Globally elevated excitation-inhibition ratio in children with autism spectrum disorder and below-average intelligence.
Viktoriya O Manyukhina, Andrey O Prokofyev, Ilia A Galuta and 6 others
PMID 35550191WHAT IT FOUND
Boys with autism and below-average IQ had flatter brain signal slopes than typically developing boys or autistic boys with average IQ.
This suggests a global shift toward brain excitation linked to intellectual disability, not social symptoms.
Key findings
01The spectral slope was flatter in children with ASD and below-average IQ than in either TD children or in those with ASD and average IQ.
02Spectral slope correlated negatively with IQ in children with ASD, but no such correlations were found in the TD group.
03Spectral slope did not correlate significantly with social responsiveness scores in children with ASD.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study included only boys, so results may not generalize to girls with ASD. The sample size was relatively small. The ASD group was heterogeneous, including participants with different underlying causes of autism. The findings may reflect a general mechanism of intellectual disability rather than something specific to autism. MEG is expensive and complex, limiting its current use in routine clinical practice.
Declared interests
Funded by the Russian Science Foundation. No other conflicts of interest declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the flatter brain slope as a biomarker for autism severity or social communication deficits. The study found that this measure correlated with intellectual disability (IQ) in the ASD group but showed no significant relationship with social responsiveness scores, suggesting it tracks cognitive ability rather than core autistic traits.