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Brain connectivity differs among children with autism, sensory processing disorders
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Children with sensory processing disorders have decreased structural brain connections in sensory regions different from those among children with autism, according to study findings published in PLoS One.
Pratik Mukherjee, MD, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues evaluated the structural connectivity of white matter tracts in 16 boys with sensory processing disorders and 15 boys with autism and compared them with 23 boys with typical development. Study participants were aged 8 to 12 years.
Pratik Mukherjee
Researchers used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which measures the microscopic movement of water molecules within the brain, to assess white matter tracts. The brain’s white matter forms “wiring” that links different areas of the brain and is essential for perceiving, thinking and action. DTI reveals the structural connections between brain regions by indicating the direction of white matter fibers and integrity of white matter.
Sensory processing disorders can be difficult to diagnose, as more than 90% of children with autism also have atypical sensory behaviors, according to a press release.
“With more than 1% of children in the United States diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and reports of 5% to 16% of children having sensory processing difficulties, it’s essential we define the neural underpinnings of these conditions and identify the areas they overlap and where they are very distinct,” Mukherjee said in a press release.
The analysis indicated both the sensory processing disorders and autism groups had decreased connectivity in multiple parieto-occipital tracts, areas responsible for basic sensory information located in the back of the brain. However, only children with autism showed impairment in the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi, inferior longitudinal fasciculi, fusiform-amygdala and the fusiform-hippocampus tracts, which are critical for social and emotional processing.
Children with sensory processing disorders had decreased connectivity in the basic perception and integration tracts of the brain that serve as connections for auditory, visual and somatosensory systems of sensory processing.
“If we can measure a child’s brain connectivity and observe how it plays out in a child’s functional ability, we can then use that measure as a metric for success in our interventions and see if connectivities are changing based on our clinical interventions. Larger studies to replicate this early work are clearly needed, but we are encouraged that DTI can be a powerful clinical and research tool for understanding the basis for sensory neurodevelopmental differences,” study researcher Elysa Marco, MD, said in the release.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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