Measures of tonic and phasic activity of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system in children with autism spectrum disorder: An event-related potential and pupillometry study.

ABSTRACT: A growing body of research suggests that locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system may function differently in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Understanding the dynamics of both tonic (resting pupil diameter) and phasic (pupil dilation response [PDR] and event-related potential [ERP]) indices may provide meaningful insights about the nature of LC-NE function in ASD. Twenty-four children with ASD and 27 age- and nonverbal-IQ matched typically developing (TD) children completed two experiments: (1) a resting eye-tracking task to measure tonic pupil diameter, and (2) a three-stimulus oddball paradigm to measure phasic responsivity using PDR and ERP. Consistent with prior reports, our results indicate that children with ASD exhibit increased tonic (resting pupil diameter)

SUBMITTER: Kim Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9722557 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature