Autism has fortunately become more and more easily diagnosable in the modern day through neurological and biological research alongside social and behavioral cues. But, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a slight wrench in progress being made as so many of these behavioral cues that one may display when at risk for an Autism diagnosis are becoming normalized through the generation of children who have lived through/were born into the pandemic times.
Two pieces of work dive into not only the neurological components of Autism but also how society is handling the newfound stressors of the pandemic. The first, journal article “Cortical Source Analysis of the Face Sensitive N290 ERP Component in Infants at High Risk for Autism” published in the Brain Sciences Journal explores the neural mechanisms behind face processing in infants that are at high-risk for autism. To do this, the researchers examined the N290 event-related potential, which is known to be overly sensitive to face processing and has been found to be altered or modulated in individuals that have been diagnosed with autism. 58 infants aged 6-10 months at high risk of Autism (by having an older sibling already diagnosed). After undergoing EEG recordings while looking at images of faces and non-facial stimuli, results demonstrated that infants who were later diagnosed with Autism had reduced N290 amplitude in response to faces compared to those who were high-risk but did not develop Autistic symptoms and low-risk control participants.
From here, the cortical analysis of the EEGs helped researchers identify the brain regions involved in facial processing in these infants who were at high risk. These regions demonstrated that reduced N290 amplitude in these high-risk infants was associated with decreased activation in the right fusiform gyrus (the fusiform face area). This study as a whole highlighted the potential successes in using EEG and cortical analysis to identify early neural biomarkers of autism in high-risk infants.
This work, giving the ability to enhance early detection and intervention is crucial for making sure diagnoses are given and in improving the outcomes of those with Autism. Taking this one step further, the CNN article titled “Autism diagnosis has become more common, but the pandemic has disrupted early detection, CDC says” from CNNhealth takes this point and really drives it home.
According to this article, in 2023 the CDC has found that the prevalence of Autism in the U.S. has increased to 1 in 44 children from 1in 54 children in 2016. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has hindered these diagnoses and has led to delays in routine screening as well as caused certain antisocial behaviors to become normalized through quarantine and isolation periods. This is now raising concerns in the diagnostic community about taking steps backward, leading to a surge in undiagnosed cases and delayed interventions.
This CNN article presents yet another pressing issue that has arisen from the COVID-19 pandemic and how its impacts may follow society into losing the progress we have made in Autism intervention, causing long-term consequences for individuals with Autism and their families. But, the work Maggie Guy and her team have completed can be a saving grace in these hindrances as finding biological neural markers can aid the battle against delayed early intervention and behavioral shifts. Together, these two works demonstrate that with continued efforts and hypervigilance, we as a society can keep working towards improving the outcomes of individuals diagnosed with Autism and their families.
Guy, M. W., Richards, J. E., & Roberts, J. E. (2021). Cortical source analysis of the face-sensitive N290 ERP component in infants at high risk for autism. Brain Sciences, 11(3), 375. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11030375
McPhillips, D. (2021, April 2). Autism diagnosis has become more common, but pandemic disrupted early detection, CDC says. CNN Health. https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/01/health/autism-diagnosis-covid-pandemic-wellness/index.html
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