Baseline EEG in the first year of life: Preliminary insights into the development of autism spectrum disorder and language impairments

Early identification of neurodevelopmental disorders is important to ensure a prompt and effective intervention, thus improving the later outcome. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and language learning impairment (LLI) are among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, and they share overlapping symptoms. This study aims to characterize baseline electroencephalography (EEG) spectral power in 6- and 12-month-old infants at higher likelihood of developing ASD and LLI, compared to typically developing infants, and to preliminarily verify if spectral power components associated with the risk status are also linked with the later ASD or LLI diagnosis. We found risk status for ASD to be associated with reduced power in the low-frequency bands and risk status for LLI with increased power in the high-frequency bands. Interestingly, later diagnosis shared similar associations, thus supporting the potential role of EEG spectral power as a biomarker useful for understanding pathophysiology and classifying diagnostic outcomes.