Neural Correlates of Sensory Hyporesponsiveness in Toddlers at High Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Only a small group of high-risk toddlers was analyzed, so the findings cannot be treated as a clinical marker. The study had no low-risk comparison group and used a questionnaire that does not capture sensory variability well in typical development. The design was correlational, so it cannot show that brain patterns cause low reactions or that changing them changes behavior. Multiple comparisons were handled liberally, so some spatial patterns are less reliable. Some questionnaire scores were imputed, and two toddlers were excluded for unusable EEG. The theta band associations were affected by one outlier and by the toddlers later diagnosed with autism.

One author reported minority stock holdings in Electrical Geodesics, Inc., the company that makes the EEG equipment; the other authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Do not read these EEG patterns as a diagnostic test for autism or as proof that changing brain activity will change sensory behavior. The study only compared parent-reported low reactions to sounds, name or pain with resting brain activity in high-risk toddlers at one time point.