Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has its origins in the atypical development of brain networks. Infants who are at high familial risk for, and later diagnosed with ASD, show atypical activity in multiple electroencephalography (EEG) oscillatory measures. However, infant-sibling studies are often constrained by small sample sizes. We used the International Infant EEG Data Integration Platform, a multi-site dataset with 432 participants, including 222 at high-risk for ASD, from whom repeated measurements of EEG were collected between the ages of 3–36 months. We applied a latent growth curve model to test whether familial risk status predicts developmental trajectories of spectral power across the first 3 years of life, and whether these trajectories predict ASD outcome. Change in spectral EEG power in all frequency bands occurred during the first 3 years of life. Familial risk, but not a later diagnosis of ASD, was associated with reduced power at 3 months, and a steeper developmental change between 3 and 36 months in nearly all absolute power bands. ASD outcome was not associated with absolute power intercept or slope. No associations were found between risk or outcome and relative power. This study applied an analytic approach not used in previous prospective biomarker studies of ASD, which was modeled to reflect the temporal relationship between genetic susceptibility, brain development, and ASD diagnosis. Trajectories of spectral power appear to be predicted by familial risk; however, spectral power does not predict diagnostic outcome above and beyond familial risk status. Discrepancies between current results and previous studies are discussed.

中文翻译：

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光谱脑电图功率与自闭症风险及早期发育诊断的关联

自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 起源于大脑网络的非典型发育。具有高家族性自闭症风险且后来被诊断患有 ASD 的婴儿在多次脑电图 (EEG) 振荡测量中表现出非典型活动。然而，婴儿-兄弟姐妹研究通常受到小样本量的限制。我们使用了国际婴儿脑电图数据集成平台，这是一个包含 432 名参与者的多站点数据集，其中包括 222 名 ASD 高风险参与者，从他们那里收集了 3-36 个月之间的脑电图重复测量值。我们应用了一个潜在的增长曲线模型来测试家族风险状态是否可以预测生命前 3 年的光谱功率发展轨迹，以及这些轨迹是否可以预测 ASD 结果。所有频段的脑电图谱功率变化都发生在生命的前 3 年。家族风险，但不是后来的 ASD 诊断，与 3 个月时的能力下降有关，并且几乎所有绝对能力范围内的 3 到 36 个月之间的发育变化都比较陡峭。ASD 结果与绝对功率截距或斜率无关。未发现风险或结果与相对功效之间存在关联。本研究采用了以前 ASD 前瞻性生物标志物研究中未使用的分析方法，该方法被建模以反映遗传易感性、大脑发育和 ASD 诊断之间的时间关系。谱功率的轨迹似乎是由家族风险预测的；然而，光谱功率并不能预测超出家族风险状态的诊断结果。