Sensory Project in Infant/Toddler Siblings of Children with Autism (Project SPIS)

摘要 自闭症患者在发展语言方面遇到了挑战，这影响了他们的长期社交， 学术上和职业上的成功。先前的研究已经确定了儿童语言的几个预测因素 自闭症，但即使考虑到这些预测因素，语言中的大量差异 仍未得到解释。重要的是，许多自闭症儿童仍然不能发展“有用的语言”或语言 能力，尽管接受了针对这些先前确定的预测因素的干预。因此，有一个 迫切需要确定自闭症儿童语言的新预测因素。 有人提出，感觉反应能力的差异可能会在生命早期从改变 大脑状态并影响儿童与周围环境中其他人互动的能力，从而产生 自闭症儿童语言习得的“连锁效应”。如果是这样的话，干预 早期的感觉反应可能会通过影响大脑状态和 提高对这一人群的参与度。尽管直觉上很吸引人，但考虑到我们对 早期感觉发育的优先顺序和可能的“基础”性质相对于 “更高水平”的语言技能，到目前为止，级联效应理论的证据相当有限。 建立上述联系的主要挑战是自闭症并不总是可靠的 在生命的早期阶段(即婴儿期和蹒跚学步)被诊断出来。一个潜在的解决方案是前瞻性地 跟踪已知的婴儿和学步儿童在未来诊断为自闭症和语言障碍的高概率 无序。自闭症儿童婴幼儿兄弟姐妹的感觉项目(SPIS项目) 之前由NIDCD资助的R21(R21DC016144；PI：Woynaroski)在级联效应的综合测试中 自闭症儿童的婴幼儿兄弟姐妹的框架(SIBS-AUT)，其中约三分之一 将继续被诊断为自闭症或语言障碍，婴儿在相对较低的普通人口中- 这些情况的可能性水平(通常发育中儿童的年幼兄弟姐妹；兄弟姐妹-TD)。 新颖性和影响：这一创新和跨学科的项目预计将进一步阐明 潜在的可驯化的，但相对较少研究的因素(早期感觉)之间的纵向联系的性质 自闭症的一般人群水平升高和降低时，婴儿的反应能力)和语言水平。如果 我们的假设已经出来了，研究结果将为临床试验奠定基础，该试验将检查 More介导的感觉功能靶向治疗对语言远端影响的疗效 对婴儿静息状态和参与度的近似性影响自闭症的可能性很高。这项工作是 期望有助于更早地识别语言障碍，并指向早期的新目标 “预防性”干预，从而改善被诊断患有或 患自闭症和语言障碍的风险增加。

Abstract Individuals with autism experience challenges in developing language that impact their long-term social, academic, and vocational success. Previous research has identified several predictors of language in children with autism, but even when these predictors are considered, a large amount of the variance in language remains unexplained. Importantly, many children with autism still do not develop “useful speech” or language ability, despite receiving interventions that target these previously-identified predictors. Thus, there is a pressing need to identify novel predictors of language in children with autism. It has been proposed that differences in sensory responsiveness may emerge early in life from altered brain states and impact a child's ability to engage with others in their environment, thereby producing “cascading effects” on language acquisition in children affected by autism. If this is the case, intervening upon early sensory responsiveness may translate to improved language outcomes, by influencing brain states and boosting engagement in this population. Although intuitively appealing, given our understanding of the precedence and possible “foundational” nature of early sensory development relative to the emergence of “higher-level” language skill, evidence for the cascading effects theory to date has been rather limited. A primary challenge to establishing the aforementioned links is that autism cannot always be reliably diagnosed in the earliest stages of life (i.e., in infancy and toddlerhood). A potential solution is to prospectively follow infants and toddlers known to be at high likelihood for a future diagnosis of autism and language disorder. The Sensory Project in Infant/Toddler Siblings of Children with Autism (Project SPIS) scales up a prior NIDCD-funded R21 (R21DC016144; PI: Woynaroski) in a comprehensive test of the cascading effects framework in infant and toddler siblings of children with autism (Sibs-AUT), approximately one-third of whom will go on to be diagnosed with autism or language disorder, and infants at relatively lower, general population- level likelihood of these conditions (younger siblings of typically developing children; Sibs-TD). NOVELTY AND IMPACT: This innovative and interdisciplinary project is expected to further elucidate the nature of longitudinal links between a potentially tractable, but relatively understudied factor (early sensory responsiveness) and language in infants at elevated and lower, general population-level likelihood of autism. If our hypotheses are born out, findings of the study will lay the foundation for a clinical trial that will examine the efficacy of a targeted treatment of sensory function for distal effects on language as mediated by more proximal effects on resting brain states and engagement in infants at high likelihood for autism. This work is expected to facilitate earlier identification of language impairments and point towards novel targets of early “preventative” interventions, thereby improving the long-term outcomes of children who are diagnosed with, or at heightened risk for, autism and language disorder.