Unusual developmental pattern of brain lateralization in young boys with autism spectrum disorder: Power analysis with child-sized magnetoencephalography

Aims Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often described as comprising an unusual brain growth pattern and aberrant brain lateralization. Although it is important to study the pathophysiology of the developing ASD cortex, examples of physiological brain lateralization in young children with ASD have yet to be well examined. Methods Thirty-eight boys with ASD (aged 3-7 years) and 38 typically developing (TD) boys (aged 3-8 years) concentrated on video programs and their brain activities were measured non-invasively. We employed a customized child-sized magnetoencephalography system in which the sensors were located as close to the brain as possible for optimal recording in young children. To produce a credible laterality index of the brain oscillations, we defined two clusters of sensors corresponding to the right and left hemispheres. We focused on the laterality index ([left - right]/[left + right]) of the relative power band in seven frequency bands. Results The TD group displayed significantly rightward lateralized brain oscillations in the theta-1 frequency bands compared to the ASD group. Conclusions This is the first study to demonstrate unusual brain lateralization of brain oscillations measured by magnetoencephalography in young children with ASD.