Cortical Network Overconnectivity Relates to Sensory, Cognitive, and Social Dimensions in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Borja Rodríguez-Herreros, Ahmad Mheich, Joana Maria Almeida Osório and 14 others
PMID 42464871WHAT IT FOUND
Stronger alpha brain network connections in children with autism were linked to differences in cognition, sensory processing and social behaviour.
The connections involved attention and sensory networks.
Key findings
01Relative alpha power was higher in children with autism, and only the alpha band difference survived correction for multiple comparisons.
02In the alpha band, children with autism showed a hyperconnected subnetwork of 12 nodes and 11 edges, with a higher edge-wise connectivity index after controlling for full-scale IQ.
03Alpha-band network patterns were linked to cognitive, sensory and social dimensions, and attention-sensory network connectivity appeared in all three links.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The analysed autism group was only 38 children. About 25% of autism EEG recordings were excluded for poor quality. The study compared different groups at one time point, so it cannot show that brain connectivity causes symptoms or changes with therapy. Children watched silent videos, which may affect attention or gaze, especially in autism. Only alpha-band connectivity was interpreted because only alpha power differed. The autism group had lower cognitive scores, and adjusting for IQ removed some posterior regional effects and reduced the edge-wise subnetwork. Effects were small to moderate and not replicated in an independent dataset.
Declared interests
The project was funded by F. Hoffmann-La Roche. One author, M.H., is a full-time employee of MINDIG company.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat these EEG patterns as a diagnostic test or as proof that a therapy changes brain connectivity. The study did not aim to classify diagnosis, had a small autism sample, and only reported associations.