Billeci Lucia, Tonacci Alessandro, Narzisi Antonio, Manigrasso Zaira, Varanini Maurizio, Fulceri Francesca, Lattarulo Caterina, Calderoni Sara, Muratori Filippo
Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council of Italy, Pisa, Italy.
IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Department of Developmental Neuroscience, Pisa, Italy.
Front Physiol. 2018 May 1;9:467. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00467. eCollection 2018.
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders featuring early impairments in social domain, with autonomic nervous system (ANS) unbalance possibly representing a useful marker for such disturbances. Impairments in joint attention (JA) are one of the earliest markers of social deficits in ASD. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of using wearable technologies for characterizing the ANS response in ASD toddlers during the presentation of JA stimuli. Twenty ASD toddlers and 20 age- and gender-matched typically developed (TD) children were recorded at baseline and during a JA task through an unobtrusive chest strap for electrocardiography (ECG). Specific algorithms for feature extraction, including Heart Rate (HR), Standard Deviation of the Normal-to-Normal Intervals (SDNN), Coefficient of Variation (CV), pNN10 as well as low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF), were applied to the ECG signal and a statistical comparison between the two groups was performed. As regards the single phases, SDNN ( = 0.04) and CV ( = 0.021) were increased in ASD at baseline together with increased LF absolute power ( = 0.034). Moreover, CV remained higher in ASD during the task ( = 0.03). Considering the phase and group interaction, LF increased from baseline to task in TD group ( = 0.04) while it decreased in the ASD group ( = 0.04). The results of this study indicate the feasibility of characterizing the ANS response in ASD toddlers through a minimally obtrusive tool. Our analysis showed an increased SDNN and CV in toddlers with ASD particularly at baseline compared to TD and lower LF during the task. These findings could suggest the possibility of using the proposed approach for evaluating physiological correlates of JA response in young children with ASD.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一组异质性神经发育障碍，其特征是社交领域早期受损，自主神经系统（ANS）失衡可能是此类障碍的一个有用标志。联合注意（JA）受损是ASD社交缺陷的最早标志之一。在本研究中，我们评估了使用可穿戴技术来表征ASD幼儿在呈现JA刺激期间ANS反应的可行性。通过一个用于心电图（ECG）的不显眼的胸带，在基线和JA任务期间记录了20名ASD幼儿以及20名年龄和性别匹配的发育正常（TD）儿童。将包括心率（HR）、正常到正常间期的标准差（SDNN）、变异系数（CV）、pNN10以及低频（LF）和高频（HF）在内的特定特征提取算法应用于ECG信号，并对两组进行了统计比较。关于各个阶段，ASD组在基线时SDNN（ = 0.04）和CV（ = 0.021）增加，同时LF绝对功率增加（ = 0.034）。此外，在任务期间ASD组的CV仍然较高（ = 0.03）。考虑阶段和组间交互作用，TD组的LF从基线到任务期间增加（ = 0.04），而ASD组则下降（ = 0.04）。本研究结果表明，通过一种微创工具来表征ASD幼儿的ANS反应是可行的。我们的分析表明，与TD组相比，ASD幼儿尤其是在基线时SDNN和CV增加，且在任务期间LF较低。这些发现可能表明，所提出的方法有可能用于评估ASD幼儿JA反应的生理相关性。
