Atypical Laterality of Resting Gamma Oscillations in Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 292 - 297
• Main Authors: Maxwell, Christina R., Villalobos, Michele E., Schultz, Robert T., Herpertz-Dahlmann, Beate, Konrad, Kerstin, Kohls, Gregor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01-02-2015; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Behavior Rating Scales; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological markers; Brain; Brain - physiology; Brain Hemisphere Functions; Care and treatment; Case-Control Studies; Check Lists; Child and School Psychology; Child Behavior; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - physiopathology; Communication (Thought Transfer); Correlation; Data Analysis; Diagnosis; Electroencephalography; Examiners; Functional Laterality - physiology; Gamma Rhythm - physiology; Handedness; Humans; Individual Differences; Information Processing; Intelligence Quotient; Interviews; Male; Males; Measures (Individuals); Mental Disorders; Modeling (Psychology); Neurological Organization; Neurology; Neuropsychology; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Parents; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Psychiatry; Psychology; Psychopathology; Psychotherapy; Public Health; Resistance (Psychology); Rest; Severity (of Disability); Germany; Autism; Gamma; Resting state; Laterality; SRS; EEG
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-013-1842-7

Abnormal brain oscillatory activity has been found in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and proposed as a potential biomarker. While several studies have investigated gamma oscillations in ASD, none have examined resting gamma power across multiple brain regions. This study investigated resting gamma power using EEG in 15 boys with ASD and 18 age and intelligence quotient matched typically developing controls. We found a decrease in resting gamma power at right lateral electrodes in ASD. We further explored associations between gamma and ASD severity as measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and found a negative correlation between SRS and gamma power. We believe that our findings give further support of gamma oscillations as a potential biomarker for ASD.