Early patterns of functional brain development associated with autism spectrum disorder in tuberous sclerosis complex.
Abigail Dickinson, Kandice J Varcin, Mustafa Sahin and 2 others
PMID 31419043WHAT IT FOUND
EEG scans of infants with tuberous sclerosis showed weaker long-range brain connections at 12 months and slower brain rhythm speeds at 24 months.
These patterns were distinct in infants who later developed autism. Brain rhythm speed at 24 months predicted cognitive scores at age 3.
Key findings
01Infants with tuberous sclerosis complex showed significantly decreased alpha phase coherence between the left temporal and right parietal regions at 12 months compared to typically developing infants.
02At 24 months, infants with tuberous sclerosis complex who later developed autism showed decreased long-range interhemispheric coherence compared to those who did not develop autism.
03Peak alpha frequency measured at 24 months was positively associated with nonverbal cognitive function at 36 months across the whole sample.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small, particularly for subgroup analyses comparing infants with and without autism. Cognitive data were missing for a significant portion of the participants due to loss to follow-up. The typically developing group had above-average cognitive scores, which may not represent the full range of typical development. The study did not fully explore the impact of anti-epileptic medications or seizure severity on the EEG measures.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest for the remaining authors (A.D., K.J.V., and C.A.N.). The study was supported by NIH grants.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use these EEG measures for individual patient diagnosis or treatment planning. The findings are based on group averages in a small research sample and require larger studies to validate their predictive accuracy in clinical settings.