0840 Children with Autism Demonstrate Atypical Resting EEG Correlates of Sleepiness. (27th April 2018) - Winkelman, T
Abstract: Introduction: Sleep disturbance is common in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), with 40 to 80% reporting sleep difficulties. Sleep disturbances and consequent daytime sleepiness are reflected in increased theta (4–8 Hz) power during waking in children with typical development (TD). However, relationships among resting state EEG profiles and sleep disturbances in children with ASD are poorly understood. Methods: Participants were children with ASD (N=31) and TD controls (N=16), aged 6–18. Parents completed the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), a validated 33-item measure of sleep problems (8 items compose the Daytime Sleepiness subscale); impaired sleep is defined as a CSHQ score ≥ 41. Resting EEG was collected from all participants. EEG data was filtered, segmented into 2-s epochs, and hand-edited for movement artifacts. Participants with less than 30 seconds of artifact-free data were excluded, resulting in a final sample of 13 ASD and 11 TD children. Results: 52% of children with ASD met CSHQ criteria for sleep impairment, as compared to 25% of children with TD (p=0.08). Children with ASD took longer to fall asleep than their TD counterparts (p=0.058) and had significantly more night awakenings (p=0.003). Children with TD showed a correlation between CSHQ Daytime Sleepiness subscale and absolute theta power over midline (r=0.90, p<0.001), frontal (r=0.87, p=0.001), and central (r=0.87, p<0.001) regions. Children with ASD showed non-significant correlations between CSHQ Sleepiness score and theta power in any region (r's<0.36, p's>0.2). Conclusion: Children with ASD had higher rates of sleep disturbances but did not exhibit the expected relationship between daytime sleepiness and EEG theta power observed in TD children. This atypical EEG pattern of sleepiness suggests potentially distinct neural underpinnings of sleep disturbance in ASD. Support (If Any): NIMH R01 MH100173 (McPartland), UL1 RR024139 (McPartland), Autism Science Foundation Undergraduate Summer Research Grant (Winkelman).