Autonomic tone in children and adults: Pupillary, electrodermal and cardiac activity at rest

Bufo, Maria Rosa; Guidotti, Marco; Faria, Cindie D.E.; Mofid, Yassine; Bonnet‐Brilhault, Frédérique; Wardak, Claire; Aguillon‐Hernandez, Nadia

doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.07.009

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 119 publications

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“…We have found PNy in the only child (six years of age) present in our series of patients suffering from VM. In children, the hippus frequency seems to be higher than it is in adults, suggesting the influence of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system on it that decreases with age and maturation [23]. For this reason, the presence of PNy in children must be considered with caution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“The Pupillary (Hippus) Nystagmus”: A Possible Clinical Hallmark to Support the Diagnosis of Vestibular Migraine

Gufoni¹,

Casani²

2023

JCM

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(1) Background: Hippus (which in this paper will be called “Pupillary nystagmus”) is a well-known phenomenon which has never been related to any specific pathology, so much so that it can be considered physiological even in the normal subject, and is characterized by cycles of dilation and narrowing of the pupil under constant lighting conditions. The aim of this study is to verify the presence of pupillary nystagmus in a series of patients suffering from vestibular migraine. (2) Methods: 30 patients with dizziness suffering from vestibular migraine (VM), diagnosed according to the international criteria, were evaluated for the presence of pupillary nystagmus and compared with the results obtained in a group of 50 patients complaining of dizziness that was not migraine-related. (3) Results: Among the 30 VM patients, only two cases were found to be negative for pupillary nystagmus. Among the 50 non-migraineurs dizzy patients, three had pupillary nystagmus, while the remaining 47 did not. This resulted in a test sensitivity of 0.93% and a specificity of 0.94%. (4) Conclusion: we propose the consideration of the presence of pupillary nystagmus as an objective sign (present in the inter-critical phase) to be associated with the international diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of vestibular migraine.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“The Pupillary (Hippus) Nystagmus”: A Possible Clinical Hallmark to Support the Diagnosis of Vestibular Migraine

Gufoni¹,

Casani²

2023

JCM

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“…To date, few studies have investigated the evolution of these systems from very young children to adults. One study, indexing arousal at rest thanks to several autonomic measures, suggests a higher tonic state, accompanied with sympathetic spontaneous manifestations, in children compared to adults (Bufo, Guidotti, De Faria, et al, 2022). This would corroborate a higher pupil dilation in response to faces in children compared to adults.…”

Section: Neurofunctional Model Of Trajectories Of Reactivity and Orie...mentioning

confidence: 89%

“…The LC-NE system ensures tonic arousal (quantifiable under resting conditions) but also phasic arousal in response to salient stimuli, and both modes appear to evolve throughout development (Liu et al, 2019;Song, Neal, & Lee, 2021). Some studies have examined the maturation of pupil diameter at rest, and have shown that children have a larger pupil diameter than adults (Bradley, Bentley, Mughal, Bodhireddy, & Brown, 2011;Tekin et al, 2018;Bufo, Guidotti, De Faria, et al, 2022). However, this maturation could be non-linear, with possibly an increase during childhood, peaking in adolescence or young adulthood (Silbert, Matta, Tian, Singman, & Silbert, 2013;Winston et al, 2020).…”

Section: Neurotypical Trajectory: From Social Arousal To Expert Gaze ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Invariant response to faces in ASD: unexpected trajectory of oculo-pupillometric biomarkers from childhood to adulthood

Ricou,

Mofid,

Roché

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Human faces contain a large amount of information, attracting our attention and inducing physiological engagement. Attraction to human faces can be observed from birth and develops with age and social experience. The oculometric (visual exploration) and pupillometric (physiological reactivity) parameters quantified by eye-tracking can be relevant measures to study attractiveness and engagement with human faces. Autistic people have particularities in terms of visual exploration and physiological reactivity to faces, with a reduction in the time spent on the eyes associated with a reduced pupil dilation. To date, no study has assessed the developmental dynamics of oculo-pupillometric parameters in response to faces. This study aimed to characterize these parameters throughout typical and autistic development. 109 autistic participants (3-34 years old) were compared to 150 neurotypical participants (3-32 years old). Visual stimuli were organized along a gradient of social saliency, going from static objects to static neutral faces, dynamic neutral faces and dynamic emotional faces. Ocular exploration and physiological reactivity in response to faces appear invariant throughout life in the autistic population. Their developmental dynamics differ from those of the neurotypical population, which shows first, an increasing attentional focus on the eye region with age, and second, a pupillary hypersensitivity to social salient stimuli at an early age which then decreases linearly. Our results highlight an apparent lack of maturation of face processing in the case of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at the population level, possibly hiding atypical and complex individual developmental trajectories. On the other hand, the neurotypical population exhibits a maturation of both oculometric and pupillometric parameters, pointing towards limited age windows in which specific parameters could be used as discriminating biomarkers of ASD.

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“…To conclude on the SCR results, a larger sample of children may be necessary (see also Section 4.3 ), possibly to account also for the individual variability of SCR responses, with individuals being non-responders and others being active responders. In a rest protocol, we recently showed that 6–12-year-old children showed even more variability in the number of spontaneous SCR events than adults [ 125 ]. Finally, we found no difference in the RR interval variation from baseline during tactile stimulation in ASD children, contrary to the TD group.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A larger population would also allow us to perform analyses to estimate possible age effects within the age range we tested, such as regression or cluster analyses. Indeed, some autonomic parameters we measured, such as heart rate, are known to be influenced by age (e.g., [ 125 ]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atypical Response to Affective Touch in Children with Autism: Multi-Parametric Exploration of the Autonomic System

Bufo

Guidotti

Mofid

et al. 2022

JCM

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This study aimed at evaluating the autonomic response to pleasant affective touch in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and age-matched typically developing (TD) peers, thanks to multiple autonomic nervous system (ANS) parameters and by contrasting CT (C-tactile fibers) high- vs. low-density territory stimulations. We measured pupil diameter, skin conductance, and heart rate during gentle stroking of two skin territories (CT high- and low-density, respectively, forearm and palm of the hand) in thirty 6–12-year-old TD children and twenty ASD children. TD children showed an increase in pupil diameter and skin conductance associated with a heart rate deceleration in response to tactile stimulations at the two locations. Only the pupil was influenced by the stimulated location, with a later dilation peak following CT low-density territory stimulation. Globally, ASD children exhibited reduced autonomic responses, as well as different ANS baseline values compared to TD children. These atypical ANS responses to pleasant touch in ASD children were not specific to CT-fiber stimulation. Overall, these results point towards both basal autonomic dysregulation and lower tactile autonomic evoked responses in ASD, possibly reflecting lower arousal and related to social disengagement.

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Autonomic tone in children and adults: Pupillary, electrodermal and cardiac activity at rest

Cited by 9 publications

References 119 publications

“The Pupillary (Hippus) Nystagmus”: A Possible Clinical Hallmark to Support the Diagnosis of Vestibular Migraine

“The Pupillary (Hippus) Nystagmus”: A Possible Clinical Hallmark to Support the Diagnosis of Vestibular Migraine

Invariant response to faces in ASD: unexpected trajectory of oculo-pupillometric biomarkers from childhood to adulthood

Atypical Response to Affective Touch in Children with Autism: Multi-Parametric Exploration of the Autonomic System

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