Wireless EEG System for Training Attention and Eye Movement in ASD

描述（由申请人提供）：自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种严重影响学习能力和社会环境功能的终身障碍。在典型的功能中，更高层次的社交、语言和沟通技能在生命的最初几年得到发展，并依赖于感觉-运动和注意力能力的关键组成部分。类似地，自闭症患者在出生后的头两年出现了更高层次的社会沟通问题，在此之前会出现细微但异常的视觉注意力和运动技能。改善社会互动和沟通的训练是ASD中最常见的行为干预措施。这些疗法可以改善作为训练目标的特定行为，但很少能推广到更广泛的功能或其他临床症状。我们建议，针对支持社交和语言技能的早期缺陷的干预措施将更广泛地有效。由于注意力中断是自闭症中最早和最持久的症状之一，并且由于注意力高度依赖于训练来改善，因此它是干预的重要目标。我们提出了一种新的干预方法来训练注意力定向和眼球运动的速度和准确性。训练的目的是针对自闭症患者的注意力行为，包括注意力定向，脱离和转移，以及有限的注意力领域。由于眼球运动和注意力紧密相连，ASD的眼球运动缺陷与空间注意力缺陷相似。眼球运动是注意力的标志，所提出的训练旨在同时提高眼球运动和注意力的速度、准确性和灵活性。训练将使用一系列娱乐视频游戏，通过安装在轻型家用头戴设备上的无线脑电图实时提供的视觉和听觉反馈，逐渐塑造行为。我们为训练前和训练后计划了三个级别的结果测量，以测试干预的有效性（注意力和眼球运动的直接测试；在模拟环境中对注意力和视觉监测以及反应速度和准确性的改善测试；在实际社会环境中对行为的测试）。在此应用程序的R21阶段，我们将：完成和测试硬件和软件；验证脑电图和眼动追踪方法；测试系统在家庭使用的可行性；设计，编程和测试视频游戏。在这个项目的R33阶段，我们将对一小部分9-15岁的ASD儿童进行具有控制条件（例如，没有训练元素的标准视频游戏）的临床试验。如果这项初步工作取得成功，长期目标将是开发一种易于获得的廉价的基于脑电图的家庭使用系统，适用于广泛年龄范围的ASD儿童和成人。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong disorder that severely affects the ability to learn and function in a social environment. In typica function, higher level social, language and communication skills develop over the first few years of life and depend upon the critical building blocks of sensory-motor and attention abilities. Similarly in autism, higher level problems with social communication develop over the first two post- natal years and are preceded by subtle but abnormal visual attention and motor skills. Trainings to improve social interaction and communication are the most common of behavioral interventions in ASD. These therapies may improve the specific behaviors that are targets of the training, but rarely do they generalize to broader function or other clinical symptoms. We propose that interventions aimed instead at the early deficits that support social and language skills would be more broadly effective. Because disruption of attention is one of the earliest and most persistent symptoms in autism, and because attention is highly subject to improvement with training, it is an important target for intervention. We propose a novel intervention to trai the speed and accuracy of attention orienting and eye movement. The training is designed to target attentional behaviors that have been shown to be impaired in autism, including attention orienting, disengagement and shifting, and a restricted attentional field. Because eye movement and attention are tightly linked, eye movement deficits in ASD parallel those found in spatial attention. Eye movements provide a marker for attention and the proposed training is designed to improve speed, accuracy and flexibility of eye movement and attention simultaneously. Training will use a series of entertaining video games to gradually shape behavior using visual and auditory feedback provided in real time from wireless EEG mounted in lightweight headgear designed for home use. We plan three levels of outcome measures for pre- and post-training to test the effectiveness of the intervention (direct tests of attention and eye movement; tests of improvement in attentional and visual monitoring and speed and accuracy of response in a simulated environment; tests of behavior in an actual social environment). During the R21 phase of this application we will: complete and test hardware and software; validate EEG and eye-tracking methods; test feasibility of the system for use at home; design, program and pilot test the video games. During the R33 phase of this project we will conduct clinical trials with control conditions (e.g., standard video games without training elements) with a small sample of ASD children aged 9-15. If this initial work is successful, the long term goal would be to develop a readily available inexpensive EEG-based system for home use that is suitable for a broad age range of ASD children and adults.