A randomized controlled trial into the effects of probiotics on electroencephalography in preschoolers with autism.
Lucia Billeci, Alejandro Luis Callara, Letizia Guiducci and 5 others
PMID 35362336WHAT IT FOUND
Probiotics were associated with lower front-of-head high-frequency activity and higher front-of-head connectivity in 46 preschoolers with autism, but no clear probiotic-related overall change was shown.
Key findings
01Probiotic-treated children showed decreased right and left frontopolar beta and gamma power over time.
02Probiotic-treated children showed increased frontopolar beta and gamma coherence over time, while placebo-treated children showed no significant change in frontopolar coherence.
03There was no significant main effect of treatment on frontopolar power.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The analysed sample was small: 46 of the 63 children had usable EEG at both time points. The study was exploratory and did not correct for multiple comparisons, so some positive findings could be false positives. For frontopolar power, there was no significant main effect of treatment, even though some changes within the probiotic group were significant. The original four-arm design was reduced to two arms because the GI and non-GI groups did not differ, so the planned GI subgroup arms were not analysed separately. The small sample prevented analyses by sex or by baseline clinical profile such as IQ, language, ASD severity, GI problems or adaptive functioning. Children watched a silent video during EEG, which may have affected findings involving visual areas. The study measured EEG changes, not whether probiotics improve autism symptoms, communication or daily function.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. Funding came from the Italian Ministry of Health, Tuscany Region and IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that probiotics improve autism symptoms or communication. The study measured brain-wave changes, not clinical outcomes, and the analysis was exploratory without multiple comparison correction.