ASSRs at the stimulation and double frequencies, without significant group differences. These results do not support ASSR as a robust ASD biomarker of abnormal auditory processing in ASD. Furthermore, the previously observed atypical double-frequency somatosensory response in ASD did not generalize to the auditory modality. Thus, the hypothesis about modality-independent abnormal local connectivity in ASD was not supported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seppo P Ahlfors
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA.
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th Street, Rm. 2301, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA.
| | - Steven Graham
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Hari Bharadwaj
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences and Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Fahimeh Mamashli
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sheraz Khan
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Robert M Joseph
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ainsley Losh
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Stephanie Pawlyszyn
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nicole M McGuiggan
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mark Vangel
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Matti S Hämäläinen
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Tal Kenet
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
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6
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Zúñiga Mouret R, Greenbaum JP, Doll HM, Brody EM, Iacobucci EL, Roland NC, Simamora RC, Ruiz I, Seymour R, Ludwick L, Krawitz JA, Groneberg AH, Marques JC, Laborde A, Rajan G, Del Bene F, Orger MB, Jain RA. The adaptor protein 2 (AP2) complex modulates habituation and behavioral selection across multiple pathways and time windows. iScience 2024; 27:109455. [PMID: 38550987 PMCID: PMC10973200 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Revised: 01/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 10/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Animals constantly integrate sensory information with prior experience to select behavioral responses appropriate to the current situation. Genetic factors supporting this behavioral flexibility are often disrupted in neuropsychiatric conditions, such as the autism-linked ap2s1 gene which supports acoustically evoked habituation learning. ap2s1 encodes an AP2 endocytosis adaptor complex subunit, although its behavioral mechanisms and importance have been unclear. Here, we show that multiple AP2 subunits regulate acoustically evoked behavior selection and habituation learning in zebrafish. Furthermore, ap2s1 biases escape behavior choice in sensory modality-specific manners, and broadly regulates action selection across sensory contexts. We demonstrate that the AP2 complex functions acutely in the nervous system to modulate acoustically evoked habituation, suggesting several spatially and/or temporally distinct mechanisms through which AP2 regulates escape behavior selection and performance. Altogether, we show the AP2 complex coordinates action selection across diverse contexts, providing a vertebrate model for ap2s1's role in human conditions including autism spectrum disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Zúñiga Mouret
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
- Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
| | - Jordyn P. Greenbaum
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
- The Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Hannah M. Doll
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI 53705, USA
| | - Eliza M. Brody
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia PA 19104, USA
| | | | | | - Roy C. Simamora
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
| | - Ivan Ruiz
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
| | - Rory Seymour
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
| | - Leanne Ludwick
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
| | - Jacob A. Krawitz
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
| | - Antonia H. Groneberg
- Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Foundation, 1400-038 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - João C. Marques
- Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Foundation, 1400-038 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Alexandre Laborde
- Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Foundation, 1400-038 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Gokul Rajan
- Sorbonne Université; INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, 75012 Paris, France
- Institut Curie, PSL Research University; INSERM U934, CNRS UMR3215, Paris, France
| | - Filippo Del Bene
- Sorbonne Université; INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, 75012 Paris, France
| | - Michael B. Orger
- Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Foundation, 1400-038 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Roshan A. Jain
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA 19041, USA
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7
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Haigh SM, Van Key L, Brosseau P, Eack SM, Leitman DI, Salisbury DF, Behrmann M. Assessing Trial-to-Trial Variability in Auditory ERPs in Autism and Schizophrenia. J Autism Dev Disord 2023; 53:4856-4871. [PMID: 36207652 PMCID: PMC10079782 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05771-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Sensory abnormalities are characteristic of autism and schizophrenia. In autism, greater trial-to-trial variability (TTV) in sensory neural responses suggest that the system is more unstable. However, these findings have only been identified in the amplitude and not in the timing of neural responses, and have not been fully explored in schizophrenia. TTV in event-related potential amplitudes and inter-trial coherence (ITC) were assessed in the auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) in autism, schizophrenia, and controls. MMN was largest in autism and smallest in schizophrenia, and TTV was greater in autism and schizophrenia compared to controls. There were no differences in ITC. Greater TTV appears to be characteristic of both autism and schizophrenia, implicating several neural mechanisms that could underlie sensory instability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Haigh
- Department of Psychology and Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA.
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Laura Van Key
- Department of Psychology and Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Pat Brosseau
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Shaun M Eack
- School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | | | - Dean F Salisbury
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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8
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Huang Q, Velthuis H, Pereira AC, Ahmad J, Cooke SF, Ellis CL, Ponteduro FM, Puts NAJ, Dimitrov M, Batalle D, Wong NML, Kowalewski L, Ivin G, Daly E, Murphy DGM, McAlonan GM. Exploratory evidence for differences in GABAergic regulation of auditory processing in autism spectrum disorder. Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:320. [PMID: 37852957 PMCID: PMC10584846 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02619-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Altered reactivity and responses to auditory input are core to the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Preclinical models implicate ϒ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in this process. However, the link between GABA and auditory processing in humans (with or without ASD) is largely correlational. As part of a study of potential biosignatures of GABA function in ASD to inform future clinical trials, we evaluated the role of GABA in auditory repetition suppression in 66 adults (n = 28 with ASD). Neurophysiological responses (temporal and frequency domains) to repetitive standard tones and novel deviants presented in an oddball paradigm were compared after double-blind, randomized administration of placebo, 15 or 30 mg of arbaclofen (STX209), a GABA type B (GABAB) receptor agonist. We first established that temporal mismatch negativity was comparable between participants with ASD and those with typical development (TD). Next, we showed that temporal and spectral responses to repetitive standards were suppressed relative to responses to deviants in the two groups, but suppression was significantly weaker in individuals with ASD at baseline. Arbaclofen reversed weaker suppression of spectral responses in ASD but disrupted suppression in TD. A post hoc analysis showed that arbaclofen-elicited shift in suppression was correlated with autistic symptomatology measured using the Autism Quotient across the entire group, though not in the smaller sample of the ASD and TD group when examined separately. Thus, our results confirm: GABAergic dysfunction contributes to the neurophysiology of auditory sensory processing alterations in ASD, and can be modulated by targeting GABAB activity. These GABA-dependent sensory differences may be upstream of more complex autistic phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiyun Huang
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
- Research Center for Brain-Computer Interface, Pazhou Lab, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Hester Velthuis
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Andreia C Pereira
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Jumana Ahmad
- School of Human Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, UK
| | - Samuel F Cooke
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Claire L Ellis
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Francesca M Ponteduro
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Nicolaas A J Puts
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Mihail Dimitrov
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Dafnis Batalle
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Nichol M L Wong
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Department of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Lukasz Kowalewski
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Glynis Ivin
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Pharmacy, London, UK
| | - Eileen Daly
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Declan G M Murphy
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Gráinne M McAlonan
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
- Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK.
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9
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Dwyer P, Williams ZJ, Vukusic S, Saron CD, Rivera SM. Habituation of auditory responses in young autistic and neurotypical children. Autism Res 2023; 16:1903-1923. [PMID: 37688470 PMCID: PMC10651062 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023]
Abstract
Prior studies suggest that habituation of sensory responses is reduced in autism and that diminished habituation could be related to atypical autistic sensory experiences, for example, by causing brain responses to aversive stimuli to remain strong over time instead of being suppressed. While many prior studies exploring habituation in autism have repeatedly presented identical stimuli, other studies suggest group differences can still be observed in habituation to intermittent stimuli. The present study explored habituation of electrophysiological responses to auditory complex tones of varying intensities (50-80 dB SPL), presented passively in an interleaved manner, in a well-characterized sample of 127 autistic (MDQ = 65.41, SD = 20.54) and 79 typically developing (MDQ = 106.02, SD = 11.50) children between 2 and 5 years old. Habituation was quantified as changes in the amplitudes of single-trial responses to tones of each intensity over the course of the experiment. Habituation of the auditory N2 response was substantially reduced in autistic participants as compared to typically developing controls, although diagnostic groups did not clearly differ in habituation of the P1 response. Interestingly, the P1 habituated less to loud 80 dB sounds than softer sounds, whereas the N2 habituated less to soft 50 dB sounds than louder sounds. No associations were found between electrophysiological habituation and cognitive ability or participants' caregiver-reported sound tolerance (Sensory Profile Hyperacusis Index). The results present study results extend prior research suggesting habituation of certain sensory responses is reduced in autism; however, they also suggest that habituation differences observed using this study's paradigm might not be a primary driver of autistic participants' real-world sound intolerance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Dwyer
- Department of Psychology, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- Center for Mind and Brain, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- MIND Institute, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Zachary J. Williams
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Vanderbilt University School of
Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Hearing & Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University
Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN,
USA
- Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Vanderbilt University,
Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center,
Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Svjetlana Vukusic
- Center for Mind and Brain, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- Department of General Practice, Melbourne Medical School, the
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Clifford D. Saron
- Center for Mind and Brain, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- MIND Institute, UC Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Susan M. Rivera
- Department of Psychology, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- Center for Mind and Brain, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- MIND Institute, UC Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
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10
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Monday HR, Wang HC, Feldman DE. Circuit-level theories for sensory dysfunction in autism: convergence across mouse models. Front Neurol 2023; 14:1254297. [PMID: 37745660 PMCID: PMC10513044 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1254297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit a diverse range of behavioral features and genetic backgrounds, but whether different genetic forms of autism involve convergent pathophysiology of brain function is unknown. Here, we analyze evidence for convergent deficits in neural circuit function across multiple transgenic mouse models of ASD. We focus on sensory areas of neocortex, where circuit differences may underlie atypical sensory processing, a central feature of autism. Many distinct circuit-level theories for ASD have been proposed, including increased excitation-inhibition (E-I) ratio and hyperexcitability, hypofunction of parvalbumin (PV) interneuron circuits, impaired homeostatic plasticity, degraded sensory coding, and others. We review these theories and assess the degree of convergence across ASD mouse models for each. Behaviorally, our analysis reveals that innate sensory detection behavior is heightened and sensory discrimination behavior is impaired across many ASD models. Neurophysiologically, PV hypofunction and increased E-I ratio are prevalent but only rarely generate hyperexcitability and excess spiking. Instead, sensory tuning and other aspects of neural coding are commonly degraded and may explain impaired discrimination behavior. Two distinct phenotypic clusters with opposing neural circuit signatures are evident across mouse models. Such clustering could suggest physiological subtypes of autism, which may facilitate the development of tailored therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah R. Monday
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | | | - Daniel E. Feldman
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
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11
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Merchie A, Gomot M. Habituation, Adaptation and Prediction Processes in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Comprehensive Review. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1110. [PMID: 37509040 PMCID: PMC10377027 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13071110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Habituation, the simplest form of learning preserved across species and evolution, is characterized by a response decrease as a stimulus is repeated. This adaptive function has been shown to be altered in some psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or schizophrenia. At the brain level, habituation is characterized by a decrease in neural activity as a stimulation is repeated, referred to as neural adaptation. This phenomenon influences the ability to make predictions and to detect change, two processes altered in some neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. In this comprehensive review, the objectives are to characterize habituation, neural adaptation, and prediction throughout typical development and in neurodevelopmental disorders; and to evaluate their implication in symptomatology, specifically in sensitivity to change or need for sameness. A summary of the different approaches to investigate adaptation will be proposed, in which we report the contribution of animal studies as well as electrophysiological studies in humans to understanding of underlying neuronal mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marie Gomot
- UMR 1253 iBrain, Université de Tours, INSERM, 37000 Tours, France
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12
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Haartsen R, Mason L, Garces P, Gui A, Charman T, Tillmann J, Johnson MH, Buitelaar JK, Loth E, Murphy D, Jones EJH. Qualitative differences in the spatiotemporal brain states supporting configural face processing emerge in adolescence in autism. Cortex 2022; 155:13-29. [PMID: 35961249 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studying the neural processing of faces can illuminate the mechanisms of compromised social expertise in autism. To resolve a longstanding debate, we examined whether differences in configural face processing in autism are underpinned by quantitative differences in the activation of typical face processing pathways, or the recruitment of non-typical neural systems. METHODS We investigated spatial and temporal characteristics of event-related EEG responses to upright and inverted faces in a large sample of children, adolescents, and adults with and without autism. We examined topographic analyses of variance and global field power to identify group differences in the spatial and temporal response to face inversion. We then examined how quasi-stable spatiotemporal profiles - microstates - are modulated by face orientation and diagnostic group. RESULTS Upright and inverted faces produced distinct profiles of topography and strength in the topographical analyses. These topographical profiles differed between diagnostic groups in adolescents, but not in children or adults. In the microstate analysis, the autistic group showed differences in the activation strength of normative microstates during early-stage processing at all ages, suggesting consistent quantitative differences in the operation of typical processing pathways; qualitative differences in microstate topographies during late-stage processing became prominent in adults, suggesting the increasing involvement of non-typical neural systems with processing time and over development. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that early difficulties with configural face processing may trigger later compensatory processes in autism that emerge in later development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rianne Haartsen
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom.
| | - Luke Mason
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom
| | - Pilar Garces
- Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, Roche Innovation Center Basel, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Anna Gui
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom
| | - Tony Charman
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Kent, United Kingdom
| | - Julian Tillmann
- Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, Roche Innovation Center Basel, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Mark H Johnson
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Jan K Buitelaar
- Radboud University Medical Centre, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Eva Loth
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Declan Murphy
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Emily J H Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom
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13
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Wilde M, Constantin L, Thorne PR, Montgomery JM, Scott EK, Cheyne JE. Auditory processing in rodent models of autism: a systematic review. J Neurodev Disord 2022; 14:48. [PMID: 36042393 PMCID: PMC9429780 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-022-09458-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Accepted: 08/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism is a complex condition with many traits, including differences in auditory sensitivity. Studies in human autism are plagued by the difficulty of controlling for aetiology, whereas studies in individual rodent models cannot represent the full spectrum of human autism. This systematic review compares results in auditory studies across a wide range of established rodent models of autism to mimic the wide range of aetiologies in the human population. A search was conducted in the PubMed and Web of Science databases to find primary research articles in mouse or rat models of autism which investigate central auditory processing. A total of 88 studies were included. These used non-invasive measures of auditory function, such as auditory brainstem response recordings, cortical event-related potentials, electroencephalography, and behavioural tests, which are translatable to human studies. They also included invasive measures, such as electrophysiology and histology, which shed insight on the origins of the phenotypes found in the non-invasive studies. The most consistent results across these studies were increased latency of the N1 peak of event-related potentials, decreased power and coherence of gamma activity in the auditory cortex, and increased auditory startle responses to high sound levels. Invasive studies indicated loss of subcortical inhibitory neurons, hyperactivity in the lateral superior olive and auditory thalamus, and reduced specificity of responses in the auditory cortex. This review compares the auditory phenotypes across rodent models and highlights those that mimic findings in human studies, providing a framework and avenues for future studies to inform understanding of the auditory system in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Wilde
- The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Lena Constantin
- The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Peter R Thorne
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.,Section of Audiology, School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Johanna M Montgomery
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ethan K Scott
- The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.,Department of Anatomy and Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Juliette E Cheyne
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
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14
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Ellis Weismer S, Saffran JR. Differences in Prediction May Underlie Language Disorder in Autism. Front Psychol 2022; 13:897187. [PMID: 35756305 PMCID: PMC9221834 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.897187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Language delay is often one of the first concerns of parents of toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and early language abilities predict broader outcomes for children on the autism spectrum. Yet, mechanisms underlying language deficits in autistic children remain underspecified. One prominent component of linguistic behavior is the use of predictions or expectations during learning and processing. Several researcher teams have posited prediction deficit accounts of ASD. The basic assumption of the prediction accounts is that information is processed by making predictions and testing violations against expectations (prediction errors). Flexible (neurotypical) brains attribute differential weights to prediction errors to determine when new learning is appropriate, while autistic individuals are thought to assign disproportionate weight to prediction errors. According to some views, these prediction deficits are hypothesized to lead to higher levels of perceived novelty, resulting in “hyperplasticity” of learning based on the most recent input. In this article, we adopt the perspective that it would be useful to investigate whether language deficits in children with ASD can be attributed to atypical domain-general prediction processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Ellis Weismer
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States.,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Jenny R Saffran
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States.,Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
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15
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Haigh SM, Brosseau P, Eack SM, Leitman DI, Salisbury DF, Behrmann M. Hyper-Sensitivity to Pitch and Poorer Prosody Processing in Adults With Autism: An ERP Study. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:844830. [PMID: 35693971 PMCID: PMC9174755 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.844830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals with autism typically experience a range of symptoms, including abnormal sensory sensitivities. However, there are conflicting reports on the sensory profiles that characterize the sensory experience in autism that often depend on the type of stimulus. Here, we examine early auditory processing to simple changes in pitch and later auditory processing of more complex emotional utterances. We measured electroencephalography in 24 adults with autism and 28 controls. First, tones (1046.5Hz/C6, 1108.7Hz/C#6, or 1244.5Hz/D#6) were repeated three times or nine times before the pitch changed. Second, utterances of delight or frustration were repeated three or six times before the emotion changed. In response to the simple pitched tones, the autism group exhibited larger mismatch negativity (MMN) after nine standards compared to controls and produced greater trial-to-trial variability (TTV). In response to the prosodic utterances, the autism group showed smaller P3 responses when delight changed to frustration compared to controls. There was no significant correlation between ERPs to pitch and ERPs to prosody. Together, this suggests that early auditory processing is hyper-sensitive in autism whereas later processing of prosodic information is hypo-sensitive. The impact the different sensory profiles have on perceptual experience in autism may be key to identifying behavioral treatments to reduce symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M. Haigh
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Neuroscience, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, United States
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Pat Brosseau
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Shaun M. Eack
- School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - David I. Leitman
- Division of Translational Research, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Dean F. Salisbury
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
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16
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Lassen J, Oranje B, Vestergaard M, Foldager M, Kjaer TW, Arnfred S, Aggernaes B. Reduced mismatch negativity in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder is associated with their impaired adaptive functioning. Autism Res 2022; 15:1469-1481. [PMID: 35545929 PMCID: PMC9546157 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Children and adolescents on the autism spectrum display sensory disturbances, rigid and repetitive behavior, social communication problems and a high prevalence of impaired adaptive functioning. Autism is associated with slowed behavioral and neural habituation to repeated sensory input and decreased responses to sensory deviations. Mismatch negativity (MMN) reflects a pre‐attentive difference in the neural response to sensory deviations relative to regularities and studies overall suggest that children and adolescents with autism tend to have smaller MMN. However, it remains unclear whether reduced MMN in autism is coupled to severity of specific autistic symptoms or more generally to lower level of adaptive functioning. To address these questions, the present study used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess whether auditory MMN in 59 children and adolescents with autism aged 7–14 years compared to 59 typically developing children and adolescents were related to specific autistic symptoms or level in adaptive functioning. As hypothesized, the autism group had a lower MMN amplitude than controls. Smaller MMN amplitudes were specifically associated with lower adaptive functioning in the autistic subjects but not in controls while no apparent relationships were observed with autistic‐like social interaction and communication problems, atypical language, rigidity, stereotypy or sensory sensitivity symptoms. Our findings indicate that a blunted response to changes in sensory input may underlie or contribute to the generalized difficulties with adapting to daily life circumstances seen in children and adolescents with autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Lassen
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Psychiatry Region Zealand, Roskilde, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Bob Oranje
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CNSR) & Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CINS), Copenhagen University Hospital, Psychiatric Center Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark
| | - Martin Vestergaard
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Psychiatry Region Zealand, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Malene Foldager
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Psychiatry Region Zealand, Roskilde, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Troels W Kjaer
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Neurology, Zealand University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Sidse Arnfred
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Psychiatric Research Unit, Region Zealand, Denmark, Research Unit for Psychotherapy & Psychopathology, Mental Health Service West, Copenhagen University Hospital - Psychiatry Region Zealand, Slagelse, Denmark
| | - Bodil Aggernaes
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Psychiatry Region Zealand, Roskilde, Denmark.,PP Clinic Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark
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17
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Tsurugizawa T. Translational Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Autism Spectrum Disorder From the Mouse Model to Human. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:872036. [PMID: 35585926 PMCID: PMC9108701 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.872036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous syndrome characterized by behavioral features such as impaired social communication, repetitive behavior patterns, and a lack of interest in novel objects. A multimodal neuroimaging using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with ASD shows highly heterogeneous abnormalities in function and structure in the brain associated with specific behavioral features. To elucidate the mechanism of ASD, several ASD mouse models have been generated, by focusing on some of the ASD risk genes. A specific behavioral feature of an ASD mouse model is caused by an altered gene expression or a modification of a gene product. Using these mouse models, a high field preclinical MRI enables us to non-invasively investigate the neuronal mechanism of the altered brain function associated with the behavior and ASD risk genes. Thus, MRI is a promising translational approach to bridge the gap between mice and humans. This review presents the evidence for multimodal MRI, including functional MRI (fMRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and volumetric analysis, in ASD mouse models and in patients with ASD and discusses the future directions for the translational study of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomokazu Tsurugizawa
- Human Informatics and Interaction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan
- Faculty of Engineering, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
- *Correspondence: Tomokazu Tsurugizawa,
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18
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Freitas C, Hunt BAE, Wong SM, Ristic L, Fragiadakis S, Chow S, Iaboni A, Brian J, Soorya L, Chen JL, Schachar R, Dunkley BT, Taylor MJ, Lerch JP, Anagnostou E. Atypical Functional Connectivity During Unfamiliar Music Listening in Children With Autism. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:829415. [PMID: 35516796 PMCID: PMC9063167 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.829415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Atypical processing of unfamiliar, but less so familiar, stimuli has been described in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), in particular in relation to face processing. We examined the construct of familiarity in ASD using familiar and unfamiliar songs, to investigate the link between familiarity and autism symptoms, such as repetitive behavior. Methods Forty-eight children, 24 with ASD (21 males, mean age = 9.96 years ± 1.54) and 24 typically developing (TD) controls (21 males, mean age = 10.17 ± 1.90) completed a music familiarity task using individually identified familiar compared to unfamiliar songs, while magnetoencephalography (MEG) was recorded. Each song was presented for 30 s. We used both amplitude envelope correlation (AEC) and the weighted phase lag index (wPLI) to assess functional connectivity between specific regions of interest (ROI) and non-ROI parcels, as well as at the whole brain level, to understand what is preserved and what is impaired in familiar music listening in this population. Results Increased wPLI synchronization for familiar vs. unfamiliar music was found for typically developing children in the gamma frequency. There were no significant differences within the ASD group for this comparison. During the processing of unfamiliar music, we demonstrated left lateralized increased theta and beta band connectivity in children with ASD compared to controls. An interaction effect found greater alpha band connectivity in the TD group compared to ASD to unfamiliar music only, anchored in the left insula. Conclusion Our results revealed atypical processing of unfamiliar songs in children with ASD, consistent with previous studies in other modalities reporting that processing novelty is a challenge for ASD. Relatively typical processing of familiar stimuli may represent a strength and may be of interest to strength-based intervention planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Freitas
- Institute of Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Benjamin A. E. Hunt
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Program, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Simeon M. Wong
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Program, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Leanne Ristic
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Susan Fragiadakis
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Stephanie Chow
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Alana Iaboni
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jessica Brian
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Latha Soorya
- Department of Psychiatry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Joyce L. Chen
- Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Russell Schachar
- Department of Psychiatry Research, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Benjamin T. Dunkley
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Program, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Margot J. Taylor
- Institute of Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Program, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Departments of Psychology and Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jason P. Lerch
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Program, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Evdokia Anagnostou
- Institute of Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Program, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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19
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Vishne G, Jacoby N, Malinovitch T, Epstein T, Frenkel O, Ahissar M. Slow update of internal representations impedes synchronization in autism. Nat Commun 2021; 12:5439. [PMID: 34521851 PMCID: PMC8440645 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25740-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social skills, motor and perceptual atypicalities. These difficulties were explained within the Bayesian framework as either reflecting oversensitivity to prediction errors or - just the opposite - slow updating of such errors. To test these opposing theories, we administer paced finger-tapping, a synchronization task that requires use of recent sensory information for fast error-correction. We use computational modelling to disentangle the contributions of error-correction from that of noise in keeping temporal intervals, and in executing motor responses. To assess the specificity of tapping characteristics to autism, we compare performance to both neurotypical individuals and individuals with dyslexia. Only the autism group shows poor sensorimotor synchronization. Trial-by-trial modelling reveals typical noise levels in interval representations and motor responses. However, rate of error correction is reduced in autism, impeding synchronization ability. These results provide evidence for slow updating of internal representations in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gal Vishne
- Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
| | - Nori Jacoby
- Computational Auditory Perception Group, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
| | | | - Tamir Epstein
- Psychiatric Division, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel
| | - Or Frenkel
- Psychology Department, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Merav Ahissar
- Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
- Psychology Department, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
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20
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Meng C, Huo C, Ge H, Li Z, Hu Y, Meng J. Processing of expressions by individuals with autistic traits: Empathy deficit or sensory hyper-reactivity? PLoS One 2021; 16:e0254207. [PMID: 34242310 PMCID: PMC8270190 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with autistic traits display impaired social interaction and communication in everyday life, but the underlying cognitive neural mechanisms remain very unclear and still remain controversial. The mind-blindness hypothesis suggests that social difficulties in individuals with autistic traits are caused by empathy impairment in individuals; however, the intense world theory suggests that these social difficulties are caused by sensory hyper-reactivity and sensory overload, rather than empathy impairment. To further test these two theories, this study investigated event-related potentials (ERPs) to explore the cognitive neural processing of repetitive expressions in individuals with autistic traits. This study employed the Mandarin version of the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) to assess autistic traits in 2,502 healthy adults. Two subset groups were used, e.g., the participants of a high-AQ group were randomly selected among the 10% of individuals with the highest AQ scores; similarly, the participants in the low-AQ group were randomly selected from the 10% of participants with the lowest AQ scores. In an experiment, three different facial expressions (positive, neutral, or negative) of the same person were presented successively and pseudo-randomly in each trial. Participants needed to define the expression of the face that was presented last. The results showed that compared with the low-AQ group, the high-AQ group exhibited higher P1 amplitudes induced by the second and third presented expressions, as well as higher P3 amplitudes induced by the third presented negative expressions. This indicates that individuals with autistic traits may experience overly strong perception, attention, and cognitive evaluation to repetitive expressions, particularly negative expressions. This result supports the intense world theory more strongly than the mind-blindness hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunyan Meng
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
- Laboratory of Emotion and Mental Health, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
- Nanchong Vocational College of Science and Technology, Nanchong, China
| | - Chao Huo
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Hongxin Ge
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Zuoshan Li
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yuanyan Hu
- Laboratory of Emotion and Mental Health, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
| | - Jing Meng
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
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21
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Rozenkrantz L, D'Mello AM, Gabrieli JDE. Enhanced rationality in autism spectrum disorder. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:685-696. [PMID: 34226128 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 05/05/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Challenges in social cognition and communication are core characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but in some domains, individuals with ASD may display typical abilities and even outperform their neurotypical counterparts. These enhanced abilities are notable in the domains of reasoning, judgment and decision-making, in which individuals with ASD often show 'enhanced rationality' by exhibiting more rational and bias-free decision-making than do neurotypical individuals. We review evidence for enhanced rationality in ASD, how it relates to theoretical frameworks of information processing in ASD, its implications for basic research about human irrationality, and what it may mean for the ASD community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liron Rozenkrantz
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 01239, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 01239, USA.
| | - Anila M D'Mello
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 01239, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 01239, USA
| | - John D E Gabrieli
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 01239, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 01239, USA
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22
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Begum-Ali J, Kolesnik-Taylor A, Quiroz I, Mason L, Garg S, Green J, Johnson MH, Jones EJH. Early differences in auditory processing relate to Autism Spectrum Disorder traits in infants with Neurofibromatosis Type I. J Neurodev Disord 2021; 13:22. [PMID: 34049498 PMCID: PMC8161667 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-021-09364-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sensory modulation difficulties are common in children with conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and could contribute to other social and non-social symptoms. Positing a causal role for sensory processing differences requires observing atypical sensory reactivity prior to the emergence of other symptoms, which can be achieved through prospective studies. METHODS In this longitudinal study, we examined auditory repetition suppression and change detection at 5 and 10 months in infants with and without Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1), a condition associated with higher likelihood of developing ASD. RESULTS In typically developing infants, suppression to vowel repetition and enhanced responses to vowel/pitch change decreased with age over posterior regions, becoming more frontally specific; age-related change was diminished in the NF1 group. Whilst both groups detected changes in vowel and pitch, the NF1 group were largely slower to show a differentiated neural response. Auditory responses did not relate to later language, but were related to later ASD traits. CONCLUSIONS These findings represent the first demonstration of atypical brain responses to sounds in infants with NF1 and suggest they may relate to the likelihood of later ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jannath Begum-Ali
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, Henry Wellcome Building, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
| | - Anna Kolesnik-Taylor
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, Henry Wellcome Building, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Isabel Quiroz
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, Henry Wellcome Building, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - Luke Mason
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, Henry Wellcome Building, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - Shruti Garg
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Jonathan Green
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Mark H Johnson
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, Henry Wellcome Building, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Emily J H Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, Henry Wellcome Building, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
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23
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Ip IB, Bridge H. Investigating the neurochemistry of the human visual system using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 227:1491-1505. [PMID: 33900453 PMCID: PMC9046312 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02273-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 04/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Biochemical processes underpin the structure and function of the visual cortex, yet our understanding of the fundamental neurochemistry of the visual brain is incomplete. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) is a non-invasive brain imaging tool that allows chemical quantification of living tissue by detecting minute differences in the resonant frequency of molecules. Application of MRS in the human brain in vivo has advanced our understanding of how the visual brain consumes energy to support neural function, how its neural substrates change as a result of disease or dysfunction, and how neural populations signal during perception and plasticity. The aim of this review is to provide an entry point to researchers interested in investigating the neurochemistry of the visual system using in vivo measurements. We provide a basic overview of MRS principles, and then discuss recent findings in four topics of vision science: (i) visual perception, plasticity in the (ii) healthy and (iii) dysfunctional visual system, and (iv) during visual stimulation. Taken together, evidence suggests that the neurochemistry of the visual system provides important novel insights into how we perceive the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Betina Ip
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Building, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Holly Bridge
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Building, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
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24
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Jassim N, Baron-Cohen S, Suckling J. Meta-analytic evidence of differential prefrontal and early sensory cortex activity during non-social sensory perception in autism. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 127:146-157. [PMID: 33887326 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2020] [Revised: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
To date, neuroimaging research has had a limited focus on non-social features of autism. As a result, neurobiological explanations for atypical sensory perception in autism are lacking. To address this, we quantitively condensed findings from the non-social autism fMRI literature in line with the current best practices for neuroimaging meta-analyses. Using activation likelihood estimation (ALE), we conducted a series of robust meta-analyses across 83 experiments from 52 fMRI studies investigating differences between autistic (n = 891) and typical (n = 967) participants. We found that typical controls, compared to autistic people, show greater activity in the prefrontal cortex (BA9, BA10) during perception tasks. More refined analyses revealed that, when compared to typical controls, autistic people show greater recruitment of the extrastriate V2 cortex (BA18) during visual processing. Taken together, these findings contribute to our understanding of current theories of autistic perception, and highlight some of the challenges of cognitive neuroscience research in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nazia Jassim
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18B Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH, United Kingdom.
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18B Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH, United Kingdom
| | - John Suckling
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18B Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Herchel Smith Building for Brain and Mind Sciences, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SZ, United Kingdom
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25
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Cannon J, O’Brien AM, Bungert L, Sinha P. Prediction in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of Empirical Evidence. Autism Res 2021; 14:604-630. [PMID: 33570249 PMCID: PMC8043993 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Revised: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
According to a recent influential proposal, several phenotypic features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be accounted for by differences in predictive skills between individuals with ASD and neurotypical individuals. In this systematic review, we describe results from 47 studies that have empirically tested this hypothesis. We assess the results based on two observable aspects of prediction: learning a pairing between an antecedent and a consequence and responding to an antecedent in a predictive manner. Taken together, these studies suggest distinct differences in both predictive learning and predictive response. Studies documenting differences in learning predictive pairings indicate challenges in detecting such relationships especially when predictive features of an antecedent have low salience or consistency, and studies showing differences in habituation and perceptual adaptation suggest low-level predictive processing differences in ASD. These challenges may account for the observed differences in the influence of predictive priors, in spontaneous predictive movement or gaze, and in social prediction. An important goal for future research will be to better define and constrain the broad domain-general hypothesis by testing multiple types of prediction within the same individuals. Additional promising avenues include studying prediction within naturalistic contexts and assessing the effect of prediction-based intervention on supporting functional outcomes for individuals with ASD. LAY SUMMARY: Researchers have suggested that many features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be explained by differences in the prediction skills of people with ASD. We review results from 47 studies. These studies suggest that ASD may be associated with differences in the learning of predictive pairings (e.g., learning cause and effect) and in low-level predictive processing in the brain (e.g., processing repeated sounds). These findings lay the groundwork for research that can improve our understanding of ASD and inform interventions. Autism Res 2021, 14: 604-630. © 2021 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Cannon
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Amanda M. O’Brien
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University
| | - Lindsay Bungert
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Pawan Sinha
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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26
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Williams ZJ, He JL, Cascio CJ, Woynaroski TG. A review of decreased sound tolerance in autism: Definitions, phenomenology, and potential mechanisms. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 121:1-17. [PMID: 33285160 PMCID: PMC7855558 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.11.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2020] [Revised: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Atypical behavioral responses to environmental sounds are common in autistic children and adults, with 50-70 % of this population exhibiting decreased sound tolerance (DST) at some point in their lives. This symptom is a source of significant distress and impairment across the lifespan, contributing to anxiety, challenging behaviors, reduced community participation, and school/workplace difficulties. However, relatively little is known about its phenomenology or neurocognitive underpinnings. The present article synthesizes a large body of literature on the phenomenology and pathophysiology of DST-related conditions to generate a comprehensive theoretical account of DST in autism. Notably, we argue against conceptualizing DST as a unified construct, suggesting that it be separated into three phenomenologically distinct conditions: hyperacusis (the perception of everyday sounds as excessively loud or painful), misophonia (an acquired aversive reaction to specific sounds), and phonophobia (a specific phobia of sound), each responsible for a portion of observed DST behaviors. We further elaborate our framework by proposing preliminary neurocognitive models of hyperacusis, misophonia, and phonophobia that incorporate neurophysiologic findings from studies of autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary J Williams
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 221 Eskind Biomedical Library and Learning Center, 2209 Garland Ave., Nashville, TN, 37240, United States; Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1215 21st Avenue South, Medical Center East, Room 8310, Nashville, TN, 37232, United States; Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, 7203 Medical Research Building III, 465 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37232, United States; Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Vanderbilt University, 2414 Highland Avenue, Suite 115, Nashville, TN, 37212, United States.
| | - Jason L He
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Strand Building, Strand Campus, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, London, United Kingdom.
| | - Carissa J Cascio
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, 7203 Medical Research Building III, 465 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37232, United States; Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Vanderbilt University, 2414 Highland Avenue, Suite 115, Nashville, TN, 37212, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2254 Village at Vanderbilt, 1500 21st Ave South, Nashville, TN, 37212, United States; Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 110 Magnolia Cir, Nashville, TN, 37203, United States.
| | - Tiffany G Woynaroski
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1215 21st Avenue South, Medical Center East, Room 8310, Nashville, TN, 37232, United States; Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, 7203 Medical Research Building III, 465 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37232, United States; Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Vanderbilt University, 2414 Highland Avenue, Suite 115, Nashville, TN, 37212, United States; Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 110 Magnolia Cir, Nashville, TN, 37203, United States.
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27
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Piccardi ES, Begum Ali J, Jones EJH, Mason L, Charman T, Johnson MH, Gliga T. Behavioural and neural markers of tactile sensory processing in infants at elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. J Neurodev Disord 2021; 13:1. [PMID: 33390154 PMCID: PMC7780639 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-020-09334-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Serena Piccardi
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
| | - Jannath Begum Ali
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Emily J H Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Luke Mason
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Tony Charman
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Psychology Department, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Mark H Johnson
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.,Department of Psychology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Teodora Gliga
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
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28
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Meng J, Li Z, Shen L. Altered neuronal habituation to hearing others' pain in adults with autistic traits. Sci Rep 2020; 10:15019. [PMID: 32929157 PMCID: PMC7490706 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72217-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
This study tested the hypothesis that autistic traits influence the neuronal habituation that underlies the processing of others' pain. Based on their autism-spectrum quotient (AQ), two groups of participants were classified according to their autistic traits: High-AQ and Low-AQ groups. Their event-related potentials in response to trains of three identical audio recordings, exhibiting either painful or neutral feelings of others, were compared during three experimental tasks. (1) In a Pain Judgment Task, participants were instructed to focus on pain-related cues in the presented audio recordings. (2) In a Gender Judgment Task, participants were instructed to focus on non-pain-related cues in the presented audio recordings. (3) In a Passive Listening Task, participants were instructed to passively listen. In the High-AQ group, an altered empathic pattern of habituation, indexed by frontal-central P2 responses of the second repeated painful audio recordings, was found during the Passive Listening Task. Nevertheless, both High-AQ and Low-AQ groups exhibited similar patterns of habituation to hearing others' voices, both neutral and painful, in the Pain Judgment and Gender Judgment Tasks. These results suggest altered empathic neuronal habituation in the passive processing of others' vocal pain by individuals with autistic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Meng
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,School of Education, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Zuoshan Li
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,School of Education, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Lin Shen
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.
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29
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Murray SO, Kolodny T, Schallmo MP, Gerdts J, Bernier RA. Late fMRI Response Components Are Altered in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:241. [PMID: 32694986 PMCID: PMC7338757 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Disrupted cortical neural inhibition has been hypothesized to be a primary contributor to the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This hypothesis predicts that ASD will be associated with an increase in neural responses. We tested this prediction by comparing fMRI response magnitudes to simultaneous visual, auditory, and motor stimulation in ASD and neurotypical (NT) individuals. No increases in the initial transient response in any brain region were observed in ASD, suggesting that there is no increase in overall cortical neural excitability. Most notably, there were widespread fMRI magnitude increases in the ASD response following stimulation offset, approximately 6–8 s after the termination of sensory and motor stimulation. In some regions, the higher fMRI offset response in ASD could be attributed to a lack of an “undershoot”—an often observed feature of fMRI responses believed to reflect inhibitory processing. Offset response magnitude was associated with reaction times (RT) in the NT group and may explain an overall reduced RT in the ASD group. Overall, our results suggest that increases in neural responsiveness are present in ASD but are confined to specific components of the neural response, are particularly strong following stimulation offset, and are linked to differences in RT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott O Murray
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Tamar Kolodny
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Michael-Paul Schallmo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Jennifer Gerdts
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Raphael A Bernier
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
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30
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Rahman MS, Barnes KA, Crommett LE, Tommerdahl M, Yau JM. Auditory and tactile frequency representations are co-embedded in modality-defined cortical sensory systems. Neuroimage 2020; 215:116837. [PMID: 32289461 PMCID: PMC7292761 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2019] [Revised: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory information is represented and elaborated in hierarchical cortical systems that are thought to be dedicated to individual sensory modalities. This traditional view of sensory cortex organization has been challenged by recent evidence of multimodal responses in primary and association sensory areas. Although it is indisputable that sensory areas respond to multiple modalities, it remains unclear whether these multimodal responses reflect selective information processing for particular stimulus features. Here, we used fMRI adaptation to identify brain regions that are sensitive to the temporal frequency information contained in auditory, tactile, and audiotactile stimulus sequences. A number of brain regions distributed over the parietal and temporal lobes exhibited frequency-selective temporal response modulation for both auditory and tactile stimulus events, as indexed by repetition suppression effects. A smaller set of regions responded to crossmodal adaptation sequences in a frequency-dependent manner. Despite an extensive overlap of multimodal frequency-selective responses across the parietal and temporal lobes, representational similarity analysis revealed a cortical "regional landscape" that clearly reflected distinct somatosensory and auditory processing systems that converged on modality-invariant areas. These structured relationships between brain regions were also evident in spontaneous signal fluctuation patterns measured at rest. Our results reveal that multimodal processing in human cortex can be feature-specific and that multimodal frequency representations are embedded in the intrinsically hierarchical organization of cortical sensory systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md Shoaibur Rahman
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Kelly Anne Barnes
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA; Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, San Jacinto College - South, Houston, 13735 Beamer Rd, S13.269, Houston, TX, 77089, USA
| | - Lexi E Crommett
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Mark Tommerdahl
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB No. 7575, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Jeffrey M Yau
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
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31
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Abstract
Abnormal sensory processing has been observed in autism, including superior visual motion discrimination, but the neural basis for these sensory changes remains unknown. Leveraging well-characterized suppressive neural circuits in the visual system, we used behavioral and fMRI tasks to demonstrate a significant reduction in neural suppression in young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to neurotypical controls. MR spectroscopy measurements revealed no group differences in neurotransmitter signals. We show how a computational model that incorporates divisive normalization, as well as narrower top-down gain (that could result, for example, from a narrower window of attention), can explain our observations and divergent previous findings. Thus, weaker neural suppression is reflected in visual task performance and fMRI measures in ASD, and may be attributable to differences in top-down processing. Sensory hypersensitivity is common in autism spectrum disorders. Using functional MRI, psychophysics, and computational modeling, Schallmo et al. show that differences in visual motion perception in ASD are accompanied by weaker neural suppression in visual cortex.
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32
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Kolodny T, Schallmo MP, Gerdts J, Edden RAE, Bernier RA, Murray SO. Concentrations of Cortical GABA and Glutamate in Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Res 2020; 13:1111-1129. [PMID: 32297709 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The balance of excitation and inhibition in neural circuits is hypothesized to be increased in autism spectrum disorder, possibly mediated by altered signaling of the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), yet empirical evidence in humans is inconsistent. We used edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to quantify signals associated with both GABA and the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate in multiple regions of the sensory and sensorimotor cortex, including primary visual, auditory, and motor areas in adult individuals with autism and in neurotypical controls. Despite the strong a priori hypothesis of reduced GABA in autism spectrum disorder, we found no group differences in neurometabolite concentrations in any of the examined regions and no correlations of MRS measure with psychophysical visual sensitivity or autism symptomatology. We demonstrate high data quality that is comparable across groups, with a relatively large sample of well-characterized participants, and use Bayesian statistics to corroborate the lack of any group differences. We conclude that levels of GABA and Glx (glutamate, glutamine, and glutathione) in the sensory and sensorimotor cortex, as measured with MRS at 3T, are comparable in adults with autism and neurotypical individuals. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1111-1129. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate are the main inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters in the human brain, respectively, and their balanced interaction is necessary for neural function. Previous research suggests that the GABA and glutamate systems might be altered in autism. In this study, we used magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure concentrations of these neurotransmitters in the sensory areas in the brains of young adults with autism. In contradiction to the common hypothesis of reduced GABA in autism, we demonstrate that concentrations of both GABA and glutamate, in all the brain regions examined, are comparable in individuals with autism and in neurotypical adults. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamar Kolodny
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Michael-Paul Schallmo
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jennifer Gerdts
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Richard A E Edden
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Raphael A Bernier
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Scott O Murray
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
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Kolodny T, Schallmo MP, Gerdts J, Bernier RA, Murray SO. Response Dissociation in Hierarchical Cortical Circuits: a Unique Feature of Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Neurosci 2020; 40:2269-2281. [PMID: 32015023 PMCID: PMC7083290 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2376-19.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2019] [Revised: 01/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
A prominent hypothesis regarding the pathophysiology of autism is that an increase in the balance between neural excitation and inhibition results in an increase in neural responses. However, previous reports of population-level response magnitude in individuals with autism have been inconsistent. Critically, network interactions have not been considered in previous neuroimaging studies of excitation and inhibition imbalance in autism. In particular, a defining characteristic of cortical organization is its hierarchical and interactive structure; sensory and cognitive systems are comprised of networks where later stages inherit and build upon the processing of earlier input stages, and also influence and shape earlier stages by top-down modulation. Here we used the well established connections of the human visual system to examine response magnitudes in a higher-order motion processing region [middle temporal area (MT+)] and its primary input region (V1). Simple visual stimuli were presented to adult individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; n = 24, mean age 23 years, 8 females) and neurotypical controls (n = 24, mean age 22, 8 females) during fMRI scanning. We discovered a strong dissociation of fMRI response magnitude between region MT+ and V1 in individuals with ASD: individuals with high MT+ responses had attenuated V1 responses. The magnitude of MT+ amplification and of V1 attenuation was associated with autism severity, appeared to result from amplified suppressive feedback from MT+ to V1, and was not present in neurotypical controls. Our results reveal the potential role of altered hierarchical network interactions in the pathophysiology of ASD.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT An imbalance between neural excitation and inhibition, resulting in increased neural responses, has been suggested as a pathophysiological pathway to autism, but direct evidence from humans is lacking. In the current study we consider the role of interactions between stages of sensory processing when testing increased neural responses in individuals with autism. We used the well known hierarchical structure of the visual motion pathway to demonstrate dissociation in the fMRI response magnitude between adjacent stages of processing in autism: responses are attenuated in a primary visual area but amplified in a subsequent higher-order area. This response dissociation appears to rely on enhanced suppressive feedback between regions and reveals a previously unknown cortical network alteration in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michael-Paul Schallmo
- Departments of Psychology
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
| | - Jennifer Gerdts
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 95195, and
| | - Raphael A Bernier
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 95195, and
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Font-Alaminos M, Cornella M, Costa-Faidella J, Hervás A, Leung S, Rueda I, Escera C. Increased subcortical neural responses to repeating auditory stimulation in children with autism spectrum disorder. Biol Psychol 2020; 149:107807. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Revised: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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Brunton BW, Beyeler M. Data-driven models in human neuroscience and neuroengineering. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2019; 58:21-29. [PMID: 31325670 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2019.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2019] [Accepted: 06/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Discoveries in modern human neuroscience are increasingly driven by quantitative understanding of complex data. Data-intensive approaches to modeling have promise to dramatically advance our understanding of the brain and critically enable neuroengineering capabilities. In this review, we provide an accessible primer to modern modeling approaches and highlight recent data-driven discoveries in the domains of neuroimaging, single-neuron and neuronal population responses, and device neuroengineering. Further, we suggest that meaningful progress requires the community to tackle open challenges in the realms of model interpretability and generalizability, training pipelines of data-fluent human neuroscientists, and integrated consideration of data ethics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingni W Brunton
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Institute for Neuroengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; eScience Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Michael Beyeler
- Institute for Neuroengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; eScience Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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