Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Psychology Department, King's College London, London, UK.
J Neurodev Disord. 2021 Jan 4;13(1):1. doi: 10.1186/s11689-020-09334-1.
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.
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.
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.
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.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）和注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）患者存在触觉加工异常，但目前尚不清楚这些异常是否先于并与儿童时期出现的这些障碍的特征相关。我们研究了与 ASD 和/或 ADHD 风险升高的婴儿相比，具有典型疾病风险的婴儿的触觉感觉加工的行为和神经标记物。此外，我们评估了婴儿标记物与随后的 ASD 或 ADHD 特征之间关联的特异性。
91 名 10 个月大的婴儿参与了研究（n=44 名 ASD 风险升高的婴儿；n=20 名 ADHD 风险升高的婴儿；n=9 名 ASD 和 ADHD 风险升高的婴儿；n=18 名具有典型疾病风险的婴儿）。通过实验记录了对触觉刺激对的行为和 EEG 反应，并同时收集了触觉反应性的父母报告。通过标准化评估（ADOS-2）和父母报告（ECBQ），分别在 24 个月时测量 ASD 和 ADHD 特征。
婴儿的风险状况对触觉感觉加工的行为标记物没有影响。相反，ASD 风险升高与触觉输入的神经重复抑制减少有关。10 个月时的神经重复抑制减少与整个样本中 24 个月时的 ASD 特征（但不是 ADHD 特征）显著相关。10 个月时的触觉感觉寻求增加调节了早期神经重复抑制减少与后期 ASD 特征之间的关系。
触觉神经重复抑制减少是具有 ASD 或 ADHD 风险升高的婴儿后期 ASD 特征的早期标记物，表明尽管存在不同的家族背景，但存在通向后期 ASD 特征的共同途径。触觉感觉寻求增加可能是一种保护因素，减轻了早期触觉神经重复抑制与后期 ASD 特征之间的关系。
