title: Somatosensory Event-Related Potentials and Association with Tactile Behavioral Responsiveness Patterns in Children with ASD.
abstract: The goal of this study was to explore neural response to touch in children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Patterns of reduced (hypo-responsiveness) and enhanced (hyper-responsiveness) behavioral reaction to sensory input are prevalent in ASD, but their neural mechanisms are poorly understood. We measured event-related potentials (ERP) to a puff of air on the fingertip and collected parent report of tactile hypo- and hyper-responsiveness in children with ASD (n = 21, mean (SD) age 11.25 (3.09), 2 female), and an age-matched typically developing comparison group (n = 28, mean (SD) age 10.1 (3.08, 2 female). A global measure of ERP response strength approximately 220-270 ms post-stimulus was associated with tactile hypo-responsiveness in ASD, while tactile hyper-responsiveness was associated with earlier neural response (approximately 120-220 ms post-stimulus) in both groups. These neural responses also related to autism severity. These results suggest that, in ASD, tactile hypo- and hyper-responsiveness may reflect different waypoints in the neural processing stream of sensory input. The timing of the relationship for hyper-responsiveness is consistent with somatosensory association cortical response, while that for hypo-responsiveness is more consistent with later processes that may involve allocation of attention or emotional valence to the stimulus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 1601 23rd Ave. South, Suite 3057, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA. carissa.cascio@vanderbilt.edu.|Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Nashville, TN, USA. carissa.cascio@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Carissa J
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9560-9203
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Cascio
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Schauder
authors.affiliation: Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.|Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandra P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Key
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Education, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.|Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yoder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*