Paradoxical sensory responses: a clue towards understanding biotypes in autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders

Active Project Grant Awarded Last action

Award ID
R01NS134948
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$4,729,531

Award facts

Completion date 51% complete
Place of performance
Boston, MA 02115, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

As the agency reported it.

Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental conditions are currently classified according to behavioral criteria. This clinical diagnostic framework does not take into account underlying pathophysiology and is often insufficient to predict outcomes. The long-term goal is to develop biomarkers that will help cluster individuals with ASD and related conditions into biologically distinct groups ("biotypes") and provide the means to understand the underlying neural mechanisms. Developing biomarkers for use in children is particularly important so that they can be used from the time symptoms are first recognized. Objective measurement of sensory processing via electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive and scientifically translatable method to measure function of neural circuits. The proposed project tests the central hypothesis that EEG measures of sensory processing predict behavioral phenotype (i.e., they are relevant to functional outcome) but also inform the reclassification of neurodevelopmental conditions by neural circuit pathophysiology to complement behavioral phenotype. This project uses EEG to measure sensory/neural circuit function in 3-4 year old children with ASD (n=150), typical development (TD; n=75), and children who do not have ASD but whose caregivers have concerns about how they process sensory information (sensory processing concerns (SPC) group; n=150). Aim 1: determine how circuit-level brain activity, measured in response to sensory stimuli, is altered in children with ASD VS. SPC VS. TD. Aim 2: test if sensory EEG endophenotypes predict behavioral phenotype (e.g., anxiety, attention, irritability, social skills) within and across groups (ASD, TD, SPC). Aim 3: delineate neurobiologically-informed subtypes of neural circuit activity in individuals. Rather than relying on behavioral phenotype as the gold standard, this exploratory aim takes a data-driven approach to cluster individuals in ASD (and potentially SPC) into biologically distinct subgroups (biotypes) defined by EEG measures of neural circuit activity to sensory inputs. The proposed project is conceptually innovative because IT uses the paradoxical CO- occurrence of sensory hyper- and hypo-reactivity within individuals as the nidus for developing biomarkers that reflect the granular neurobiological principles underlying sensory processing and ASD. The proposed project is technically innovative because many of the proposed EEG measures are novel or have never been used to study ASD. The project is significant because IT moves the field from developing biomarkers that reflect behavioral understanding of ASD towards biomarkers that provide neurobiological understanding of ASD. Ultimately, this will allow development of diagnostic and stratification biomarkers that guide biologically targeted, personalized treatments in children with ASD and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

Transactions

Action Obligated Date
Amendment $9,115
Amendment -$9,115
Amendment -$9,115
Amendment $461,954
Amendment $461,954
Amendment $461,954
Amendment $15,312
Amendment $15,312
Amendment $15,377
Amendment $15,377
Amendment $470,363
Amendment $470,363
Amendment $51,470
Amendment $51,470
Amendment $51,470
Amendment $51,278
Amendment $51,278
Amendment $51,278
Amendment $510,609
Amendment $510,609
Amendment $510,609
Original award $510,609
Show all 22

Subawards

Subrecipient Amount Awarded
University Of California, LOS Angeles Dr. Damla Senturk from UCLA will provide statistical consulting for data analysis and manuscript preparation across all years of the project. $35,006
King's College London Dr. Puts will support setting up the sensory assessments for this grant, particularly with respect to targeting specific neuronal mechanisms that might… $12,219
Brown University In each of the 5 years, Dr. Stephanie Jones will serve as a mentor to Dr. April Levin in her EEG data analysis, and specifically in applying the “Spectral… $16,353

Quick answers

Who received award R01NS134948?

R01NS134948 was awarded to The Children's Hospital Corporation by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (National Institutes of Health) on April 1, 2024.

How much is award R01NS134948 worth?

$4,729,531 has been obligated on R01NS134948.

On GovTribe

See this award's full record

  • Every transaction and subaward
  • The recipient's other awards and teaming partners
  • Similar grant awards
  • Ask GovTribe AI about this award
Try for free Login