Peer-reviewed article
Altered sleep spindle characteristics in children with autism spectrum Disorder: A potential neurophysiological marker.
Hakan Erçelebi, Pınar Özbudak, Deniz Menderes, Esra Ülgen Temel, Meriç Yavuz Çolak et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This peer-reviewed study compared sleep spindle characteristics (brain wave patterns during sleep) between children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children using polysomnography. The researchers found that children with ASD had reduced amplitude, number, density and activity of sleep spindles, but longer spindle duration. The authors propose that these sleep spindle abnormalities could serve as an objective neurophysiological marker for ASD. The study is a cross-sectional observational design comparing two groups on sleep biomarkers.
Key points
- Sleep spindle amplitude, number, density and activity were significantly reduced in children with ASD compared to controls
- Sleep spindle duration was significantly longer in children with ASD
- Higher spindle number and greater spindle activity were significantly associated with reduced likelihood of ASD
- Sleep spindle analysis may represent a non-invasive biomarker for identifying ASD
- Findings suggest alterations in thalamocortical network function in children with ASD
Limitations
This is a biomarker study focused on neurophysiological mechanisms rather than child well-being outcomes, health interventions, or child welfare. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causation or whether spindle abnormalities affect children's actual functioning or quality of life.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Neurophysiological biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain limited, and sleep spindle alterations reflecting thalamocortical network function are not yet fully characterized; therefore, we aimed to compare sleep spindle features between children with ASD and typically developing peers. METHODS: In this observational cross-sectional study, polysomnography-derived sleep spindle parameters including amplitude, frequency, duration, density, and activity, were analyzed during stage 2 non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in children with ASD and compared with those of age-matched healthy controls. RESULTS: The amplitude, number, density, and activity of sleep spindles were significantly reduced in children with ASD compared to the control group, while spindle duration was significantly longer. Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the spindle amplitude, number of spindles, spindle density, and spindle activity were significantly associated with ASD. In the multivariate analysis, a higher number of spindles (p = 0.033, OR = 0.776, 95 % CI: 0.615-0.979) and greater spindle activity (p = 0.015, OR = 0.954, 95 % CI: 0.919-0.991) were significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of ASD. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep spindle abnormalities in ASD may reflect alterations in thalamocortical dynamics and could represent an objective marker of neurodevelopmental dysfunction. SIGNIFICANCE: Quantitative sleep spindle analysis may represent a scalable, non-invasive neurophysiological biomarker with potential applications in early identification, mechanistic research, and outcome monitoring in ASD.