Electroencephalography Connectivity Assesses Cognitive Disorders of Autistic Children During Game-Based Social Interaction

Evaluation of the cognitive function of autistic children after early intervention has become important for providing promising biomarkers to assess the improvement after cognitive intervention. In this study, we have developed a game-based platform with electroencephalography (EEG) signal recording to investigate gaze following in children. Typically developing (TD) children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were recruited to participate in the gaze-following game with 12-channel EEG signal recording; the corresponding brain oscillations, event-related potentials (ERPs), and event-related spectral perturbations were analyzed. Brain functional connections were also evaluated with phase-lag indices (PLIs). The results showed that, relative to the TD children, autistic children had smaller N170, P3a, and late positive potential (LPP) during gaze following, suggesting that they ignored low-level features of social information. Further, autistic children showed increased alpha and beta desynchronization and decreased theta synchronization and functional connectivity. With the development of human-computer interface, physiological signals are essential in future implementation of game-based interfaces to further investigate underlying mechanisms and effective biomarkers. We have demonstrated the possibility of incorporating EEG signals measured by portable applications to evaluate cognitive and social performance in autistic children. This approach has superior flexibility compared with other neuroimaging techniques.