Article
Psychology, Developmental
Enda Tan, Alva Tang, Ranjan Debnath, Kathryn L. Humphreys, Charles H. Zeanah, Charles A. Nelson, Nathan A. Fox
Summary: This study examined the impact of institutional rearing and early foster care intervention on 18-year IQ using data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project. The findings showed that higher resting theta electroencephalogram (EEG) power in early childhood predicted lower IQ at 18 years, indicating that brain activity in early childhood can predict cognitive outcomes into adulthood. Additionally, both institutional rearing and later foster care intervention predicted higher resting theta power in early childhood, which in turn predicted lower IQ at 18 years. These findings highlight the importance of early intervention for promoting healthy cognitive development.
DEVELOPMENTAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Sibah Hasan, Shu K. E. Tam, Russell G. Foster, Vladyslav V. Vyazovskiy, David M. Bannerman, Stuart N. Peirson
Summary: Acute exposure to light has a significant impact on physiology and may affect memory performance in mice, depending on the intensity of light and brain wave activities. Factors such as the phase of the internal clock and homeostatic sleep pressure can influence how light input translates into behavioral performance.
BIOCHEMICAL PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Alireza Malekmohammadi, Stefan K. Ehrlich, Gordon Cheng
Summary: Repeated listening to unknown music gradually familiarizes individuals with musical sequences. This study investigates the electrophysiological changes during the familiarization with initially unknown music, revealing sustained decreases in theta and gamma event-related desynchronization (ERD) in specific brain regions. Theta ERD is associated with successfully identifying familiar sequences, while gamma ERD is related to forming unfamiliar sequences.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Aron T. Hill, Jodie Van Der Elst, Felicity J. Bigelow, Jarrad A. G. Lum, Peter G. Enticott
Summary: Using EEG recordings, this study found that increased functional connectivity in the right anterior theta region is associated with greater autistic trait expression in typically developing children.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Mandy J. Maguire, Julie M. Schneider, Tina C. Melamed, Yvonne K. Ralph, Sonali Poudel, Vyom M. Raval, David Mikhail, Alyson D. Abel
Summary: Time frequency analysis of the EEG is increasingly used to study the neural oscillations supporting language comprehension. This study investigated how the timing and topography of theta engagement to individual words during sentence processing changes between childhood and adolescence. Results show that children's engagement of the language network during sentence processing continues to change through middle childhood but stabilizes into adolescence.
DEVELOPMENTAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Recep A. Ozdemir, Pierre Boucher, Peter J. Fried, Davide Momi, Ali Jannati, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Emiliano Santarnecchi, Mouhsin M. Shafi
Summary: Recent research has shown significant variability in responses to TBS protocols, challenging the assumed reliability and lasting effects on cortical excitability. While TMS combined with EEG revealed stable responses to single pulse TMS across visits, the modulatory effects of TBS varied substantially both between and within individuals. The generally accepted mechanisms of TBS-induced neuromodulation through cortical excitability changes may not be accurate, highlighting the need for further research to understand the therapeutic effects of TBS in neuropsychiatry and examine the reproducibility of TBS-induced neuromodulation.
Article
Family Studies
Ivett Karina Sandoval-Carrillo, Marisela Hernandez-Gonzalez, Miguel Angel Guevara, Rosa Maria Hidalgo-Aguirre
Summary: This study characterized the electroencephalographic activity in mothers with secure and insecure attachment while viewing a video of a baby crying. The results showed that mothers with secure attachment displayed lower absolute power in certain brain regions, higher power in other regions, and higher prefronto-parietal correlation, indicating greater attention and emotional regulation.
PARENTING-SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Jingjing Chen, Yaheng Xiao, Bing Xu, Dan Zhang
Summary: This study investigated the developmental trajectory of frontal TBR, an EEG correlate of attention control, in a large sample of 5, 207 children aged 5-14 during a visuospatial working memory task. The results showed that the association between task-related frontal TBR and age was modulated by task difficulty, with a more pronounced age-related decrease in frontal TBR in more challenging conditions. Overall, the study provided electrophysiological evidence about the maturation of attention control, suggesting potentially distinct developmental paths for attention control across different task conditions.
DEVELOPMENTAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Mathis Kaiser, Daniel Senkowski, Julian Keil
Summary: In the ventriloquist illusion, perceived sound shifts do not significantly alter the laterality of auditory responses, but a sustained reduction in mediofrontal theta-band power may indicate diminished cognitive control, leading to increased reliance on discriminable visual information and crossmodal influence. This suggests that mediofrontal theta-band oscillations serve as a neural mechanism for top-down modulation of crossmodal processing in the ventriloquist illusion.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Cheng-Ta Li, Chi-Sheng Chen, Chih-Ming Cheng, Chung-Ping Chen, Jen-Ping Chen, Mu-Hong Chen, Ya-Mei Bai, Shih-Jen Tsai
Summary: This study investigated the prediction of left prefrontal cortex iTBS responses using linear and non-linear EEG features, and compared different ML models for rTMS and iTBS. The results showed that the SVM model using combined EEG features outperformed frontal theta by logistic regression. Especially, the RF model demonstrated higher accuracy in predicting rTMS and iTBS.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Jonas A. Thiele, Aylin Richter, Kirsten Hilger
Summary: Spontaneous brain activity lays the foundation for cognitive processing during external demands. Previous neuroimaging studies using fMRI have shown that individual differences in intelligence are associated with specific characteristics of intrinsic brain dynamics. However, fMRI research has limitations in resolving neural fluctuations within milliseconds. In this study, we used resting-state EEG recordings to investigate the complexity of intrinsic brain signals and its relationship with intelligence. The results suggest that the association between brain signal complexity and intelligence is modest, varying across different spatial and temporal scales.
Article
Neurosciences
Calvin K. Young, Ming Ruan, Neil McNaughton
Summary: The relationship between hippocampal theta and movement is important for supporting higher cognitive processes during spatial navigation, and variations in speed modulation of hippocampal theta can predict spatial learning rates in the water maze. Movement-speed correlations with hippocampal theta frequency may actively contribute to spatial learning.
Article
Neurosciences
Vignesh Muralidharan, Adam R. Aron, Michael X. Cohen, Robert Schmidt
Summary: Midfrontal theta increases when conflicts are successfully resolved. Its temporal nature as a transient oscillation or event has been investigated using advanced spatiotemporal techniques. Single-trial analyses reveal that theta events can be categorized into distinct modes based on their timing in relation to task events, indicating their involvement in conflict-related processing and error correction.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Shabah M. Shadli, Vidusha Tewari, Jack Holden, Neil McNaughton
Summary: Anxiety disorder biomarker GCSR shows differences between left-handers and right-handers, with left-handers mainly mirroring the responses of right-handers. The study suggests that when using GCSR as a biomarker in groups with both left and right-handed individuals, data from the channel ipsilateral to the dominant hand should be utilized.
Article
Developmental Biology
Louisa K. Gosse, Frank Wiesemann, Clare E. Elwell, Emily J. H. Jones
Summary: This study examined the relationship between infant sleep quality and daytime brain activity. The results showed that infants with more night waking had higher overall theta power and reduced dynamic modulation of theta during novel video stimuli. This may indicate altered learning and consolidation in infants with disrupted sleep, which could have implications for cognitive development.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Jack Hollingdale, Emma Woodhouse, Susan Young, Gisli Gudjonsson, Tony Charman, Will Mandy
Summary: This study aimed to identify the trajectory of conduct and emotional problems in young people and their relationship with hyperactive/inattentive traits, with a focus on the moderating effect of autistic social traits. Findings showed that hyperactive/inattentive traits were associated with higher rates of conduct and emotional problems, particularly for boys with autistic social traits. Therefore, identifying and addressing hyperactive/inattentive traits and autistic social traits are crucial in addressing conduct and emotional problems in young people.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Sophie Carruthers, Natasha Mleczko, Stephanie Page, Shalini Ahuja, Ceri Ellis, Patricia Howlin, Kathy Leadbitter, Lauren Taylor, Vicky Slonims, Tony Charman
Summary: One core component of the intervention involves supporting parents to change their interaction and communication style with their child. The study interviewed 27 parents and explored their use of intervention strategies after the trial. Analysis revealed barriers and facilitators related to parents' characteristics, their context, and features of the intervention, with almost all parents reporting continued use of the strategies. Consideration of these factors can inform future studies of similar interventions.
Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Mingfei Dong, Donatello Telesca, Catherine Sugar, Frederick Shic, Adam Naples, Scott P. Johnson, Beibin Li, Adham Atyabi, Minhang Xie, Sara J. Webb, Shafali Jeste, Susan Faja, April R. Levin, Geraldine Dawson, James C. McPartland, Damla Senturk
Summary: Eye tracking experiments commonly record the continuous trajectory of gaze on a screen during repeated presentations of stimuli. However, commonly used data analysis methods collapse the data into simple summaries, losing information about trial time. This study introduces functional data analysis (FDA) for eye tracking data analysis and proposes novel functional outcomes, called viewing profiles, to capture common gaze trends across trials. Applying FDA to data from autism clinical trials reveals new insights into consistency of gaze behavior early in trial time.
STATISTICS IN BIOSCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Viola Hollestein, Geert Poelmans, Natalie J. Forde, Christian F. Beckmann, Christine Ecker, Caroline Mann, Tim Schaefer, Carolin Moessnang, Sarah Baumeister, Tobias Banaschewski, Thomas Bourgeron, Eva Loth, Flavio Dell'Acqua, Declan G. M. Murphy, Nicolaas A. Puts, Julian Tillmann, Tony Charman, Emily J. H. Jones, Luke Mason, Sara Ambrosino, Rosemary Holt, Sven Boelte, Jan K. Buitelaar, Jilly Naaijen
Summary: The E/I imbalance hypothesis suggests that the imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms underlies the behavioral characteristics of autism. This study used innovative analysis methods to investigate the relationships between genetic variance, brain structure, and autism symptomatology. The results suggest complex relationships between E/I-related genetics and autism symptom profiles as well as brain structure alterations.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Junya Chen, Matthew Engelhard, Ricardo Henao, Samuel Berchuck, Brian Eichner, Eliana M. Perrin, Guillermo Sapiro, Geraldine Dawson
Summary: Recent work has demonstrated that predictive models based on structured electronic health record (EHR) data can stratify the likelihood of autism from an early age. This study aimed to improve the accuracy of early autism prediction by integrating clinical narratives with structured EHR data. Models were built separately using the two types of data and then combined into an ensemble model. The results showed that the ensemble model had superior performance, achieving promising accuracy within 30 days and outperforming models based on structured data alone.
JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Jannath K. Begum-Ali, Louisa Gosse, Luke Mason, Greg Pasco, Tony H. Charman, Mark Johnson, Emily J. H. Jones
Summary: Children with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as ASD and ADHD, frequently experience sleep disturbances. A study conducted on infants with family history of ASD and/or ADHD revealed that infants with first-degree relatives with ASD showed poorer night sleep quality at 14 months. Poor infant sleep quality was associated with later ASD diagnosis, decreased cognitive ability, increased ASD symptoms, and developing social attention.
JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elena O. Orekhova, Viktoriya E. Manyukhina, Ilia S. Galuta, Andrey A. Prokofyev, Dzerassa F. Goiaeva, Tatiana A. Obukhova, Kirill Fadeev, Justin Schneiderman, Tatiana Stroganova
Summary: Neurophysiological studies suggest a link between abnormal neural inhibition and sensory processing differences in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Specifically, the reduced ability to visually discriminate motion direction of small objects and reduced perceptual suppression of visual motion in individuals with ASD may be due to deficient surround inhibition in the primary visual cortex (V1). This research aimed to estimate the contribution of abnormal surround inhibition to motion-processing deficits in ASD.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Pradeep Raj Krishnappa Babu, Vikram Aikat, J. Matias Di Martino, Zhuoqing Chang, Sam Perochon, Steven Espinosa, Rachel Aiello, Kimberly L. H. Carpenter, Scott Compton, Naomi Davis, Brian Eichner, Jacqueline Flowers, Lauren Franz, Geraldine Dawson, Guillermo Sapiro
Summary: Novel methods using computer vision analysis were used to automatically quantify patterns of attentional engagement in young autistic children. Autistic children spent less time facing the screen and had a higher blink rate compared to neurotypical children. Autistic children also showed differences in attentional engagement between social and nonsocial movies.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Linn Andersson Konke, Terje Falck-Ytter, Emily J. H. Jones, Amy Goodwin, Karin Brocki
Summary: The current study used the infant sibling design to investigate whether proband traits of autism and ADHD can provide information about their infant siblings' temperament. Parent ratings of autistic traits and ADHD traits were used in older siblings diagnosed with autism, and their infant siblings' temperament traits at 9 months of age were examined. Specific associations were found across siblings, with proband autistic traits related to low levels of approach in infant siblings, and proband ADHD traits related to high levels of infant activity. These findings suggest that inherited liability may influence early emerging behaviors in infant siblings.
JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Melanie Palmer, Susie Chandler, Virginia Carter Leno, Farah Mgaieth, Isabel Yorke, Matthew Hollocks, Andrew Pickles, Vicky Slonims, Stephen Scott, Tony Charman, Emily Simonoff
Summary: This study investigates the role of pre-existing and pandemic-related factors in the mental health symptoms of autistic youth and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings suggest that more engagement and enjoyment in education and outdoor activities are associated with better mental health for both children and parents during the pandemic. Pre-existing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children are linked to more behavioral and ADHD symptoms during the pandemic, while pre-existing parental mental health problems are associated with more mental health symptoms in parents during the pandemic.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Leyan Li, Greg Pasco, Jannath Begum Ali, Mark H. Johnson, Emily J. H. Jones, Tony Charman
Summary: Infants with later autism tend to have slower language and motor development, and these two domains of development are interlinked. A study on infants with and without a family history of autism revealed that language and motor abilities are associated with emerging autistic traits, especially gross motor and receptive language skills.
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Siofra Heraty, Alexandra Lautarescu, David Belton, Alison Boyle, Pietro Cirrincione, Mary Doherty, Sarah Douglas, Jan Roderik Derk Plas, Katrien Van Den Bosch, Pierre Violland, Jerneja Tercon, Amber Ruigrok, Declan G. M. Murphy, Thomas Bourgeron, Christopher Chatham, Eva Loth, Bethany Oakley, Grainne M. Mcalonan, Tony Charman, Nicolaas Puts, Louise Gallagher, Emily J. H. Jones
Summary: A change in research culture is needed to improve the relationship between autistic people and the biomedical research community. Through participatory research, we can reject negative perceptions of autism and work towards a shared vision that embraces neurodiversity.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sam Perochon, J. Matias Di Martino, Kimberly L. H. Carpenter, Scott Compton, Naomi Davis, Brian Eichner, Steven Espinosa, Lauren Franz, Pradeep Raj Krishnappa Babu, Guillermo Sapiro, Geraldine Dawson
Summary: This study evaluates the accuracy of an autism screening digital application in a real-world setting. The app shows high diagnostic accuracy and can potentially be a scalable approach to autism screening. The introduction of digital phenotyping may help increase screening accuracy and reduce disparities in access to diagnosis and intervention.
Article
Psychiatry
Christina Isakoglou, Koen V. V. Haak, Thomas Wolfers, Dorothea L. L. Floris, Alberto Llera, Marianne Oldehinkel, Natalie J. J. Forde, Bethany F. M. Oakley, Julian Tillmann, Rosemary J. J. Holt, Carolin Moessnang, Eva Loth, Thomas Bourgeron, Simon Baron-Cohen, Tony Charman, Tobias Banaschewski, Declan G. M. Murphy, Jan K. K. Buitelaar, Andre F. F. Marquand, Christian F. F. Beckmann
Summary: Sensory atypicalities are common in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but the functioning of the somatosensory region and its association with the ASD phenotype is not well understood. In this study, we examined the functional connectivity of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) in autistic and neurotypical individuals. We found that the S1 connectopy is organized along a dorsoventral axis and is associated with adaptive functioning skills. Furthermore, the S1 connectopy showed differences between rest and emotion processing, indicating a task-modulating effect.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)