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Sensory overresponsivity: prenatal risk factors and temperamental contributions.

ABSTRACT: The study addresses risk factors and cause of pediatric sensory over-responsivity (SOR) in a large sample of twins. At age 2 years, (a) the association of temperamental traits with concurrent SOR; (b) the association of prenatal complications with SOR; (c) the association of having a male cotwin with female SOR; and (d) the common and unique genetic causes of temperament and SOR symptoms are examined.The sample included 1026 twin pairs (mean age = 2 years 2 months) from a population-based longitudinal study. Auditory and tactile SOR symptom domains were partially independent and thus were examined separately.Temperamental negative affect and fear were moderately correlated with auditory and tactile SOR symptoms. Prenatal complications significantly predicted tactile symptoms after controlling for child characteristics. In addition, females with a male cotwin showed greater SOR at age 2 years than same-sex female dizygotic twins, suggesting a possible risk associated with in utero testosterone exposure. Both auditory and tactile SOR domains were heritable. Bivariate genetic analyses showed that each SOR domain had a similar genetic relationship with fear and negative affect.The findings suggest partially nonoverlapping causes and risk factors for tactile versus auditory SOR and indicate that prenatal factors warrant further investigation.

SUBMITTER: Keuler MM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3163729 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sensory overresponsivity: prenatal risk factors and temperamental contributions.

Keuler Megan M MM Schmidt Nicole L NL Van Hulle Carol A CA Lemery-Chalfant Kathryn K Goldsmith H Hill HH

Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP 20110901 7

<h4>Objective</h4>The study addresses risk factors and cause of pediatric sensory over-responsivity (SOR) in a large sample of twins. At age 2 years, (a) the association of temperamental traits with concurrent SOR; (b) the association of prenatal complications with SOR; (c) the association of having a male cotwin with female SOR; and (d) the common and unique genetic causes of temperament and SOR symptoms are examined.<h4>Methods</h4>The sample included 1026 twin pairs (mean age = 2 years 2 mont ...[more]

PMID: 21743351

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Project description:ImportanceMore than half of youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have sensory overresponsivity (SOR), an extreme negative reaction to sensory stimuli. However, little is known about the neurobiological basis of SOR, and there are few effective treatments. Understanding whether SOR is due to an initial heightened sensory response or to deficits in regulating emotional reactions to stimuli has important implications for intervention.ObjectiveTo determine differences in brain responses, habituation, and connectivity during exposure to mildly aversive sensory stimuli in youth with ASDs and SOR compared with youth with ASDs without SOR and compared with typically developing control subjects.Design, setting, and participantsFunctional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine brain responses and habituation to mildly aversive auditory and tactile stimuli in 19 high-functioning youths with ASDs and 19 age- and IQ-matched, typically developing youths (age range, 9-17 years). Brain activity was related to parents' ratings of children's SOR symptoms. Functional connectivity between the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex was compared between ASDs subgroups with and without SOR and typically developing controls without SOR. The study dates were March 2012 through February 2014.Main outcomes and measuresRelative increases in blood oxygen level-dependent signal response across the whole brain and within the amygdala during exposure to sensory stimuli compared with fixation, as well as correlation between blood oxygen level-dependent signal change in the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex.ResultsThe mean age in both groups was 14 years and the majority in both groups (16 of 19 each) were male. Compared with neurotypical control participants, participants with ASDs displayed stronger activation in primary sensory cortices and the amygdala (P < .05, corrected). This activity was positively correlated with SOR symptoms after controlling for anxiety. The ASDs with SOR subgroup had decreased neural habituation to stimuli in sensory cortices and the amygdala compared with groups without SOR. Youth with ASDs without SOR showed a pattern of amygdala downregulation, with negative connectivity between the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (thresholded at z > 1.70, P < .05).Conclusions and relevanceResults demonstrate that youth with ASDs and SOR show sensorilimbic hyperresponsivity to mildly aversive tactile and auditory stimuli, particularly to multiple modalities presented simultaneously, and show that this hyperresponsivity is due to failure to habituate. In addition, findings suggest that a subset of youth with ASDs can regulate their responses through prefrontal downregulation of amygdala activity. Implications for intervention include minimizing exposure to multiple sensory modalities and building coping strategies for regulating emotional response to stimuli.

Project description:BackgroundSensory overresponsivity (SOR) has emerged as a potential endophenotype in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but few studies have examined SOR in relation to the major symptom dimensions of OCD and to symptoms across the full obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptom spectrum.ObjectiveThis study had 2 main objectives. First, we examined the psychometric properties of the SOR Scales in a community-based sample of Spanish adolescents and adults. Second, we identified how SOR difficulties are related to symptoms across the full OC spectrum (eg, OC, body dysmorphic, hoarding, skin-picking, and hair-pulling symptoms), including the heterogeneity of OC symptoms.MethodsWe translated the SOR Scales into Spanish-a measure that assesses SOR across the 5 sensory modalities-and created a web-based version of the measure. A sample of 1454 adolescents and adults (mean age 23.84, SD 8.46 years) participated in the study, and 388 (26.69%) participants completed the survey twice (approximately 8 months apart). The survey also contained a web-based measure that assesses symptoms across the full OC spectrum: harm and checking, taboo obsessions, contamination or cleaning, symmetry and ordering, body dysmorphic, hoarding, hair-pulling, and skin-picking symptoms.ResultsThe psychometric properties of the SOR Scales were excellent, and the test-retest reliability was adequate. All types of SOR were related to all major symptom dimensions of OCD and to all OC spectrum symptoms.ConclusionsSOR across the sensory modalities can be validly assessed using a web-based measure. SOR emerged as a pure transdiagnostic phenomenon in relation to symptoms across the OC spectrum, with no specific sensory modality being more strongly related to OC symptoms. SOR can shed much needed light on basic mechanisms that are important for the onset and maintenance of OC spectrum symptoms, and this study shows that large-scale web-based studies can aid in this endeavor. Future studies should examine whether SOR precedes or emerges alongside OC symptoms.

Project description:BackgroundTourette Syndrome (TS) appears to be an inherited disorder, although genetic abnormalities have been identified in less than 1% of patients, and the mode of inheritance is uncertain. Many studies have investigated environmental factors that might contribute to the onset and severity of tics and associated comorbidities such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). A systematic review and qualitative analysis were performed to provide a broad view of the association between pre- and perinatal factors and TS.MethodsThe Medline, Embase and PsycINFO databases were searched using terms specific to Tourette's syndrome and keywords such as "pregnancy", "prenatal", "perinatal", "birth" and "neonatal". Studies were limited to studies on human subjects published in English or French through October 2012.Results22 studies were included. Studies were of limited methodological quality, with most samples derived from specialty clinics, and most exposures ascertained retrospectively. The majority of the results for demographic factors of parents, including age, education, socioeconomic status, and marital status, revealed no significant association with the onset of TS, or the presence of comorbidity. Many factors were reported to be significantly associated with the onset of TS, the presence of comorbidity and symptom severity, but the most consistently reported factors were maternal smoking and low birth weight.ConclusionsThere are few studies evaluating the relationship between pre and perinatal events and TS, and existing studies have major limitations, including the use of clinic rather than epidemiologically derived samples, retrospective data collection on pre and perinatal events and multiple hypothesis testing without appropriate statistical correction. The mechanism by which prenatal and perinatal adversities could lead to TS onset or symptom severity is unknown, but may be related to changes in the dopaminergic system as a result of early brain injury.

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Sensory overresponsivity: prenatal risk factors and temperamental contributions.

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Sensory overresponsivity: prenatal risk factors and temperamental contributions.

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