Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N 13th St, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA.
Center for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2021 Dec;51(12):4459-4470. doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04862-0. Epub 2021 Feb 9.
Both anxiety and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are associated with atypical physiological activity. Few studies have systematically assessed the resting physiological activity in ASD with co-occurring anxiety disorders. We tested 75 participants divided in four groups: youth with ASD, with (ASD + Anxiety = 22, 6F, 12.29 ± 2.83 years old) and without co-occurring anxiety (ASD Alone = 15, 6F, 11.59 ± 2.85 years old) and compared their physiological profile with that of matched typically developing controls (TDC) with (Anxiety Alone = 16, 6F, 11.24 ± 3.36 years old) and without co-occurring anxiety disorders (TDC = 22, 8F, 11.88 ± 2.88 years old). Results indicated reduced sympathetic and parasympathetic activity at rest in ASD as compared to TDC youth. ASD + Anxiety and Anxiety Alone groups showed different sympathetic, but similar parasympathetic activity. These findings suggest that autonomic profile-based approaches may advance research, diagnosis, and treatment of ASD and anxiety.
焦虑症和自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 均与非典型生理活动有关。少数研究系统地评估了伴有焦虑症共病的 ASD 的静息生理活动。我们测试了 75 名参与者，分为四组：患有 ASD 的年轻人、患有（ASD+焦虑=22，6 名女性，12.29±2.83 岁）和不伴有共病焦虑症的（ASD 单独=15，6 名女性，11.59±2.85 岁），并将他们的生理特征与匹配的正常发育对照组（TDC）进行了比较，后者伴有（焦虑单独=16，6 名女性，11.24±3.36 岁）和不伴有共病焦虑症（TDC=22，8 名女性，11.88±2.88 岁）。结果表明，与 TDC 年轻人相比，ASD 中的自主神经活动在休息时减少，包括交感神经和副交感神经活动。ASD+焦虑和焦虑单独组表现出不同的交感神经活动，但副交感神经活动相似。这些发现表明，基于自主神经特征的方法可能会促进 ASD 和焦虑症的研究、诊断和治疗。
