Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Cizre Dr. Selahattin Cizrelioglu State Hospital, Sirnak, Turkey.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
Autism Res. 2021 Apr;14(4):656-667. doi: 10.1002/aur.2479. Epub 2021 Feb 1.
Sensory differences are common in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). While there is no well-accepted method to measure sensory differences objectively, there is accumulating evidence from recent years concerning sensory perception, including data concerning temporal discrimination thresholds of individuals with ASD as measured by different measures. The somatosensory temporal discrimination (STD) test measures the threshold at which an individual can temporally discriminate multiple tactile stimuli delivered in succession. We aimed to investigate tactile perception in ASD and hypothesized that children with ASD have impaired STD related to their subjective sensory symptoms and daily difficulties. Thirty adolescents with ASD and 30 typically developed subjects were recruited. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile were implemented before STD evaluation. Average somatosensory detection (1.48 ± 0.42) and discrimination thresholds (112.70 ± 43.45) of the children with ASD were significantly higher (P = 0.010, P = 0.001, respectively) than those of the controls (1.18 ± 0.42, 79.95 ± 31.60, respectively). Sensory seeking scores of the ASD group (40.8 ± 7.60) were significantly lower (P = 0.024) than those of the control group (45.83 ± 9.17). However, the psychophsycal thresholds did not have any statistically significant relationships with subjective sensory symptoms or daily difficulties. This study demonstrates impaired sensory processing in ASD evaluated by STD and its lack of relationship with subjective sensory symptoms and daily difficulties. This psychophysical evidence of increased STD thresholds and decreased sensory seeking profile supports the disturbances in the regulation of sensory processing in ASD. LAY SUMMARY: Sensory differences are common in autism; however, there is no well-accepted method to measure them objectively. This study aims to investigate somatosensory differences and their relation with sensory and emotional/behavioral difficulties of children with autism. We show that autistic children have higher tactile discrimination thresholds and fewer sensory seeking behaviors. This supports the presence of impairments in sensory processing in autism. Measuring the sensory differences may help understanding clinical symptoms and neurobiological underpinings of autism. Autism Res 2021, 14: 656-667. © 2021 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患者存在感觉差异。虽然目前尚无公认的方法可以客观地衡量感觉差异，但近年来有关感官知觉的证据越来越多，包括 ASD 患者的时间辨别阈值数据，这些数据是通过不同的测量方法得出的。体感时间辨别（STD）测试测量的是个体能够在连续传递的多个触觉刺激中进行时间辨别时的阈值。我们旨在研究 ASD 患者的触觉感知，并假设 ASD 儿童的 STD 存在障碍，这与其主观感觉症状和日常困难有关。我们招募了 30 名 ASD 青少年和 30 名正常发育的受试者。在进行 STD 评估之前，实施了儿童自闭症评定量表、长处和困难问卷以及青少年/成人感觉概况。 ASD 儿童的平均体感检测（1.48±0.42）和辨别阈值（112.70±43.45）均明显高于对照组（分别为 1.18±0.42、79.95±31.60，P=0.010，P=0.001）。 ASD 组的感觉寻求评分（40.8±7.60）明显低于对照组（45.83±9.17，P=0.024）。然而，心理生理阈值与主观感觉症状或日常困难无任何统计学显著关系。这项研究表明，通过 STD 评估 ASD 患者的感觉处理受损，且其与主观感觉症状和日常困难无关。 STD 阈值升高和感觉寻求特征减少的这种心理物理证据支持 ASD 患者感觉处理调节障碍。
