Nonrapid eye movement sleep and risk for autism spectrum disorder in early development: A topographical electroencephalogram pilot study

Abstract

Objective Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder that emerges in the beginning years of life (12–48 months). Yet, an early diagnosis of ASD is challenging as it relies on the consistent presence of behavioral symptomatology, and thus, many children are diagnosed later in development, which prevents early interventions that could benefit cognitive and social outcomes. As a result, there is growing interest in detecting early brain markers of ASD, such as in the electroencephalogram (EEG) to elucidate divergence in early development. Here, we examine the EEG of nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in the transition from infancy to toddlerhood, a period of rapid development and pronounced changes in early brain function. NREM features exhibit clear developmental trajectories, are related to social and cognitive development, and may be altered in neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet, spectral features of NREM sleep are poorly understood in infants/toddlers with or at high risk for ASD. Methods The present pilot study is the first to examine NREM sleep in 13‐ to 30‐month‐olds with ASD in comparison with age‐matched healthy controls (TD). EEG was recorded during a daytime nap with high‐density array EEG. Results We found topographically distinct decreased fast theta oscillations (5–7.25 Hz), decreased fast sigma (15–16 Hz), and increased beta oscillations (20–25 Hz) in ASD compared to TD. Conclusion These findings suggest a possible functional role of NREM sleep during this important developmental period and provide support for NREM sleep to be a potential early marker for ASD.

How do children with autism spectrum disorder form gist memory during sleep? A study of slow oscillation–spindle coupling

“…Age and gender (here we examined only boys) may be further factors accounting for the variability in the sleep findings among studies. For example, in a recent study, 13- to 30-months old children with ASD showed reduced theta and fast spindle-band power compared to TD children during a nap [ 75 ]. Moreover, ASD is marked by brain overgrowth in early childhood which later abnormally slows down [ 76 ].…”

Sleep problems in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders are associated with sensory sensitivities and thalamocortical overconnectivity

“…This is supported by a number of EEG studies showing atypical sleep architecture in young children with ASD (e.g. Arazi et al, 2019;Farmer et al, 2018;Lehoux et al, 2019;Page et al, 2020). Particularly, atypical slow wave activity (Arazi et al 2019;Lehoux et al 2019) and reduced sleep spindle generation (Farmer et al 2018) as observed with EEG in young children with ASD has been associated with altered thalamocortical FC during deep sleep (Baran et al 2019).…”

Subjective and Electroencephalographic Sleep Parameters in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

“…Page et al used a 124-or 128-channel high density EEG net to examine EEG band power during a nap with an average duration of 78 min in children 13-30 months old with ASD. They detected differences in the NREM spectral features between TD and ASD, with a significant decrease of fast theta power in the temporo-central cluster and a significant increase in beta power in the right temporo-occipital cluster (p < 0.05) [42].…”

“…Ten studies focused on different electrophysiological features of the microstructure of sleep [27,28,31,33,35,42,43].…”

“…"Band power" is the power of the signal measured in µV2/Hz, of the main five EEG frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma); absolute band power reflects EEG activity in one frequency band independently of the other bands, while relative band power reflects the EEG activity and the relationship with other bands [33,36,42]. Sahroni et al performed a medication-induced short sleep EEG test and found that in the ASD group there was a greater absolute band power of alpha (p < 0.03) and theta (p = 0.0379) and a greater relative band power of delta (p = 0.0379); alpha bands have the major power, especially in the frontal region.…”