Cited by 389Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchGenetics and Neurodevelopmental DisordersNeural dynamics and brain function

Disrupted neural synchronization in toddlers with autism

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Dinstein, Ilan, Pierce, Karen, Eyler, Lisa, Solso, Stephanie, Malach, Rafael, Behrmann, Marlene, Courchesne, Eric·2011·Neuron

Abstract

Autism is often described as a disorder of neural synchronization. However, it is unknown how early in development synchronization abnormalities emerge and whether they are related to the development of early autistic behavioral symptoms. Here, we show that disrupted synchronization is evident in the spontaneous cortical activity of naturally sleeping toddlers with autism, but not in toddlers with language delay or typical development. Toddlers with autism exhibited significantly weaker interhemispheric synchronization (i.e., weak "functional connectivity" across the two hemispheres) in putative language areas. The strength of synchronization was positively correlated with verbal ability and negatively correlated with autism severity, and it enabled identification of the majority of autistic toddlers (72%) with high accuracy (84%). Disrupted cortical synchronization, therefore, appears to be a notable characteristic of autism neurophysiology that is evident at very early stages of autism development.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.04.018

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  • Altered connectivity in developing language circuits is an early and potentially causal feature of ASD, which could not be inferred from studies of older children or adults.

    “This study is particularly important, as it shows altered connectivity in developing language circuits to be an early (and thus potentially causal) feature of the disorder, which could not be inferred from studies of older children or adults.”

    From Genetics of autism spectrum disorders (2011) · cites this paper as [54]

  • Many subsequent studies provide strong support for the connectivity model, including a recent study showing weak interhemispheric functional connectivity in young toddlers with ASD.

    “Since the general connectivity model was proposed, many subsequent studies provide strong supporting data, including a recent study showing weak interhemispheric functional connectivity in young toddlers with ASD [54].”

    From Genetics of autism spectrum disorders (2011) · cites this paper as [54]

  • The degree of reduced interhemispheric connectivity in toddlers with ASDs correlates with verbal ability and severity of ASD symptoms.

    “the degree of reduced interhemispheric connectivity correlated with verbal ability and severity of ASD symptoms”
  • Toddlers with ASDs exhibit significantly reduced interhemispheric connectivity between language areas relative to normally developing children and toddlers with language delay.

    “Toddlers with ASDs exhibited significantly reduced connectivity between language areas of the two hemispheres relative to normally developing children and toddlers with language delay.”

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Authors
Dinstein, I., Pierce, K., Eyler, L., Solso, S., Malach, R., Behrmann, M., & Courchesne, E.
Affiliations
  • University of California San Diego (US)
  • Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
  • Carnegie Mellon University (US)
Corresponding author
Dinstein, Ilan
Venue
Neuron
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2011-06
Volume
70
Issue
6
Pages
1218-1225
ISSN
0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1979877610
Cited by
384
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 46 · 2012: 25
FWCI
16.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuron (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • KiltHub Repository (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • KiltHub Repository
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH080457, R01MH036840, R01MH080134, P50MH081755)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, neuronal synchronization, toddlers, spontaneous cortical activity, sleep, interhemispheric synchronization, functional connectivity, language areas, language delay, verbal ability, autism severity, autism diagnosis, early development
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Age Factors, Autistic Disorder, Cerebral Cortex, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Cortical Synchronization, Humans, Infant, Language Development Disorders, Functional Laterality, Neurons, Reference Values, Sleep, Case-Control Studies, Polysomnography

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