Abstract
BackgroundChildren with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are almost universally delayed in the acquisition of spoken language as primary means of communication so they tend to have restricted outcomes in terms of independence and integration. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a promising, emerging tool for the study (study and modulate excitability and plasticity, applied in single pulses to investigate corticospinal excitability, pairs of pulses to study intracortical inhibition and facilitation) and potential treatment of ASD. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of repetitive TMS in language progress in children with ASD.ResultsThere was a statistically significant clinical improvement in patients receiving active TMS (group I) comparing baseline Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) assessment and after treatment (P ≤ 0.05). There was mild improvement with no significant difference between the patients receiving active TMS (group I) and those of sham TMS (group II), and both groups received language therapy as regard post-treatment CARS. There was significant difference in improvement between the two groups according to eye contact (P ≤ 0.05). There was significant improvement in response to examiner (P ≤ 0.05). There was mild improvement with no statistically significant difference in attention between the two groups. There was significant difference in improvement between the two groups according to active expressive language. There was no statistically significant difference in passive vocabulary between the two groups.ConclusionRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over left inferior frontal gyrus may be a safe and effective way of improving language of ASD. The joint application of rTMS and standard language therapy may lead to more rapid improvement in the language progress of children with ASD.
Highlights
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are almost universally delayed in the acquisition of spoken language as primary means of communication so they tend to have restricted outcomes in terms of independence and integration
Patients were randomly classified with computergenerated random numbers and sealed opaque envelops into two equal groups (15 patients): group I was subjected to Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and language therapy, and group II was subjected to sham Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and language therapy
There is no significant difference between the two groups as regards baseline psychometric assessment before starting TMS sessions by Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) scale
Summary
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are almost universally delayed in the acquisition of spoken language as primary means of communication so they tend to have restricted outcomes in terms of independence and integration. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of repetitive TMS in language progress in children with ASD. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition. ASD evaluation is focused on findings and behavioral evaluations using psychiatric disorder Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) or International Disease Classification (ICD) guidelines. The brain networks responsible for high-level abilities that are compromised as part of core ASD features are complicated, needing several brain regions to be incorporated effectively. ASD pathophysiology is definitely a failure of long-range neuronal circuit functioning and integration [3].
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