Searching for a “Brain Signature” of Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Event-Related Potentials and the Quest for Biomarkers of Cognition

Abstract

This review summarizes main applications of eventrelated potentials (ERPs) to the study of cognitive processes in persons with neurodevelopmental disorders, for whom traditional behavioral assessments may not be suitable. A brief introduction to the ERPs is followed by a review of empirical studies using passive ERP paradigms to address three main questions: characterizing individual differences, predicting risk for poor developmental outcomes, and documenting treatment effects in persons with neurodevelopmental disorders. Evidence across studies reveals feasibility of ERP methodology in a wide range of clinical populations and notes consistently stronger brain-behavior associations involving ERP measures of higherorder cognition compared with sensory-perceptual processes. The final section describes the current limitations of ERP methodology that need to be addressed before it could be used as a clinical tool and highlights the needed steps toward translating ERPs from group-level research applications to individually interpretable clinical use.

Bridges Through the Cloud: Towards Clinical Biomarkers of Cognitive Neurophysiology

“…2 Neurophysiology has emerged as a frontrunner for biomarker development in neurodevelopment and cognition, stemming in large part from its position as a midpoint along numerous translational pathways. Our methodsdEEG, 3,4 event-related brain potential, 5 TMS, 6 MRI, 7 etc.dindex aspects of neural circuit structure and function that bridge genotype to phenotype and mind to brain. 8 Signal processing (which draws from a range of fields including physics, engineering, and computer science) can help us maximize the potential of these methods, taking advantage of the extensive information contained in such methods that may be missed by the human eye during traditional clinical interpretations.…”

“…Dr. Key informs us in this issue about such uses of ERP (along with other, novel uses of EEG), which offer opportunities to index basic aspects of sensory processing and more complex aspects of language and cognition and thus may have utility for a variety of biomarker types, although clinical uptake has been stalled by the need for more standardized measurements that are relevant at the individual (rather than group) level. 4,5 The motivation for the use of biomarkers in cognitive neurology, neurodevelopmental disabilities, and psychiatry is also highly practical: the hope is that the biomarker can report on clinically meaningful outcomes in a way that is earlier, less invasive, or less expensive than current assessments. Because of workforce limitations in these fields, 9 novel biomarkers could theoretically augment human diagnostic expertise, if shown through rigorous validation to do so, or even have greater interrater reliability than expert humans.…”

“…Dr. Key informs us in this issue about such uses of ERP (along with other, novel uses of EEG), which offer opportunities to index basic aspects of sensory processing and more complex aspects of language and cognition and thus may have utility for a variety of biomarker types, although clinical uptake has been stalled by the need for more standardized measurements that are relevant at the individual (rather than group) level. 4,5…”