Sleep Problems in Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder Are Associated With Sensory Sensitivities and Thalamocortical Overconnectivity

Linke, Annika C.; Chen, Bosi; Olson, Lindsay; Ibarra, Cynthia; Fong, Christopher; Reynolds, Sarah; Apostol, Michael; Kinnear, Mikaela; Müller, Ralph‐Axel; Fishman, Inna

doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.07.008

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 115 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Related to that, a recently suggested role of mediodorsal thalamus as an amplifier of attentional control processing in the cortex might be suppressed in ASD (Ouhaz et al, 2018;Schmitt et al, 2017), effectively rendering the thalamus merely as "another bit of cortex", failing to inhibit cortical inputs. Despite the small sample size, we observed a correlation between sleep problems and PLS-derived brain scores, as well as between the latter and unusual sensory interests (Figure 3c,d), in line with a previous fMRI study that discovered the association between sleep problems on the one hand and sensory sensitivities and thalamocortical connectivity in preschool children on the other (Linke et al, 2023).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Atypical co‐development of the thalamus and cortex in autism: Evidence from age‐related white–gray contrast change

Bezgin,

Lewis,

Fonov

et al. 2024

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent studies have shown that white–gray contrast (WGC) of either cortical or subcortical gray matter provides for accurate predictions of age in typically developing (TD) children, and that, at least for the cortex, it changes differently with age in subjects with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to their TD peers. Our previous study showed different patterns of contrast change between ASD and TD in sensorimotor and association cortices. While that study was confined to the cortex, we hypothesized that subcortical structures, particularly the thalamus, were involved in the observed cortical dichotomy between lower and higher processing. The current paper investigates that hypothesis using the WGC measures from the thalamus in addition to those from the cortex. We compared age‐related WGC changes in the thalamus to those in the cortex. To capture the simultaneity of this change across the two structures, we devised a metric capturing the co‐development of the thalamus and cortex (CoDevTC), proportional to the magnitude of cortical and thalamic age‐related WGC change. We calculated this metric for each of the subjects in a large homogeneous sample taken from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) (N = 434). We used structural MRI data from the largest high‐quality cross‐sectional sample (NYU) as well as two other large high‐quality sites, GU and OHSU, all three using Siemens 3T scanners. We observed that the co‐development features in ASD and TD exhibit contrasting patterns; specifically, some higher‐order thalamic nuclei, such as the lateral dorsal nucleus, exhibited reduction in codevelopment with most of the cortex in ASD compared to TD. Moreover, this difference in the CoDevTC pattern correlates with a number of behavioral measures across multiple cognitive and physiological domains. The results support previous notions of altered connectivity in autism, but add more specific evidence about the heterogeneity in thalamocortical development that elucidates the mechanisms underlying the clinical features of ASD.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Atypical co‐development of the thalamus and cortex in autism: Evidence from age‐related white–gray contrast change

Bezgin,

Lewis,

Fonov

et al. 2024

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To our knowledge, no other study has directly compared the developmental trajectory of thalamocortical connectivity in ASD and TD. Considering recent findings of altered thalamocortical connectivity in preschoolers with ASD compared to TD (Linke et al, 2021), and in infant siblings of individuals with ASD compared to low familial-risk infants (Nair et al, 2021), it is possible that developmental differences arise much earlier than our study was able to capture or that due to interindividual variability larger or longitudinal samples are needed to capture these effects. Another potential limitation of the present study is that it was restricted to individuals without intellectual disability who could cooperate with scanning procedures and this may limit generalizability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Several previous studies demonstrate abnormal thalamocortical connectivity in ASD (Ayub et al, 2021; Cerliani et al, 2015; Green et al, 2017; Linke et al, 2018; Linke et al, 2021; Mizuno et al, 2006; Nair et al, 2013; Nair et al, 2015; Woodward et al, 2017), but the direction and anatomical locations of group differences vary across studies. The primary culprits accounting for inconsistent findings in ASD neuroimaging research are small sample sizes, different sample characteristics (e.g., age), and head motion during scanning, which can lead to spurious findings (Van Dijk et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Increased resting‐state thalamocortical functional connectivity in children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is converging evidence that abnormal thalamocortical interactions contribute to attention deficits and sensory sensitivities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, previous functional MRI studies of thalamocortical connectivity in ASD have produced inconsistent findings in terms of both the direction (hyper vs. hypoconnectivity) and location of group differences. This may reflect, in part, the confounding effects of head motion during scans. In the present study, we investigated resting-state thalamocortical functional connectivity in 8-25 yearolds with ASD and their typically developing (TD) peers. We used pre-scan training, on-line motion correction, and rigorous data quality assurance protocols to minimize motion confounds. ASD participants showed increased thalamic connectivity with temporal cortex relative to TD. Both groups showed similar agerelated decreases in thalamic connectivity with occipital cortex, consistent with a process of circuit refinement. Findings of thalamocortical hyperconnectivity in ASD are consistent with other evidence that decreased thalamic inhibition leads to increase and less filtered sensory information reaching the cortex where it disrupts attention and contributes to sensory sensitivity. This literature motivates studies of mechanisms, functional consequences, and treatment of thalamocortical circuit dysfunction in ASD. Lay SummaryThe thalamus is a deep brain structure that receives information from the senses and amplifies or inhibits its relay to the cortex via thalamocortical circuits. Using functional brain imaging, we found increased communication between the thalamus and specific cortical regions in children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with their typically developing peers. We hypothesize that increased thalamocortical communication in ASD reflects reduced thalamic inhibition of irrelevant sensory information from being relayed to the cortex, and contributes to attention deficits and sensory sensitivities.

show abstract

“…Another possibility is that atypical thalamocortical connectivity underlies both sensory and sleep problems in ASD. A recent paper found that increased sleep latency was associated with increased thalamocortical connectivity, as well as elevated BOLD activity in the cortex in children with ASD 52 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Neuronal gating of tactile input and sleep in 10-month-old infants at typical and elevated likelihood for autism spectrum disorder

Laet

Piccardi

Ali

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sleep problems in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) emerge early in development, yet the origin remains unclear. Here, we characterise developmental trajectories in sleep onset latency (SOL) and night awakenings in infants at elevated likelihood (EL) for ASD (who have an older sibling with ASD) and infants at typical likelihood (TL) for ASD. Further, we test whether the ability to gate tactile input, using an EEG tactile suppression index (TSI), associates with variation in SOL and night awakenings. Parent-reported night awakenings and SOL from 124 infants (97 at EL for ASD) at 5, 10 and 14 months were analyzed using generalized estimating equations. Compared to TL infants, infants at EL had significantly more awakenings and longer SOL at 10 and 14 months. The TSI predicted SOL concurrently at 10 months, independent of ASD likelihood status, but not longitudinally at 14 months. The TSI did not predict night awakenings concurrently or longitudinally. These results imply that infants at EL for ASD wake up more frequently during the night and take longer to fall asleep from 10 months of age. At 10 months, sensory gating predicts SOL, but not night awakenings, suggesting sensory gating differentially affects neural mechanisms of sleep initiation and maintenance.

show abstract

Sleep Problems in Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder Are Associated With Sensory Sensitivities and Thalamocortical Overconnectivity

Cited by 18 publications

References 115 publications

Atypical co‐development of the thalamus and cortex in autism: Evidence from age‐related white–gray contrast change

Atypical co‐development of the thalamus and cortex in autism: Evidence from age‐related white–gray contrast change

Increased resting‐state thalamocortical functional connectivity in children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder

Neuronal gating of tactile input and sleep in 10-month-old infants at typical and elevated likelihood for autism spectrum disorder

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About