Dataset factors associated with age-related changes in brain structure and function in neurodevelopmental conditions.

With brain structure and function undergoing complex changes throughout childhood and adolescence, age is a critical consideration in neuroimaging studies, particularly for those of individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions. However, despite the increasing use of large, consortium-based datasets to examine brain structure and function in neurotypical and neurodivergent populations, it is unclear whether age-related changes are consistent between datasets and whether inconsistencies related to differences in sample characteristics, such as demographics and phenotypic features, exist. To address this, we built models of age-related changes of brain structure (regional cortical thickness and regional surface area; N = 1218) and function (resting-state functional connectivity strength; N = 1254) in two neurodiverse datasets: the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Network and the Healthy Brain Network.

Usability of an augmented reality bedtime routine application for autistic children.

Sleep problems are highly prevalent in autism and negatively impact the physical and mental health of children and their caregivers. Sleep education programs are often recommended as a first line-treatment to help parents implement healthy sleeping habits and a bedtime routine at home; however, the accompanying paper-based toolkits used in the bedtime routines have limitations related to engagement and adherence. To address these gaps, we iteratively developed and tested the usability of an augmented reality (AR) bedtime routine application.

Identifying novel data-driven subgroups in congenital heart disease using multi-modal measures of brain structure.

Individuals with congenital heart disease (CHD) have an increased risk of neurodevelopmental impairments. Given the hypothesized complexity linking genomics, atypical brain structure, cardiac diagnoses and their management, and neurodevelopmental outcomes, unsupervised methods may provide unique insight into neurodevelopmental variability in CHD. Using data from the Pediatric Cardiac Genomics Consortium Brain and Genes study, we identified data-driven subgroups of individuals with CHD from measures of brain structure.

Behaviour-correlated profiles of cerebellar-cerebral functional connectivity observed in independent neurodevelopmental disorder cohorts.

The cerebellum, through its connectivity with the cerebral cortex, plays an integral role in regulating cognitive and affective processes, and its dysregulation can result in neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD)-related behavioural deficits. Identifying cerebellar-cerebral functional connectivity (FC) profiles in children with NDDs can provide insight into common connectivity profiles and their correlation to NDD-related behaviours. 479 participants from the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders (POND) network (typically developing = 93, Autism Spectrum Disorder = 172, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder = 161, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder = 53, mean age = 12.

Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life in Neurodivergent Children: A Systematic Review.

Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is a multi-faceted construct influenced by a myriad of environmental, demographic, and individual characteristics. Our understanding of these influencers remains highly limited in neurodevelopmental conditions. Existing research in this area is sparse, highly siloed by diagnosis labels, and focused on symptoms.

Behavioural reactions to an emotion evoking task in infants at increased likelihood for autism spectrum disorder.

Infants at increased likelihood for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit more negative affect and avoidance behaviour than typically developing infants, and children with ASD express fear differently than typically developing peers. We examined behavioural reactions to emotion-evoking stimuli in infants at increased familial likelihood for ASD. Participants included 55 increased likelihood (IL) infants (i.

Examining the effect of a wearable, anxiety detection technology on improving the awareness of anxiety signs in autism spectrum disorder: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Anxiety is prevalent in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and can negatively impact physical and mental health. Self-awareness of anxiety signs is a key barrier to success of anxiety interventions for many children.

Methods: To address this, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess whether the Anxiety Meter, a wearable, real-time anxiety detection technology, can improve awareness of anxiety symptoms and the initiation of relaxation techniques in children with ASD.

Characterizing Changes in Screen Time During the COVID-19 Pandemic School Closures in Canada and Its Perceived Impact on Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in screen time for children and families. Traditionally, screen time has been associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes, and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at increased risk of these outcomes. The primary objectives of this study were to (1) characterize the change in screen time during COVID-19 school closures for children with ASD, and (2) examine the parent perceived impact of screen time on mental health and quality of life of children and their families.

Cross-Diagnosis Structural Correlates of Autistic-Like Social Communication Differences.

Social communication differences are seen in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but the brain mechanisms contributing to these differences remain largely unknown. To address this gap, we used a data-driven and diagnosis-agnostic approach to discover brain correlates of social communication differences in ASD, ADHD, and OCD, and subgroups of individuals who share similar patterns of brain-behavior associations. A machine learning pipeline (regression clustering) was used to discover the pattern of association between structural brain measures (volume, surface area, and cortical thickness) and social communication abilities.

Physiological measurement of emotion from infancy to preschool: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Emotion regulation, the ability to regulate emotional responses to environmental stimuli, develops in the first years of life and plays an important role in the development of personality, social competence, and behavior. Substantial literature suggests a relationship between emotion regulation and cardiac physiology; specifically, heart rate changes in response to positive or negative emotion-eliciting stimuli.

Method: This systematic review and meta-analysis provide an in-depth examination of research that has measured physiological responding during emotional-evoking tasks in children from birth to 4 years of age.

Data-Driven Discovery of Predictors of Virtual Reality Safety and Sense of Presence for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study.

Virtual reality (VR) offers children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) an inexpensive and motivating medium to learn and practice skills in a personalized, controlled, and safe setting; however, outcomes of VR interventions can vary widely. In particular, there is a need to understand the predictors of VR experience in children with ASD to inform the design of these interventions. To address this gap, a sample of children with ASD (n=35, mean age: 13.

Short report: Evaluating the safety and usability of head-mounted virtual reality compared to monitor-displayed video for children with autism spectrum disorder.

This study investigated the safety and usability of a virtual reality experience for children with autism spectrum disorder in a laboratory setting. In our study, the negative effects of head-mounted display-virtual reality were similar to monitor-displayed video watching. At the same time, the participants indicated that the head-mounted display-virtual reality experience provided improved realism and sense of presence.

Examining overlap and homogeneity in ASD, ADHD, and OCD: a data-driven, diagnosis-agnostic approach.

The validity of diagnostic labels of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an open question given the mounting evidence that these categories may not correspond to conditions with distinct etiologies, biologies, or phenotypes. The objective of this study was to determine the agreement between existing diagnostic labels and groups discovered based on a data-driven, diagnosis-agnostic approach integrating cortical neuroanatomy and core-domain phenotype features. A machine learning pipeline, called bagged-multiview clustering, was designed to discover homogeneous subgroups by integrating cortical thickness data and measures of core-domain phenotypic features of ASD, ADHD, and OCD.

Toward Automatic Anxiety Detection in Autism: A Real-Time Algorithm for Detecting Physiological Arousal in the Presence of Motion.

Objective: Anxiety is a significant clinical concern in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) due to its negative impact on physical and psychological health. Treatment of anxiety in ASD remains a challenge due to difficulties with self-awareness and communication of anxiety symptoms. To reduce these barriers to treatment, physiological markers of autonomic arousal, collected through wearable sensors, have been proposed as real-time, objective, and language-free measures of anxiety.

Structural neuroimaging correlates of social deficits are similar in autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: analysis from the POND Network.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have been associated with difficulties recognizing and responding to social cues. Neuroimaging studies have begun to map the social brain; however, the specific neural substrates contributing to social deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders remain unclear. Three hundred and twelve children underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging of the brain (controls = 32, OCD = 44, ADHD = 77, ASD = 159; mean age = 11).

Biomusic: An Auditory Interface for Detecting Physiological Indicators of Anxiety in Children.

For children with profound disabilities affecting communication, it can be extremely challenging to identify salient emotions such as anxiety. If left unmanaged, anxiety can lead to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and other psychological diagnoses. Physiological signals of the autonomic nervous system are indicative of anxiety, but can be difficult to interpret for non-specialist caregivers.

Clustering of time-evolving scaling dynamics in a complex signal.

Complex time series are widespread in physics and physiology. Multifractal analysis provides a tool to study the scaling dynamics of such time series. However, the temporal evolution of scaling dynamics has been ignored by traditional tools such as the multifractal spectrum.

Atypical sympathetic arousal in children with autism spectrum disorder and its association with anxiety symptomatology.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been associated with autonomic atypicalities, although the nature of these differences remains largely unknown. Moreover, existing literature suggests large variability in autonomic function in ASD, motivating the need to examine the existence of subgroups that exhibit more homogeneous autonomic features.

Methods: Electrodermal activity (EDA), a non-invasive physiological indicator of autonomic activity, was measured in typically developing children (n = 33) and those with ASD (n = 38) as participants performed tasks that elicit anxiety, attention, response inhibition, and social cognition processes.

Specificity of autonomic arousal to anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Anxiety is one of the most concerning comorbidities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) due to its high prevalence, negative impact on physical and psychological well-being, and interaction with core deficits of ASD. Current assessment and treatment of anxiety, which rely on the observation of behavior and self-reports, are often ineffective as ASD is associated with deficits in communication and diminished introspective ability. In this light, autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity has been suggested as a marker of physiological arousal associated with anxiety.

Examining and comparing social perception abilities across childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorders.

Objective: Several neurodevelopmental disorders are associated with social processing deficits. The objective of this study was to compare patterns of social perception abilities across obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and control participants.

Method: A total of 265 children completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test-Child Version (RMET).

A Kalman filtering framework for physiological detection of anxiety-related arousal in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Objective: Anxiety is associated with physiological changes that can be noninvasively measured using inexpensive and wearable sensors. These changes provide an objective and language-free measure of arousal associated with anxiety, which can complement treatment programs for clinical populations who have difficulty with introspection, communication, and emotion recognition. This motivates the development of automatic methods for detection of anxiety-related arousal using physiology signals.