Heathers James A J, Gilchrist Kristin H, Hegarty-Craver Meghan, Grego Sonia, Goodwin Matthew S
Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Biol Psychol. 2019 Mar;142:90-99. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.01.004. Epub 2019 Jan 12.
One of the core diagnostic features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is engagement in stereotypical motor movements, although the etiology of this repetitive behavior is unknown. Since the 1960s, it has been hypothesized that stereotypical motor movements serve a homeostatic regulation function, and thereby a putative coupling mechanism to cardiovascular arousal. However, to date, surprisingly few reports explicitly assess cardio-somatic coupling and stereotypical motor movements. The present exploratory study investigates coupling of stereotypical body rocking and hand flapping to heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) in a convenience sample (n = 10) of children and young adults with moderate to profound ASD. Motor movements were recorded via video and three-axis accelerometry, and simultaneous electrocardiographic signals were obtained to determine cardiovascular indices at or around the onset of naturalistically occurring stereotypy. Analysis of the heart rate revealed both repetitive body rocking and hand flapping in particular were found to associate with a strikingly similar cardiovascular pattern of acceleration and deceleration unrelated to physical demands associated with the movements themselves. Furthermore, neither type of stereotypical movement provoked directional change in heart rate variability. The implications of these results and opportunities for future research are discussed.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的核心诊断特征之一是出现刻板运动行为，尽管这种重复行为的病因尚不清楚。自20世纪60年代以来，人们一直推测刻板运动行为具有稳态调节功能，因此存在一种与心血管唤醒的假定耦合机制。然而，迄今为止，令人惊讶的是，很少有报告明确评估心身耦合和刻板运动行为。本探索性研究调查了在一个方便样本（n = 10）的中度至重度ASD儿童和青年中，刻板身体摇晃和手部拍打与心率及心率变异性（HRV）之间的耦合关系。通过视频和三轴加速度计记录运动行为，并同步获取心电图信号，以确定在自然发生的刻板行为开始时或其前后的心血管指标。心率分析显示，特别是重复性身体摇晃和手部拍打都与一种与运动本身相关的身体需求无关的、惊人相似的心血管加速和减速模式有关。此外，两种类型的刻板运动都未引起心率变异性的方向性变化。本文讨论了这些结果的意义以及未来研究的机会。
