Children With Autism Produce a Unique Pattern of EEG Microstates During an Eyes Closed Resting-State Condition.

Alexandra P. Key,Allison P. Whitten,Sahana Nagabhushan Kalburgi,James W. Bodfish

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2020.00288

Abstract

Although fMRI studies have produced considerable evidence for differences in the spatial connectivity of resting-state brain networks in persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) relative to typically developing (TD) peers, little is known about the temporal dynamics of these brain networks in ASD. The aim of this study was to examine the EEG microstate architecture in children with ASD as compared to TD at rest in two separate conditions – eyes-closed (EC) and eyes-open (EO). EEG microstate analysis was performed on resting-state data of 13 ASD and 13 TD children matched on age, gender, and IQ. We found that children with ASD and TD peers produced topographically similar canonical microstates at rest. Group differences in the duration and frequency of these microstates were found primarily in the EC resting-state condition. In line with previous fMRI findings that have reported differences in spatial connectivity within the salience network (previously correlated with the activity of microstate C) in ASD, we found that the duration of activation of microstate C was increased, and the frequency of microstate C was decreased in ASD as compared to TD in EC resting-state. Functionally, these results may be reflective of alterations in interoceptive processes in ASD. These results suggest a unique pattern of EEG microstate architecture in ASD relative to TD during resting-states and also that EEG microstate parameters in ASD are susceptible to differences in resting-state conditions.

Highlights

Numerous studies of functional connectivity in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using fMRI have examined the network-level brain alterations in ASD at rest (“resting-state”) compared to typically developing (TD) individuals (Hull et al, 2017)
Considerable evidence exists in ASD regarding the structural characteristics of brain networks in general (Hull et al, 2017) and the salience network (SN) in particular (Uddin et al, 2013; Abbott et al, 2016; Chen H. et al, 2017), much less is known about the temporal dynamics of these networks
Based on established findings for SN activity in ASD using fMRI, we hypothesized that the temporal dynamics of microstate C would be altered in ASD in both eye conditions reflecting atypical activity

Summary

Introduction

Numerous studies of functional connectivity in ASD using fMRI have examined the network-level brain alterations in ASD at rest (“resting-state”) compared to typically developing (TD) individuals (Hull et al, 2017). Studies by Bernas et al, 2018 and Damiani et al, 2018 have confirmed the abnormal temporal structure of the resting-state SN in ASD (Bernas et al, 2018; Damiani et al, 2018). These studies have shed light on the temporal dynamics of brain network activity in ASD, they have been limited by the time resolution of the BOLD fMRI signal

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