Journal
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
Volume 9, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00355
Keywords
acoustic hyper-reactivity; acoustic startle reflex; autism spectrum disorders; endophenotypes; locomotor activity; prepulse inhibition; sensorimotor gating
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Funding
- Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [23890257, 24591739]
- Intramural Research Grant for Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders of NCNP [23-1, 26-1]
- Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan [H19-KOKORO-006, H20-KOKORO-004]
- Center of Innovation Program from Japan Science and Technology Agency, JST
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [26242069, 15K12678, 15K01285]
- PRESTO from the Japan Science and Technology Agency
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Investigation of objective and quantitative behavioral phenotypes along with neurobiological endophenotypes might lead to increased knowledge of the mechanisms that underlie autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Here, we investigated the association between locomotor dynamics and characteristics of the acoustic startle response (ASR) and its modulation in ASD (n = 14) and typically developing (TD, n = 13) children. The ASR was recorded in response to acoustic stimuli in increments of 10 dB (65-105 dB SPL). We calculated the average ASR magnitude for each stimulus intensity and peak-ASR latency. Locomotor activity was continuously measured with a watch-type actigraph. We examined statistics of locomotor activity, such as mean activity levels and the skewness of activity. Children with ASD had a significantly greater ASR magnitude in response to a weak acoustic stimulus, which reflects acoustic hyper-reactivity. The skewness of all-day activity was significantly more negative in children with ASD than those with TD. Skewness of daytime activity was also more negative, although only of borderline statistical significance. For all children, the higher mean and more negatively skewed daytime activity, reflecting hyperactivity that was associated with sporadic large daytime troughs, was significantly correlated with acoustic hyper-reactivity. The more negatively skewed locomotor activity occurring in the daytime was also associated with impaired sensorimotor gating, examined as prepulse inhibition at a prepulse intensity of 70 dB. This comprehensive investigation of locomotor dynamics and the ASR extends our understanding of the neurophysiology that underlies ASD.
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