title: Association between pupillary light reflex and sensory behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: Atypical pupillary light reflexes (PLR) has been observed in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which suggests potential autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction in ASD. ANS is also involved in modulating sensory processing and sensory dysfunction has been widely reported in children with ASD. However, the potential association between physiological measurements of PLR and behavioral observations (e.g. sensory behaviors) has not been examined extensively in literature. In this study, we investigated the potential correlation between PLR and frequently observed sensory behaviors in children with ASD. We found a significant association between PLR constriction amplitude and a set of sensory behaviors in the ASD group but not in typically developing children. Children with ASD who showed more atypical sensory behaviors also had smaller PLR constriction amplitudes. A smaller PLR constriction amplitude suggests lower parasympathetic modulation. This observation implies that some atypical sensory behaviors in children with ASD could be associated with decreased parasympathetic modulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA. Electronic address: cldaluwatte@mail.missouri.edu.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Daluwatte
authors.affiliation: Thompson Center for Autism & Neurodevelopment Disorders, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Miles
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012021:Reflex, Abnormal; D012025:Reflex, Pupillary; D012677:Sensation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Autism; Autonomic nervous system; Pupillary light reflex; Sensory