Biomarkers of Hyperacusis in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Abstract
Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most common chronic conditions in the United States (U.S.), affecting at least 3.5 million Americans and 34,361 U.S. military dependents (Tricare 2019). In addition to social and behavioral symptoms of ASD (e.g., communication difficulties and restricted/repetitive behaviors), most autistic people experience sensory sensitivities that diminish their quality of life. Sensitivity to sound, also known as hyperacusis, occurs in 50-70% of autistic people and frequently limits their social interactions, health care access, education, and employment opportunities. Hyperacusis is a hearing problem that involves difficulty tolerating everyday sounds that do not bother most people (e.g., traffic sounds or dogs barking). Even though we know that hyperacusis is prevalent among autistic people and that it can profoundly affect one’s quality of life, we do not know why so many autistic people experience hyperacusis. Unfortunately, because of this major gap in knowledge, health care providers do not have reliable tools to diagnose hyperacusis in ASD or any effective treatments for the condition. Therefore, through this study, we intend to test a potential mechanism of hyperacusis in ASD that will enable the development of sensitive tools that can be adapted to help monitor hyperacusis symptoms in clinical settings. Our proposed work will address the urgent need to identify Mechanisms of underlying conditions co-occurring with ASD and Mechanisms of heterogeneous clinical expression of ASD based on the FY22 ARP Career Development Award Areas of Interest. We believe that hyperacusis in ASD is associated with abnormally large responses to sound in one’s brain. This assumption is based on many years of animal research. Animals with hyperacusis show unusually large responses to sound in areas of the brain that are responsible for processing aversive (or bad) sensory stimuli. Animals who respond in this way become hyperactive and/or distressed when they hear ordinary tones and noises. Likewise, being overly sensitive and experiencing distress caused by ordinary sounds, such as dishes clashing or cars honking, are two key symptoms of hyperacusis in ASD. These experiences suggest that autistic people with hyperacusis may have abnormally large brain responses to sound, just like the animals. However, even though hyperacusis has been linked to enhanced brain responses in animals, this same connection has not been made in people with ASD. Therefore, we wish to collect data on behavior and sound processing in autistic and non-autistic young adults (ages 18-35) with hyperacusis who are matched to autistic and non-autistic young adults without hyperacusis. We will record their brain waves (also called electroencephalography EEG), changes in their pupil size (or the dark circular area of one’s eye), and changes in their skin conductance (or sweat secretion from one’s skin) as we play different sounds. We will also record how they perceive the loudness of the sounds, their emotional reactions to the sounds, and how well they can hear the sounds. Impact: Through this work, we expect to improve our understanding of hyperacusis in ASD and generate tools to measure hyperacusis symptoms in autistic people. The data we collect will lay the foundation for future long-term and intervention studies to address the current lack of treatments and management strategies for hyperacusis in ASD. Although this initial study will be conducted with autistic adults, we wish to do similar work with children in future studies. Ultimately, by dedicating effort to understanding this critical condition, we can make a profound impact on the autistic community by improving social participation, increasing employment and educational gains, and reducing the psychological and physical distress associated with hyperacusis in ASD. Career Development: Dr. Kelly Jahn will lead this project. She
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2024
- Source ID
- HT94252310326
Entities
People
- Kelly Jahn
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Texas at Dallas