Altered Cerebellar White Matter in Sensory Processing Dysfunction Is Associated With Impaired Multisensory Integration and Attention.

Anisha Narayan,Shivani S Desai,Molly Gerdes,Pratik Mukherjee,Ioanna Bourla,Elysa J Marco,Annie Brandes-Aitken,Eva M Palacios,Mikaela A Rowe,Jamie Wren-Jarvis

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.618436

Anisha Narayan, Shivani S Desai + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.618436

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Abstract

Sensory processing dysfunction (SPD) is characterized by a behaviorally observed difference in the response to sensory information from the environment. While the cerebellum is involved in normal sensory processing, it has not yet been examined in SPD. Diffusion tensor imaging scans of children with SPD (n = 42) and typically developing controls (TDC; n = 39) were compared for fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD) across the following cerebellar tracts: the middle cerebellar peduncles (MCP), superior cerebellar peduncles (SCP), and cerebral peduncles (CP). Compared to TDC, children with SPD show reduced microstructural integrity of the SCP and MCP, characterized by reduced FA and increased MD and RD, which correlates with abnormal auditory behavior, multisensory integration, and attention, but not tactile behavior or direct measures of auditory discrimination. In contradistinction, decreased CP microstructural integrity in SPD correlates with abnormal tactile and auditory behavior and direct measures of auditory discrimination, but not multisensory integration or attention. Hence, altered cerebellar white matter organization is associated with complex sensory behavior and attention in SPD, which prompts further consideration of diagnostic measures and treatments to better serve affected individuals.

Highlights

Sensory processing dysfunction (SPD), referred to as sensory integration disorder and sensory processing disorder, is a behaviorally described neurodevelopmental difference estimated to affect up to 16% of children in the general population, and 40–80% of children with other comorbid neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Ahn et al, 2004; Koziol et al, 2011)
We hypothesize that the cerebral peduncles (CP), superior cerebellar peduncles (SCP), and middle cerebellar peduncles (MCP) will all show decreased microstructural integrity, characterized by an increase of radial diffusivity (RD) and, to a lesser extent, of mean diffusivity (MD), as well as a decrease of fractional anisotropy (FA), which we have previously demonstrated for cerebral white matter (WM) tracts in SPD compared to typically developing children (Owen et al, 2013; Chang et al, 2016)
Statistical analyses showed no significant differences between the SPD and typically developing controls (TDC) cohorts with regard to gender, age, or general cognitive performance

Summary

Introduction

Sensory processing dysfunction (SPD), referred to as sensory integration disorder and sensory processing disorder, is a behaviorally described neurodevelopmental difference estimated to affect up to 16% of children in the general population, and 40–80% of children with other comorbid neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Ahn et al, 2004; Koziol et al, 2011). In addition to behavioral features, SPD and ASD differ with regard to certain neuroanatomical markers, including differences in white matter (WM) microstructural integrity of neural tracts that subserve socio-emotional processing (Chang et al, 2014) The findings from these previous studies provide evidence that atypical sensory reactivity is not a feature of the broader autism construct.

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