Interhemispheric asymmetry in EEG photic driving coherence in childhood autism

OBJECTIVE Examination of the EEG photic driving coherence during intermittent photic stimulation in autistic patients with relatively intact verbal and intellectual functions in order to enhance the likely latent interhemispheric asymmetry in neural connectivity. METHODS Fourteen autistic boys, aged 6-14years, free of drug treatment, with I.Q. 91.4+/-22.8, and 19 normally developing boys were subject to stimulation of 12 fixed frequencies of 3-27Hz. The number of high coherent connections (HCC) (coherence >0.6-0.8) was estimated among 7 leads in each hemisphere. RESULTS In contrast to the spectral characteristics showing the right hemisphere deficit in the photic driving reactivity, the number of HCC differentiated the groups only in the left hemisphere where it was higher in autistics at the EEG frequencies corresponding to those of stimulation at 6-27Hz without asymmetry at other frequencies, the left-side prevalence increasing with frequency. No asymmetry was observed in the resting state. CONCLUSIONS Spectral and coherence characteristics of the EEG photic driving show different aspects of latent abnormal interhemispheric asymmetry in autistics: the right hemisphere "hyporeactivity" and potential "hyperconectivity" of likely compensatory nature in the left hemisphere. SIGNIFICANCE The EEG photic driving can reveal functional topographic alterations not present in the spontaneous EEG.

[1]  A. Beydoun,et al.  Responses to photic stimulation in patients with occipital spikes. , 1998, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[2]  Mitsuru Kikuchi,et al.  EEG harmonic responses to photic stimulation in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease: differences in interhemispheric coherence , 2002, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[3]  Ernst Fernando Lopes Da Silva Niedermeyer,et al.  Electroencephalography, basic principles, clinical applications, and related fields , 1982 .

[4]  J. Bendat,et al.  Random Data: Analysis and Measurement Procedures , 1987 .

[5]  V. Lazarev,et al.  The relationship of theory and methodology in EEG studies of mental activity. , 2006, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[6]  A F C Infantosi,et al.  Topographic aspects of photic driving in the electroencephalogram of children and adolescents. , 2004, Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologicas.

[7]  S. Potkin,et al.  EEG Resonant Responses in Schizophrenia: a Photic Driving Study with Improved Harmonic Resolution , 2000, Schizophrenia Research.

[8]  Danilova Nn.  [Reactions of cerebral electrical activity in response to flickering light coinciding with the diapason of alpha-rhythm frequency]. , 1961 .

[9]  G. Dawson,et al.  Resting State Cortical Connectivity Reflected in EEG Coherence in Individuals With Autism , 2007, Biological Psychiatry.

[10]  G. Gronseth,et al.  The utility of the electroencephalogram in the evaluation of patients presenting with headache , 1995, Neurology.

[11]  L. Wing.  The autistic spectrum , 1997, The Lancet.

[12]  H. Saunders.  Literature Review : RANDOM DATA: ANALYSIS AND MEASUREMENT PROCEDURES J. S. Bendat and A.G. Piersol Wiley-Interscience, New York, N. Y. (1971) , 1974 .

[13]  Rebecca C. Knickmeyer,et al.  Sex Differences in the Brain: Implications for Explaining Autism , 2005, Science.

[14]  W Scheuler.  [Clinical significance of increased reaction to photostimulation in the alpha frequency range]. , 1983, EEG-EMG Zeitschrift fur Elektroenzephalographie, Elektromyographie und verwandte Gebiete.

[15]  C. Woolger,et al.  Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (wisc-iii) , 2001 .

[16]  Y. Wada,et al.  Interhemispheric EEG coherence during photic stimulation: sex differences in normal young adults. , 1996, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[17]  J. Beaumont,et al.  A critical review of EEG coherence studies of hemisphere function. , 1984, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[18]  Bashina Vm,et al.  [The clinical, neurophysiological and differential diagnostic aspects in a study of severe forms of early childhood autism]. , 1994 .

[19]  H. Demaree,et al.  QEEG assisted neuropsychological evaluation of autism. , 1998, The International journal of neuroscience.

[20]  Richard S. Frackowiak,et al.  Superior temporal sulcus anatomical abnormalities in childhood autism: a voxel-based morphometry MRI study , 2004, NeuroImage.

[21]  P. Näätänen,et al.  Neurophysiological evidence for cortical discrimination impairment of prosody in Asperger syndrome , 2005, Neuroscience Letters.

[22]  G. Dawson,et al.  The screening and diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders. , 2004, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[23]  David M. Simpson,et al.  A statistical technique for measuring synchronism between cortical regions in the EEG during rhythmic stimulation , 2001, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[24]  M. Cheung,et al.  Quantitative electroencephalographic profiles for children with autistic spectrum disorder. , 2007, Neuropsychology.

[25]  V. Lazarev,et al.  Photic driving in the electroencephalogram of children and adolescents: harmonic structure and relation to the resting state. , 2001, Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologicas.

[26]  A. Mundy-castle.  An analysis of central responses to photic stimulation in normal adults. , 1953, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[27]  N. Danilova.  [Reactions of cerebral electrical activity in response to flickering light coinciding with the diapason of alpha-rhythm frequency]. , 1961, Zhurnal vysshei nervnoi deiatelnosti imeni I P Pavlova.

[28]  W. Klimesch,et al.  EEG alpha oscillations: The inhibition–timing hypothesis , 2007, Brain Research Reviews.

[29]  Tatiana A. Stroganova,et al.  Excess of High Frequency Electroencephalogram Oscillations in Boys with Autism , 2007, Biological Psychiatry.

[30]  Michael Siegal,et al.  Theory of Mind and Pragmatic Understanding Following Right Hemisphere Damage , 1996, Brain and Language.

[31]  N L Gorbachevskaia,et al.  [The clinical, neurophysiological and differential diagnostic aspects in a study of severe forms of early childhood autism]. , 1994, Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova.

[32]  D. G. Watts,et al.  Spectral analysis and its applications , 1968 .

[33]  R. Barry,et al.  EEG power and coherence in autistic spectrum disorder , 2008, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[34]  G. Dawson,et al.  Cerebral lateralization in individuals diagnosed as autistic in early childhood , 1982, Brain and Language.

[35]  Mitsuru Kikuchi,et al.  Aberrant Functional Organization in Schizophrenia: Analysis of EEG Coherence during Rest and Photic Stimulation in Drug-Naive Patients , 1998, Neuropsychobiology.

[36]  W. J. Williams,et al.  Measuring the coherence of intracranial electroencephalograms , 1999, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[37]  V. Lazarev,et al.  EEG photic driving: right-hemisphere reactivity deficit in childhood autism. A pilot study. , 2009, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[38]  R. Thatcher,et al.  Computerized EEG analyses of autistic children , 1986, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[39]  David I. Perrett,et al.  Structural white matter deficits in high-functioning individuals with autistic spectrum disorder: a voxel-based investigation , 2005, NeuroImage.

[40]  Raymond,et al.  Right-Hemisphere Dysfunction in Asperger's Syndrome , 1995, Journal of child neurology.

[41]  Ludo Verhoeven,et al.  Different brain activation patterns in dyslexic children: evidence from EEG power and coherence patterns for the double-deficit theory of dyslexia. , 2007, Journal of integrative neuroscience.

[42]  廣田 卓也.  Spatial structure of brain electric fields during intermittent photic stimulation , 2001 .

[43]  Sally Ozonoff,et al.  An Exploration of Right-Hemisphere Contributions to the Pragmatic Impairments of Autism , 1996, Brain and Language.

[44]  Tatiana A. Stroganova,et al.  Abnormal EEG lateralization in boys with autism , 2007, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[45]  M. N. Livanov.  Spatial organization of cerebral processes , 1977 .

[46]  E. John,et al.  The neurophysiology of information processing and cognition. , 1978, Annual review of psychology.

[47]  Toshikazu Hasegawa,et al.  Deviant gaze processing in children with autism: an ERP study , 2005, Neuropsychologia.

[48]  M. Sabbagh.  Communicative Intentions and Language: Evidence from Right-Hemisphere Damage and Autism , 1999, Brain and Language.