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Elucidating the neurophysiological underpinnings of autism spectrum disorder: new developments

  • Psychiatry and Preclinical Psychiatric Studies - Review article
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An Erratum to this article was published on 07 July 2015

Abstract

The study of neurophysiological approaches together with rare and common risk factors for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) allows elucidating the specific underlying neurobiology of ASD. Whereas most neurophysiologically based research in ASD to date has focussed on case–control differences based on the DSM- or ICD-based categorical ASD diagnosis, more recent studies have aimed at studying genetically and/or neurophysiologically defined homogeneous ASD subgroups for specific neuronal biomarkers. This review addresses the neurophysiological investigation of ASD by evoked and event-related potentials, by EEG/MEG connectivity measures such as coherence, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. As an example of classical neurophysiological studies in ASD, we report event-related potential studies which have illustrated which brain areas and processing stages are affected in the visual perception of socially relevant stimuli. However, a paradigm shift has taken place in recent years focussing on how these findings can be tracked down to basic neuronal functions such as deficits in cortico-cortical connectivity and the interaction between brain areas. Disconnectivity, for example, can again be related to genetically induced shifts in the excitation/inhibition balance. Genetic causes of ASD may be grouped by their effects on the brain’s system level to identify ASD subgroups which respond differentially to therapeutic interventions.

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Notes

  1. This table only summarises a selection of studies regarding μ-suppression in ASD and is not an exhaustive account of all studies and results published to date. Note that reported sample sizes always refer to the number of participants that were actually included in data analysis.

  2. The face specificity of the N170 (face specificity indicating the existence of a specialised module for face processing) is a subject that has been discussed extensively in the face processing literature. While some argue that the effects that were originally termed face-specific are mainly due to poorly controlled stimulus parameters (namely differences in “interstimulus perceptual variance” between faces and other objects (Thierry et al. 2007)), others have refuted this argument. To our understanding the N170 can at least be called face sensitive (Rossion and Jacques 2008; Bentin et al. 2007; Ganis et al. 2012; Schendan and Ganis 2013). Here, the N170 is defined as a sensitive marker for faces processing compared to other visual control stimuli. For a detailed discussion of this subject see e.g. Everett (2013).

  3. This table only summarises a selection of studies regarding face processing in ASD and is not an exhaustive account of all studies and results published to date. Note that reported sample sizes always refer to the number of participants that were actually included in data analysis.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Susanne Raisig for proofreading our manuscript. This work was supported by grant FR2069/2-1 of the German Research Foundation DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) to C.M.F., and the LOEWE programme, Neuronal Coordination Research Focus Frankfurt (NeFF), project B1, to S.B. and C.M.F.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, JW Goethe University Frankfurt, Deutschordenstraße 50, 60528, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    C. Luckhardt, T. A. Jarczok & S. Bender

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  1. C. Luckhardt
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  2. T. A. Jarczok
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  3. S. Bender
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Correspondence to C. Luckhardt.

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C. Luckhardt and T. A. Jarczok have contributed equally to the manuscript.

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Luckhardt, C., Jarczok, T.A. & Bender, S. Elucidating the neurophysiological underpinnings of autism spectrum disorder: new developments. J Neural Transm 121, 1129–1144 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1265-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1265-4

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