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Language skills, brain functional activity and oxytocin level in children with ASD and ADHD.
Poster Session F, Friday, October 2, 2:45 - 4:45 pm, Wangari Maathai
Karolina Zielińska1, Anna Banaszkiewicz1, Hanna Górecka1, Anna Redeł1, Katarzyna Jednoróg1; 1Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS
Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), affect approximately 7% of children (Butterworth & Kovas, 2013) and are associated with atypical social and cognitive functioning (Kwok et al., 2015; Korrel et al., 2017). Language deficit is one of the earliest indicators of these conditions, yet it is absent from current diagnostic criteria, and its neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. One potentially important yet underexplored factor is oxytocin—a hormone involved in social functioning. Previous research has shown that children with ASD or ADHD exhibit lower oxytocin levels than typically developing children (Demirci et al., 2016; John & Jaeggi, 2021). Moreover, oxytocin was associated with theory of mind, communication abilities, attention, and impulsivity (Demirci et al., 2016). Despite evidence suggesting its role in language acquisition (Theofanopoulou, 2019), the relationship with language abilities has not yet been investigated. We collected behavioral, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and oxytocin data from 226 5-7 year old children with ASD (N = 77; 34 girls), ADHD (N = 75; 34 girls) and typically developing (TD) children (N = 74; 40 girls). Participants completed a standardized Language Development Test (LDT, Smoczynska et al., 2015). During fMRI children performed an auditory localizer task of their native language, based on Malik-Moraleda et al. (2022). They listened to short passages from Alice in Wonderland (intact condition), along with a control condition with acoustically distorted passages. Finally, we collected saliva samples from each participant to measure oxytocin levels. fMRI data were analyzed using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM12). At the 1st level, we computed a contrast intact condition > distorted condition. At the 2nd level, using one-sample t-tests we examined whole-brain activations in each group, along with between-group differences using one-way ANOVA . Finally, beta values were extracted from two independent ROIs of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) from Fedorenko et al. (2010). Obtained beta values were correlated with production, comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and discourse LDT scales. Moreover, discourse scores were correlated with whole-brain activations. Analyses will be completed with oxytocin data - we will correlate oxytocin level with ROI’s beta values, localizer task results, and LDT scores. Language localizer activated the classical language network, including bilateral IFG and STG in all groups. There were no significant differences between groups in whole-brain analysis or in the LDT scores results. Discourse score correlated with whole-brain activation in the right STG. The strength of the association between language skills and ROIs activation differed between the groups. Language skills were associated with activation in left STG and IFG in TD children,less so in children with ADHD, but no correlation was present in ASD group. We predict that oxytocin level will be associated with language skills and brain functional activity during language processing. We also expect lower oxytocin level in NDDs groups .
Topic Areas: Disorders: Developmental,