Sensor-based technology in the study of motor skills in infants at risk for ASD

描述(由申请人提供)：虽然社交沟通障碍被认为是自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的主要原因，但最近的证据表明，运动障碍也是ASD行为特征的一个重要组成部分。人们对婴儿ASD行为标记物的识别兴趣最近导致了一些前瞻性的纵向研究，这些研究针对已知的ASD和其他发育迟缓(高危婴儿；HR)的高风险婴儿。尽管有关ASD运动问题的文献越来越多，但对HR婴儿运动技能早期发展的关注相对较少。此外，HR婴儿在3岁时的结果有很大的差异，运动能力的差异可能与其他领域(如社交、语言)的发展结果的个体差异有关。这项研究旨在检查HR的精细运动和物体操作技能，并比较12到36个月大的没有这种风险的婴儿(低风险婴儿；LR)。所采取的方法是创新的，因为它涉及到新开发的、技术先进的传感器技术的应用，该技术专为在非结构化环境中使用而设计，并结合纵向行为观察来收集关于儿童在不同难度下执行三项运动任务时的组织和动作质量的详细信息。这些数据辅以标准化的运动评估，将支持对精细运动和物体操纵能力的分析，其方式比迄今可能的更加微妙和复杂。作为一项更大的研究的一部分，20名HR婴儿已经被跟踪5到36个月，20名LR婴儿将在12、14、18、24和36个月时在家中被观察，他们执行涉及伸手、运输和将物体放置在目标位置的运动任务。另外一个由50名儿童组成的横断面小组也将参加，每名儿童在上面列出的年龄段各10名。运动学数据将通过嵌入在物体中的轻型传感腕带和传感器收集。分析将集中于总体风险组的差异，运动学和行为变量作为任务难度和年龄的函数的变化，以及不同年龄组的难度交互作用。这些研究将用于评估HR儿童的发展轨迹和可能的发育延迟和运动技能损害，检查HR儿童在其他发展领域表现出的运动技能和延迟之间的关系，并提供可能与ASD最终诊断相关的运动学和行为特征的初步信息。 公共卫生相关性：最近自闭症谱系障碍的诊断迅速增加，这使得我们必须更多地了解患有自闭症高危儿童的早期发育。由于运动障碍在患有自闭症的年龄较大的儿童中很常见，而且有自闭症风险的婴儿通常表现出早期的运动延迟，因此研究将重点放在高危婴儿运动技能的早期发展，并将这些信息与以后的发育结果联系起来。为了做到这一点，将采用一种新的运动测量技术，并对风险儿童和对照低风险儿童进行详细的行为观察，因为他们在12到36个月大的时候进行了一系列自然运动任务。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although deficits in social communication are considered primary in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), recent evidence suggests that motor impairments also constitute a prominent component of the ASD behavioral profile. Interest in the identification of behavioral markers of ASD in infancy has recently led to a number of prospective, longitudinal studies of infants known to be at elevated risk for ASD and other developmental delays (High-Risk infants; HR). Despite the growing literature on motor concerns in ASD, relatively little attention has been devoted to the early development of motor skills in HR infants. In addition, there is wide variability in the outcomes of HR infants at age 3, and it is possible that variation in motor ability may be related to individual differences in developmental outcomes in other domains (e.g. social communication, language). This research is designed to examine fine motor and object manipulation skills in HR and comparison infants with no such risk (Low Risk infants; LR) between the ages of 12 and 36 months. The approach taken is innovative because it involves the application of newly-developed, technologically sophisticated sensor technology designed for use in unstructured settings in combination with longitudinal behavioral observation to collect finely detailed information about the organization and quality of children's movements as they perform three motor tasks at varying levels of difficulty. Supplemented by standardized motor assessments, these data will support the analysis of fine motor and object manipulation abilities in a much more subtle and sophisticated fashion than has heretofore been possible. Twenty HR infants already being followed from 5 to 36 months as part of a larger study and 20 LR infants will be observed at home at ages 12, 14, 18, 24, and 36 months as they perform motor tasks that involve reaching for, transporting, and placing an object at a target location. An additional cross-sectional group of 50 children, 10 at each age listed above, will also participate. Kinematic data will be collected via lightweight sensorized wristbands and sensors embedded in the objects. Analyses will focus on overall risk group differences, on change in the kinematic and behavioral variables as a function of task difficulty and age, and on group by difficulty interactions at varying ages. These will be used to evaluate developmental trajectories and possible developmental delays and impairments in the motor skill of HR children, to examine the relation between motor skills and delays exhibited by HR children in other developmental domains, and to provide preliminary information about kinematic and behavioral signatures that may be related to an eventual diagnosis of ASD. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The recent rapid increase in diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders makes it imperative that we learn more about the early development of children at high risk for ASD. Because motor impairments are common in older children with ASD, and because infants at risk for ASD often exhibit early motor delays, the research will focus on the early development of motor skills in at-risk infants and relate this information to later developmental outcomes. To do this, a novel movement measurement technology will be employed together with detailed behavioral observations of at-risk and comparison low-risk children as they engage in a series of naturalistic motor tasks between the ages of 12 and 36 months.