Intrainsular connectivity and somatosensory responsiveness in young children with ASD.
Michelle D Failla, Brittany R Peters, Haleh Karbasforoushan and 4 others
PMID 28630661WHAT IT FOUND
In young children with ASD, tactile seeking was tied to a brain tract linking sensory and emotional touch areas in the opposite direction from typical children.
The ASD group also showed more touch defensiveness, more seeking, and poorer touch discrimination.
Key findings
01Children with ASD had higher mean diffusivity in both the intrainsular tract and the thalamocortical tract than typically developing children.
02Children with ASD showed poorer tactile form discrimination, more tactile defensiveness to touch and materials, and more tactile seeking than typically developing children.
03Tactile seeking was related to intrainsular mean diffusivity in opposite directions for the ASD and typically developing groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study compared groups at a single time, so it cannot show that tract differences caused touch behaviours. The sample was narrow in age, and it excluded children who could not complete an MRI scan or whose scans had poor quality. The typically developing group had higher Full Scale IQ estimates, and some tactile scores had limited variability. Only right hemisphere tracts were examined. No treatment was tested.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not include an author conflict declaration. The publication types list NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that reduced intrainsular connectivity causes tactile seeking or that sensory therapy should target the insula. The study was a cross-sectional comparison, not a treatment trial.