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

描述（由申请人提供）：虽然社会沟通缺陷被认为是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的主要症状，但最近的证据表明，运动障碍也构成了ASD行为特征的重要组成部分。对婴儿期ASD行为标记物的识别的兴趣最近导致了对已知ASD和其他发育迟缓风险较高的婴儿（高风险婴儿；HR）的许多前瞻性、纵向研究。尽管越来越多的文献关注ASD的运动问题，但相对而言，HR婴儿运动技能的早期发展很少受到关注。此外，HR婴儿在3岁时的结果存在很大差异，运动能力的差异可能与其他领域（如社交、语言）发展结果的个体差异有关。本研究旨在检查HR的精细运动和物体操作技能，并比较12至36个月之间没有这种风险的婴儿（低风险婴儿；LR）。所采用的方法是创新的，因为它涉及到应用新开发的、技术先进的传感器技术，该技术设计用于非结构化环境，并结合纵向行为观察，以收集有关儿童在不同难度水平下执行三种运动任务时运动的组织和质量的详细信息。在标准化运动评估的补充下，这些数据将支持精细运动和物体操纵能力的分析，比以往任何时候都更加微妙和复杂。作为一项更大的研究的一部分，20名HR婴儿已经从5个月到36个月被跟踪，20名LR婴儿将在12个月、14个月、18个月、24个月和36个月的家中被观察，因为他们执行包括伸手、搬运和将物体放置在目标位置的运动任务。另外一组50名儿童，每个年龄10名，也将参加。运动数据将通过嵌入物体的轻型传感器腕带和传感器收集。分析将集中在整体风险组差异，运动和行为变量的变化作为任务难度和年龄的函数，以及不同年龄的组与难度的相互作用。这些将用于评估HR儿童的发展轨迹和可能的发展迟缓和运动技能障碍，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，并提供有关运动和行为特征的初步信息，这些特征可能与最终诊断ASD有关。

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.