Vetri Luigi, Maniscalco Laura, Diana Paola, Guidotti Marco, Matranga Domenica, Bonnet-Brilhault Frédérique, Tripi Gabriele
Oasi Research Institute-IRCCS, 94018 Troina, Italy.
Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
J Clin Med. 2022 Jun 21;11(13):3568. doi: 10.3390/jcm11133568.
Intermittent photic stimulation (IPS) is a useful technique in electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate the neurophysiological anomalies of brain activity. Although not an active task, IPS has also been explored in ASD; it is thought to capture local potential oscillators at specific frequencies and perhaps tap into rhythmic activity in a way that general resting-state recordings cannot. Previous studies suggest that individuals with ASD showed photic driving reactivity predominantly at lower frequencies of stimulation. In our study we used IPS to measure rhythmic oscillatory activity in a sample of 81 ASD children. We found a significant correlation linking ASD children with photic driving activation only at low frequencies (δθ band) and increased severity of "restricted behavior". This suggests that ASD children with higher severity of restricted behaviors could have a hypersynchronous θ power and an impaired resonance synchronization at middle-ranged frequencies (α). Furthermore, we found some evidence of hemispherical oscillatory asymmetry linked particularly to behavioral impairments. This result is in line with the EEG pattern model indicating a "U-shaped profile" of electrophysiological power alterations with excess power in low- and high-frequency bands and a reduction of power in the middle-ranged frequencies. IPS technique in electroencephalography is confirmed to reveal EEG biomarkers in autistic children, with a focus on spectral power, coherence, and hemisphere asymmetries.
间歇性光刺激（IPS）是脑电图（EEG）中一种用于研究大脑活动神经生理异常的有用技术。尽管不是一项主动任务，但IPS也已在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）中得到探索；人们认为它能捕捉特定频率下的局部电位振荡器，并且可能以一种一般静息状态记录无法做到的方式挖掘节律性活动。先前的研究表明，患有ASD的个体在较低刺激频率下主要表现出光驱动反应性。在我们的研究中，我们使用IPS来测量81名ASD儿童样本中的节律性振荡活动。我们发现，仅在低频（δθ频段）下，ASD儿童与光驱动激活之间存在显著相关性，且“受限行为”的严重程度增加。这表明，受限行为严重程度较高的ASD儿童可能具有超同步θ功率，并且在中频段（α）存在共振同步受损的情况。此外，我们发现了一些与行为障碍特别相关的半球振荡不对称的证据。这一结果与脑电图模式模型一致，该模型表明电生理功率变化呈“U形分布”，低频和高频带功率过高，中频段功率降低。脑电图中的IPS技术被证实可揭示自闭症儿童的脑电图生物标志物，重点是频谱功率、相干性和半球不对称性。
