A co-twin-control study of altered sensory processing in autism.

The study reports associations, not effects of treatment, so it cannot show that autism traits cause sensory differences or that sensory differences cause autism. The authors caution that the whole-sample models may be influenced by the sampling method, because pairs were selected mainly for elevated autism or ADHD traits. Within-pair analyses had lower power than whole-sample analyses, and the authors state that the identical-versus-fraternal comparison shows whether genetic or environmental effects are present but does not estimate their size in the general population. The sensory measure is a self-report profile that mixes sensory and affective or social wording and does not separate different sensory modalities, so modality-specific effects may have been missed. The authors speculate that the Sensation Seeking scale may not capture autism-related unusual sensory interests well, because the observed association with autism was negative. ADHD and affective disorders were also associated with several sensory scores, so sensory scores cannot be read as specific to autism.

S.B. declared that in the last 3 years he has acted as an author, consultant or lecturer for Medice, Roche, Hogrefe, Kohlhammer, and UTB. The study received funding from the Swedish Research Council, FORMAS, the Swedish Brain Foundation, Region Stockholm, and the Innovative Medical Initiatives programme, including EU-AIMS.

Do not read a high sensory score as evidence of autism. The study is observational, and ADHD and affective disorders were also associated with several sensory scores, so sensory differences are not specific to autism.