The core features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are easily recognizable in non-structured clinical and real-life situations. The features are often difficult to capture in structured laboratory settings, and the results from tests do not necessarily reflect symptom severity. We investigated neurophysiological processing in the passive parts of a cued Go-NoGo task, using the active parts of the test as a comparator. Forty-nine adolescents diagnosed with ASD and 49 typically developing (TD) adolescents (age 12–21 years) were included. Daily life executive function was assessed with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). We applied a visual cued Go-NoGo task and recorded event-related potentials (ERPs). We investigated occipital N1, a component related to early perception of visual stimuli, and P3a, a fronto-central component related to switching of attention, in the passive and active parts of the test. During the passive parts, the ASD group had statistically significantly longer N1 latency (p < 0.001, Cohens d = 0.75) and enhanced amplitude of P3a (p = 0.002, Cohens d = 0.64) compared to the TD, while no significant differences were observed in the active parts. Both components correlated significantly with the Behavioral Regulation Index of the BRIEF (partial correlation r = 0.35, p = 0.003). Delayed N1 response, indicating altered visual perception, and enhanced P3a response, indicating increased neural activation related to attention allocation, were found during the passive parts of a Go-NoGo task in ASD participants. These abnormal ERP signals in the non-structured settings were associated with everyday executive function, suggesting that neurophysiolocal measures related to atypical control of alertness and “hyper-awareness” underlie daily life dysfunction in ASD. Assessments during passive settings have a potential to reveal core neurobiological substrates of ASD.

中文翻译：

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在自闭症谱系障碍的Go-NoGo任务的被动部分中发现的非典型事件相关电位：病例对照研究

在非结构化的临床和现实生活中，自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的核心特征很容易识别。这些特征通常很难在结构化的实验室环境中捕获，并且测试结果不一定反映症状的严重性。我们调查了提示的Go-NoGo任务的被动部分中的神经生理处理，使用测试的主动部分作为比较器。其中包括49名被诊断患有ASD的青少年和49名典型的发育中（TD）青少年（年龄在12至21岁之间）。日常生活执行功能通过执行功能行为评级清单（BRIEF）进行评估。我们应用了视觉提示的Go-NoGo任务，并记录了与事件相关的电位（ERP）。我们调查了枕骨N1（与视觉刺激的早期感知有关的成分）和P3a，在测试的被动和主动部分中，与注意力转移相关的前中央部分。与TD相比，在被动部位，ASD组的N1潜伏期在统计学上显着更长（p <0.001，Cohens d = 0.75），P3a振幅增强（p = 0.002，Cohens d = 0.64），而未观察到明显差异。在活动部分。这两个组成部分均与“摘要”的行为调节指数显着相关（部分相关r = 0.35，p = 0.003）。在ASD参与者的Go-NoGo任务的被动部分期间，发现了延迟的N1反应（指示视觉感知改变）和增强的P3a反应（指示与注意力分配相关的神经激活增加）。非结构化设置中的这些异常ERP信号与日常执行功能有关，提示与非典型性控制警觉和“超意识”有关的神经生理学措施是ASD日常生活功能障碍的原因。在被动环境中进行评估有可能揭示ASD的核心神经生物学底物。