We integrated data from a newborn hearing screening database and a preschool disability database to examine the relationship between newborn click evoked auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and developmental disabilities. This sample included children with developmental delay (n = 2992), speech impairment (SI, n = 905), language impairment (n = 566), autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 370), and comparison children (n = 128,181). We compared the phase of the ABR waveform, a measure of sound processing latency, across groups. Children with SI and children with ASD had greater newborn ABR phase values than both the comparison group and the developmental delay group. Newborns later diagnosed with SI or ASD have slower neurological responses to auditory stimuli, suggesting sensory differences at birth.
more »
« less
Prolonged Auditory Brainstem Response in Universal Hearing Screening of Newborns with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Previous studies report prolonged auditory brainstem response (ABR) in children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite its promise as a biomarker, it is unclear whether healthy newborns who later develop ASD also show ABR abnormalities. In the current study, we extracted ABR data on 139,154 newborns from their Universal Newborn Hearing Screening, including 321 newborns who were later diagnosed with ASD. We found that the ASD newborns had significant prolongations of their ABR phase and V‐negative latency compared with the non‐ASD newborns. Newborns in the ASD group also exhibited greater variance in their latencies compared to previous studies in older ASD samples, likely due in part to the low intensity of the ABR stimulus. These findings suggest that newborns display neurophysiological variation associated with ASD at birth. Future studies with higher‐intensity stimulus ABRs may allow more accurate predictions of ASD risk, which could augment the universal ABR test that currently screens millions of newborns worldwide.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1653737
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10202572
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Autism Research
- ISSN:
- 1939-3792
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Abstract Background Numerous cardiometabolic factors may underlie risk of hearing loss. Modifiable risk factors such as non-optimal blood pressure (BP) are of interest. Purpose To investigate early auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) in persons with nonoptimal BP. Research Design A cross-sectional nonexperimental study was performed. Study Sample Fifty-two adults (18–55 years) served as subjects. Individuals were classified as having optimal (systolic [S] BP < 120 and diastolic [D] BP < 80 mm Hg, n = 25) or non-optimal BP (SBP ≥=120 or DBP ≥=80 mm Hg or antihypertensive use, n = 27). Thirteen subjects had hypertension (HTN) (SBP ≥130 or DBP ≥80 mm Hg or use of antihypertensives). Data Collection and Analysis Behavioral thresholds from 0.25 to 16 kHz were collected. Threshold auditory brain stem responses (ABRs) were recorded using rarefaction clicks (17.7/second) from 80 dB nHL to wave V threshold. Electrocochleograms were obtained with 90 dB nHL 7.1/second alternating clicks and assessed for summating and compound action potentials (APs). Outcomes were compared via independent samples t tests. Linear mixed effects models for behavioral thresholds and ABR wave latencies were constructed to account for potential confounders. Results Wave I and III latencies were comparable between optimal and non-optimal BP groups. Wave I was prolonged in hypertensive versus optimal BP subjects at stimulus level 70 dB nHL (p = 0.016). ABR wave V latencies were prolonged in non-optimal BP at stimulus level 80 dB nHL (p = 0.048) and in HTN at levels of 80, 50, and 30 dB nHL (all p < 0.050). DBP was significantly correlated with wave V latency (r = 0.295; p = 0.039). No differences in ABR amplitudes were observed between optimal and non-optimal BP subjects. Electrocochleographic study showed statistically comparable action and summating potential amplitudes between optimal and non-optimal BP subjects. AP latencies were also similar between the groups. Analysis using a set baseline amplitude of 0 μV showed that hypertensive subjects had higher summating (p = 0.038) and AP (p = 0.047) amplitudes versus optimal BP subjects; AP latencies were comparable. Conclusion Elevated BP and more specifically, HTN was associated with subtle AEP abnormalities. This study provides preliminary evidence that nonoptimal BP, and more specifically HTN, may be related to auditory neural dysfunction; larger confirmatory studies are warranted.more » « less
-
more » « less
Abstract Neurodevelopmental disorders are on the rise worldwide, with diagnoses that detect derailment from typical milestones by 3 to 4.5 years of age. By then, the circuitry in the brain has already reached some level of maturation that inevitably takes neurodevelopment through a different course. There is a critical need then to develop analytical methods that detect problems much earlier and identify targets for treatment. We integrate data from multiple sources, including neonatal auditory brainstem responses (ABR), clinical criteria detecting autism years later in those neonates, and similar ABR information for young infants and children who also received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, to produce the earliest known digital screening biomarker to flag neurodevelopmental derailment in neonates. This work also defines concrete targets for treatment and offers a new statistical approach to aid in guiding a personalized course of maturation in line with the highly nonlinear, accelerated neurodevelopmental rates of change in early infancy.
-
more » « less
The common display of atypical behavioral responses to sounds by individuals with autism (ASD) suggests that they process sounds differently. Within ASD, individuals who are minimally or low verbal (ASD‐MLV) are suspected to have greater auditory processing impairments. However, it is unknown whether atypical auditory behaviors are related to receptive language and/or neural processing of sounds in ASD‐MLV. In Experiment 1, we compared the percentage of time 47 ASD‐MLV and 36 verbally fluent (ASD‐V) participants, aged 5–21, displayed atypical auditory or visual sensory behaviors during the administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). In Experiment 2, we tested whether atypical auditory behaviors were more frequent in ASD‐MLV participants with receptive language deficits. In Experiment 3, we tested whether atypical auditory behaviors correlated with neural indices of sensitivity to perceptual sound differences as measured by the amplitude of neural responses to nonspeech intensity deviants. We found that ASD‐MLV participants engaged in atypical auditory behaviors more often than ASD‐V participants; in contrast, the incidence of atypical visual behaviors did not differ between the groups. Lower receptive language skills in the ASD‐MLV group were predicted by greater incidence of atypical auditory behaviors. Exploratory analyses revealed a significant negative correlation between the amount of atypical auditory behaviors and the amplitude of neural response to deviants. Future work is needed to elucidate whether the relationship between atypical auditory behaviors and receptive language impairments in ASD‐MLV individuals results from disruptions in the brain mechanisms involved in auditory processing.
Lay Summary Minimally and low verbal children and adolescents with autism (ASD‐MLV) displayed more atypical auditory behaviors (e.g., ear covering and humming) than verbally fluent participants with ASD. In ASD‐MLV participants, time spent exhibiting such behaviors was associated with receptive vocabulary deficits and weaker neural responses to changes in sound loudness. Findings suggest that individuals with ASD with both severe expressive and receptive language impairments process sounds differently.
Autism Res 2020, 13: 1718–1729. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC -
Sengupta, Piali (Ed.)We present a high-throughput optogenetic illumination system capable of simultaneous closed-loop light delivery to specified targets in populations of moving Caenorhabditis elegans . The instrument addresses three technical challenges: It delivers targeted illumination to specified regions of the animal’s body such as its head or tail; it automatically delivers stimuli triggered upon the animal’s behavior; and it achieves high throughput by targeting many animals simultaneously. The instrument was used to optogenetically probe the animal’s behavioral response to competing mechanosensory stimuli in the the anterior and posterior gentle touch receptor neurons. Responses to more than 43,418 stimulus events from a range of anterior–posterior intensity combinations were measured. The animal’s probability of sprinting forward in response to a mechanosensory stimulus depended on both the anterior and posterior stimulation intensity, while the probability of reversing depended primarily on the anterior stimulation intensity. We also probed the animal’s response to mechanosensory stimulation during the onset of turning, a relatively rare behavioral event, by delivering stimuli automatically when the animal began to turn. Using this closed-loop approach, over 9,700 stimulus events were delivered during turning onset at a rate of 9.2 events per worm hour, a greater than 25-fold increase in throughput compared to previous investigations. These measurements validate with greater statistical power previous findings that turning acts to gate mechanosensory evoked reversals. Compared to previous approaches, the current system offers targeted optogenetic stimulation to specific body regions or behaviors with many fold increases in throughput to better constrain quantitative models of sensorimotor processing.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2422
