title: An Integrated Approach for the Monitoring of Brain and Autonomic Response of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders during Treatment by Wearable Technologies.
abstract: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are associated with physiological abnormalities, which are likely to contribute to the core symptoms of the condition. Wearable technologies can provide data in a semi-naturalistic setting, overcoming the limitations given by the constrained situations in which physiological signals are usually acquired. In this study an integrated system based on wearable technologies for the acquisition and analysis of neurophysiological and autonomic parameters during treatment is proposed and an application on five children with ASD is presented. Signals were acquired during a therapeutic session based on an imitation protocol in ASD children. Data were analyzed with the aim of extracting quantitative EEG (QEEG) features from EEG signals as well as heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) from ECG. The system allowed evidencing changes in neurophysiological and autonomic response from the state of disengagement to the state of engagement of the children, evidencing a cognitive involvement in the children in the tasks proposed. The high grade of acceptability of the monitoring platform is promising for further development and implementation of the tool. In particular if the results of this feasibility study would be confirmed in a larger sample of subjects, the system proposed could be adopted in more naturalistic paradigms that allow real world stimuli to be incorporated into EEG/psychophysiological studies for the monitoring of the effect of the treatment and for the implementation of more individualized therapeutic programs.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council of ItalyPisa, Italy; Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of PisaPisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Billeci
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council of Italy Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tonacci
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems "Eduardo Caianiello", National Research Council of Italy Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Gennaro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tartarisco
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCSS Stella Maris Foundation Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Narzisi
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Di Palma
authors.affiliation: HelpyLife Technology Oristano, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Corda
authors.affiliation: HelpyLife Technology Oristano, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baldus
authors.affiliation: I+ srl Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cruciani
authors.affiliation: Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics, University Pierre and Marie Curie Paris, France.
authors.forename: Salvatore M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Anzalone
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCSS Stella Maris Foundation Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calderoni
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems "Eduardo Caianiello", National Research Council of Italy Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pioggia
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of PisaPisa, Italy; Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCSS Stella Maris FoundationPisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Muratori
keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD); electrocardiogram (ECG); imitation; monitoring; naturalistic; personalization; quantitative EEG (QEEG); wearable sensors